Task 5

The key goals and objectives under this task are:

• Collect multiple rounds of survey data to identify key areas of misperception about recycling and reuse. Analyze the quantitative and qualitative responses to the PSA video designed to identify pathways for further improvement. Produce a report for the general public that includes procedural information (i.e., how to recycle properly) (Year 1).
• Launch a state-wide communication campaign aimed at increasing recycling knowledge and minimizing contamination in recycling (Year 2).
• Summative research to demonstrate the effectiveness of the communication campaign and offer takeaways on effective pathways through which the DEC can improve communication about recycling to New York State residents. Create a report for municipal officials, facilities, and others who want to improve their communication strategies about recycling (Year 3).

Specifically related to recycling, two rounds of survey data were collected through Ipsos Public Affairs, a professional survey company that recruited a representative sample of New York State residents. The first survey (N = 1010) was conducted from May 26, 2020 to June 3, 2020. The second survey (N = 1037) was conducted from January 14, 2021 to January 29, 2021. In the second survey, we embedded a one-way between-subjects experiment to test the effectiveness of a 60-second PSA video designed based on survey 1 results. In both surveys, participants answered questions that measured their attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, recycling intention, and demographics.

Next, we collected data from a third NYS survey (N = 1003) from August 10, 2022 to August 29, 2022. This survey focused on New York state residents’ current knowledge, preferences, and behaviors pertaining to recycling, reusables, and alternate packaging, as well as key demographic and psychological variables that influence their attitudes and behavioral intentions.

• Faculty Lead: Dr. Janet Yang, Professor, Department of Communication
• GRA: Ms. Prerna Shah, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Communication

Results from the first NYS survey indicate that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are positively related to recycling intention. Subjective knowledge, rather than objective knowledge, influences recycling intention. Moreover, subjective knowledge influences recycling intention through attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, while the indirect relationship from objective knowledge to recycling intention was not significant. Lastly, environmental concern and social capital influence recycling intention through attitude and subjective norms. These findings suggest that environmental communication messaging needs to attend to contextual factors such as community connectedness.

Results from the second survey show that all three TPB variables are significant predictors of recycling intention. The PSA video increases recycling intention through attitude, but this mediated relationship is only significant among individuals with low perceived behavioral control. In terms of practical implication, these results suggest that environmental campaigns using a video format may be particularly effective among audiences who perceive low self-efficacy in recycling. Theoretically, this moderated mediation effect suggests that future research based on the theory of planned behavior should not only examine the main effect of each predicting variable, but also assess the role of perceived behavior control as a moderating factor.

Results from the third NYS survey provide support to the value-belief-norm theory in predicting behavioral willingness. Personal norm is the immediate predictor of behavioral willingness, which is in turn shaped by environmental value and beliefs. The moderating role of perceived behavior control provides additional insight into the theoretical model and furnishes practical implications for strategic communication designed to encourage the adoption of reusables and alternative packaging. Thus, in communication strategies and campaigns about reusables and alternate packaging, perceived behavior control should be used as an audience segmentation strategy whereby using reusables and products with plastic-free alternate packaging can be highlighted as a morally right thing to do in the initial stage of behavioral formation. Thereafter, when being morally driven may become relatively less important, more emphasis should be placed on enhancing people’s ability and providing them with better opportunities to use reusables and products with plastic-free alternate packaging.

In a related study, we also examined how different types of norms influence people’s willingness to recycle and reuse. Overall, it seems that norms, particularly personal norm, have stable and strong associations with pro-environmental behaviors like recycle and reuse, which means that normative interventions may be a promising approach for environmental communication. Moreover, normative interventions may be effective if they attempt to activate and align different types of norms. Thus, subjective norm interventions may demonstrate that the behavior is socially popular, descriptive norm intervention may elucidate how the behavior is approved by others, while personal norm intervention may apprise individuals of the consequences of their actions and make them feel socially responsible. Normative elements are likely to motivate socially beneficial behavior only to the extent that they are salient at the point of behavioral decision. Thus, public recycling or reuse campaigns may benefit from incorporating normative messages in immediate behavioral settings so that they serve as retrieval cues to encourage the desirable behaviors. For instance, a sign that says, “One in three people carry their own shopping bag to protect the environment” at the check-out counter may activate descriptive norm (by signaling that the behavior is “popular”) that may then make people feel morally obliged to use their own bag, thus translating into a salient personal norm. Likewise, in the case of recycling, it may be helpful to position recycling as a socially expected behavior in order to illustrate its social value. An endorsement by a celebrity or opinion leader could be persuasive to the public provided the social influencer is credible in the eyes of the public. When people identify with a popular or trustworthy icon, it is likely to activate subjective norm, which when internalized as personal norm, can lead to positive recycling outcomes.

We asked participants how important some of the key factors were in their decision to use products sold in single-use packaging that is plastic free, as well as their decision to use reusables. For both plastic-free single-use packaging and reusables, the most important factors influencing people’s decision to use these products are the environmental benefits, followed by the durability and availability of such products. The least important factors are novelty and incentives/rewards provided for the purchase of such products. 

We examined how much extra participants would be willing to pay for products sold in plastic-free single-use packaging as well as for reusables. In the case of plastic-free single-use packaging products, participants were largely willing to pay up to $1 while in the case of reusables, they indicated a willingness to pay slightly more. 

Lastly, we asked participants whether they thought businesses such as restaurants, coffee shops, shopping malls, grocery stores, and online stores were responsible for implementing the use of plastic free single-use packaging and reusables. We find that participants strongly believed that shopping malls and grocery stores should offer more products in single-use packaging that is plastic-free, and that restaurants and coffee shops should only provide single-use disposable items (e.g., plastic utensils or straws) when a customer requests them. 

*Indicates graduate student

• Shah, P.*, & Yang, J. Z. (2023). When virtue is its own reward: How norms influence consumers’ willingness to recycle and reuse. Environmental Development, 48, 100928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2023.100928
• Shah, P.*, & Yang, J. Z. (2023). It takes two to tango: How ability and morality shape consumers’ willingness to refill and reuse. Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023-01828-7
• Liu, Z., & Yang, J. Z. (2022). Predicting recycling behavior in New York State: An integrated model. Environmental Management, 70, 1023-1037.
• https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-022-01708-6
• Liu, Z.*, Yang, J. Z., Bloomfield, A., Clark, S. S., & Shelly, M. A. (2022). Predicting recycling intention in New York state: The impact of cognitive and social factors. Environmental Development, 43, 100712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2022.100712
• Liu, Z.*, Yang, J. Z., Clark, S. S. & Shelly, M. (2021). Recycling as a planned behavior: The moderating role of perceived behavioral control. Environment, Development, ­and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01894-z

• Shah, P.*, & Yang, J.Z. (2023, December). Self-affirmation as a tool to encourage recycle and reuse behaviors. Paper presented at the Society of Risk Analysis. Washington D.C.
• Shah, P.*, & Yang, J.Z. (2023, August). When virtue is its own reward: How norms influence consumers’ willingness to recycle and reuse. Paper presented at Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Washington, D.C.
• Shah, P.*, & Yang, J.Z. (2023, April). It takes two to tango: How ability and morality shape consumers’ willingness to refill and reuse. Poster presented at UB Academic Excellence Showcase. Buffalo, NY.
• Shah, P.*, Yang, J.Z. (2022, December). Plastic, paper, or reusable? How compensatory green beliefs influence bag usage. Paper presented at the Society of Risk Analysis. Tampa, Florida.
• Liu, Z.*, & Yang, J. Z. (2021, December). Information seeking about recycling: The role of objective knowledge and subjective knowledge. Paper presented at the virtual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis.
• Liu, Z.*, Yang, J. Z., Clark, S., & Shelly, M. (2021, August). Predicting recycling intention in the state of New York: The impact of cognitive and social factors. Paper presented at the virtual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
• Liu, Z.* & Yang, J. Z. (2021, May). Communication behaviors related to recycling: Survey results from New York State residents. Paper presented at the virtual meeting of the Federation of New York Solid Waste Associations Conference.
• Liu, Z.*, Yang, J. Z., Bloomfield, A., Clark, S., & Shelly, M. (2021, May). Predicting recycling intention in the state of New York: The impact of cognitive and social factors. Paper presented at the virtual meeting of the International Communication Association.

• Public report encouraging reduction and reuse behaviors in NY state in collaboration with the Recycle Right New York team;
• Exploring the public health angle in promoting reduce and reuse behaviors. In other words, does the “health effect” of take-out containers (e.g., microplastics, PFAS) be used as a framing strategy to encourage the adoption of reusables among the public?

• Dr. Zhuling Liu, Assistant Professor, School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.