Consumer Preferences for Less Packaging: A Stated Preference Study

This study estimates the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for packaging with less material by using contingent valuation. We found that people who care about the environmental friendliness of a product, who have a positive perception of less packaging, and who live in a municipality implementing unit-based pricing of waste have a higher WTP. Use of economic instruments potentially affects the purchase of products with reduced packaging. However, when unit-based pricing is combined with plastic separation for recycling, it reduces the WTP. This suggests the possibility that the effect of economic instruments on source reduction of waste is weakened by the recycling policy.