Recycling Behaviour of consumers

According to Solomon, Russell-Bennett and Private (2013), the literature features a strong
academic focus on consumer motivations, attitudes and behaviour with regards to the
disposal of waste. Lander and Therese (2006) argue in favour of defining recycling in terms
of consumer behaviour that is directly affected by the environment of the consumer. In other
words, external conditions are regarded as the primary influence on recycling behaviour.
Research by Lander and Therese (2006) investigate methods for organising recycling
infrastructure. However, D’Souza et al. (2005) highlight consumer attitudes and motivations
towards environmental protection, while Bortoleto (2015) highlights ethical norms as the
most significant influences on regular and sustainable recycling. Cimon and Yılmaz (2012)
argue that the perceptions held by an individual with regards to their own behaviour, or
“personal norms” also have a significant influence on behavioural outcomes and attitudes.
Chu and Chiu (2003) describe an individual’s personal norms as the conversion of intentions
and attitudes into individual behaviour. Lee and Paik (2011) argue that an individual that
exhibits intention is more likely to display behaviour than an individual that does not exhibit
intention. Consequently, intention is a significant and essential aspect of behaviour.

1.THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR

The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is an extension of the Theory of Reasoned

Action (TRA) (Fishbein & Ajzen 1975, Ajzen & Fishbein 1980). Both models are based on
the premise that individuals make logical, reasoned decisions to engage in specific
behaviours by evaluating the information available to them. The performance of a behaviour
is determined by the individual’s intention to engage in it (influenced by the value the
individual places on the behaviour, the ease with which it can be performed and the views of
significant others) and the perception that the behaviour is within his/her control. In RA a
TPB model based on attitudes, social support, self-efficacy and intention was moderately
successful in predicting and explaining self-management arthritis (Strating et al 2006). Whilst
no validated questionnaires are available, a com of prehensile guide to developing measures
of TPB components is given in Ajzen (1991). A challenge in TPB measurement is the
difficulty in conceptualising and capturing attitudes.

Attitude
As per Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) attitude of consumer can be defined as person’s belief and
evaluation towards a behaviour. The attitude towards a behaviour of an individual is formed
as a response to particular judgment (Schwarz, 2006). Many researchers have taken into
account the attitude to study the human behaviour (Kianpour et al., 2017; O’Reilly and
Kumar, 2016). Many researches have reported the positive impact of attitude on individual’s
behaviour (Wang et al., 2016; Wan et al., 2012; Botetzaagis et al., 2015). Whereas,
insignificant relationship between attitude and return intention has been reported in few
researches (Dixit and Badgaiyan, 2016; Lizin et al., 2017; Wan et al., 2014). Nevertheless,
influenced by the majority of supporting data, in current research, we propose that attitude
towards a behaviour will influence the individual’s intention to return the waste.

 Subjective norms
Subjective norms is refer as the social pressure one feels when deciding whether to perform a
behaviour or not (Ajzen, 1991). The influence of family, friends and people surrounding an
individual creates that pressure. A person is most likely to behave in a manner that would be
liked by people important to him/her. Subjective norms is used in many researches that study
the human behaviour (Vining and Ebreo, 1992; Poulter et al., 2008; Mayhew et al., 2009).
The significant positive relationship between subjective norms and return intention has been
reported in many researches (Chen and Tung, 2010; Wan et al., 2014; Echegaray and
Hansstein, 2016; Lizin et al., 2017). Whereas, some of the researches reveal that subjective
norms do not have significant impact on return intention. (Jena and Sarmah, 2015; Tonglet et
al., 2004). Based on past researches it is considered that subjective norms is an important
determinant while explaining the human behaviour.
.

 Perceived behavioural control

Perceived behavioural control is defined as the degree of control an individual is having over
his/her action. Self-efficacy and perceived controllability are the two factors that are
associated with behavioural performance (Ajzen, 1991). While performing a behaviour, the
ease and difficulty that is associated with the behaviour influences the individual decision.
Secondly, the level of control a person is having over performing a behaviour also influence
his/her behaviour. Perceived behavioural control has been used in many researches as
determinant of individual intention and behaviour (Godin et al., 1992; Chu and Chiu,
2003; Park and Ha, 2014). Numerous studies have found the significantly positive impact of
perceived behavioural control over the individual’s behavioural intention (Botetzagias et al.,
2015; Wan et al., 2014; Chen and Tung, 2010; Lizin et al., 2017). Whereas, in few studies it
was found that perceived behavioural control was not a significant determinant of
behavioural intention (Chen and Tung, 2010; Ma et al., 2018). Based on the results from the
past studies we consider the perceived behavioural control is an important predictor of return
intention.

Extension of TPB

As per Fishbein and Ajzen (2005) TPB can be extended with the help of other factors.
However we are further extending the TPB model by adding three more hypotheses that
are underwritten

Willingness to pay (WTP)

is the maximum price at or below which a consumer will definitely buy one unit of a
product. It is the most a consumer will spend on one unit of a good or service. Some
economic researchers see willingness to pay as the reservation price the limit on the
price of a product or service. Others conceptualize product is a dependent variable. That
is, it can change in your favour or against your business with the slightest of changes in
any one of the factors that affect it (Fishben, 1987). Purchase intention significantly
affects consumer’s behaviour towards purchase intention. WTP as a range a product’s
price may range from a specific amount up to the willingness to pay level. It basically
conveys the level at which a person is ready to pay a premium price for an organic
product over a general product and this is how it is linked to an individual’s purchase
intention.

Purchase intention

is the likelihood of a customer buying the sameproduct again based on their purchase
history. Purchase intention is one favourable factor that can ensure the long life of any
business. As long as the customers want to buy yourproducts, irrespective of the
availability of similar products in the market, you can stay alive with steady growth.
Things are not yet so simple though. Purchase intention of any

Environmental consciousness

refers to an awareness of environmental issues and the propensity of individuals to

engage in pro-environmental behaviours or, in other words, human values and attitudes
concerning the environment and accordingly buying the products basically that don’t
affect the environment negatively. Environmental concern indicates ‘the degree to
which people are aware of problems regarding the environment and support efforts to
solve them or indicate the willingness to contribute personally to their solution’ (Dunlap
& Jones, 2002). An individual's concern for the environment is fundamental to
environmental research and has a direct relationship with the environmentally friendly
behaviour (Hines et al., 1987). Pagiaslis and Krontalis (2014) have also mentioned in
their study that environmental concern has a direct and a positive impact on consumer's
intention to buy eco-friendly products. Environmental concern plays a significant role in
determining the purchase intention of organic food (Smith & Paladino, 2010) as buying
organic food is considered as pro-environmental behaviour.