Know Where to Throw The influence of an informational prompt and commitment on waste separation behaviour of Dutch university students
Keywords
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Issue Date
2020-07-03
Language
en
Document type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Title
ISSN
Volume
Issue
Startpage
Endpage
DOI
Abstract
Waste separation behaviour (WSB) is valuable when done right. However, it can
be confusing to know what belongs where. To research whether behavioural
interventions are effective in increasing accurate WSB, the influence of a poster
(informational prompt), combined with a commitment intervention, was tested
through an online survey. The poster illustrated what products did or did not belong
in which of the three bins (plastic, cups, waste). The commitment was described in
a hypothetical scenario. With the commitment, participants agreed to separate their
waste correctly on campus. The dependent variable was operationalised by
measuring how many of eight different products were separated correctly. A
baseline measure was conducted by each participant. After the baseline measure,
participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In one experimental
condition, participants only saw the poster during the task. In the other experimental
condition, participants read the commitment scenario and were then presented with
the poster while performing the task. The control condition was presented with an
irrelevant poster. Results indicate that the poster condition and the combined
condition both separated more products correctly during the intervention than
before the intervention, compared to the control condition. There was no significant
difference between the experimental conditions. Further implications and
suggestions for future research are discussed.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen