A study on the influence of the affective design of shopping paper bags on the consumer's recycling decision

• Main Authors: Balasbas, Jenna Cristina B., Co, Leanne Jessica O., Verra, Svettlana Marie S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Paper bags; Consumer goods; Consumer behavior; Fashion merchandising
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/9482
• Institution: De La Salle University

The fashion industry is becoming progressively competitive with its continuous increase in supply and demand, the supply chain is forced to move and react faster to different trends, and this also leads to the rapid increase in consumption of the packaging. There is a need to study how the recyclability of shopping paper bags can be improved in order to minimize overall waste being thrown in landfills and its overall large-scale effects. Affective design allows researchers to incorporate feelings into the design of a product by translating those feelings into design elements with a purpose of eliciting positive emotional response. Its literature suggests that the use of aesthetics tend to affect customer behavior, emotion and attitude towards the product. However, previous works have not considered how the affective design features of a shopping paper bag-- color, shape, print-- affect the consumer's recycling decision. This study aims to fill that research gap and determine the significant contributors to their recycling decision. These were tested through an experiment that placed the subjects in an environment wherein they had to make a decision of whether to throw or keep the paper bag that was handed to them. A full factorial design was implemented for the study in order to ensure that all combinations of color, shape, and pattern would be covered and would not affect the results of the study. A total of 96 participants performed the experiment. It was seen that the color of the shopping bag was a significant effect on the recycling behavior of the respondents. The same goes for the print (plain or patterned) and the interaction between color and pattern. However, there is no significant effect on the presence of the shape of the paper bag as well as the interaction between the color, shape, and the pattern and shape.