When marketing discourages consumption: demarketing of single-use plastics for city tourism in Ottawa, Canada

ABSTRACT Single-use plastics (SUP), have been widely criticized for contributing to pollution and the throwaway culture. This paper applies the demarketing framework to SUP consumption in city tourism to spur tourists’ anticipated reduction benefits of SUP. More specifically, this study quantifies the impact of the well-established demarketing mix components, adding people’s motivations to avoid SUP. Data were collected through 326 self-administered questionnaires from city tourists in Ottawa, Canada, visiting areas surrounding the Canadian Parliament. A structural equation model was fitted for statistical data analysis covering the demarketing mix with three moderating variables – individual commitment, assigned responsibilities, and recycling attitude. The results suggest that modulating, respectively, promotion by showing the negative consequences of SUP; place, by reducing on-site availability of SUP; people’s motivation, to reduce SUP usage; price, by imposing a price premium on SUP; and product, by substituting SUP for alternatives, will most strongly increase city tourists’ anticipated reduction benefits.