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TRANSCRIPT
FACTORS INFLUENCING THAI CONSUMERS’
BEHAVIOR ON REDUCING SINGLE-USE
PLASTIC CUPS
BY
MISS PANCHALEE AREETHAMSIRIKUL
AN INDEPENDENT STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM IN MARKETING
(INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM)
FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND ACCOUNTANCY
THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
ACADEMIC YEAR 2018
COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA
FACTORS INFLUENCING THAI CONSUMERS’
BEHAVIOR ON REDUCING SINGLE-USE
PLASTIC CUPS
BY
MISS PANCHALEE AREETHAMSIRIKUL
AN INDEPENDENT STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE
OF MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM IN MARKETING
(INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM)
FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND ACCOUNTANCY
THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
ACADEMIC YEAR 2018
COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
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Independent Study Title FACTORS INFLUENCING THAI
CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOR ON REDUCING
SINGLE-USE PLASTIC CUPS
Author MISS PANCHALEE AREETHAMSIRIKUL
Degree Master of Science Program in Marketing
(International Program)
Major Field/Faculty/University Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy
Thammasat University
Independent Study Advisor Professor K. Douglas Hoffman, Ph.D.
Academic Year 2018
ABSTRACT
This project is a contemporary topic in applied marketing that focuses on a
societal issue that is important to Thailand. These days, Thailand has been facing a
serious problem regarding plastic waste pollution due to weak law enforcement, a lack
of effective waste management, and limited contribution from organizations at all levels
and Thai consumers. The number of plastic products is increasing every year, especially
those made of single-use plastic that create great burden to the environment.
From the review of relevant literature, there is still the limited number of
studies on the underlying factor that drive green behavior among Thai consumers.
Therefore, this study aims to explore the current consumer adoption of the plastic cup
reduction behavior and the key influential factors that can drive Thai people to reduce
plastic waste generation by focusing on plastic cups that present a great portion of
single-use plastic waste. Furthermore, the research aims to segment Thai consumers
into groups by using psychographics, demographics and behavioral factors to make a
set of appropriate recommendations for policy makers and marketers to drive each
group of consumers towards sustainable behavior.
This research was carried out with both qualitative and quantitative
research methods. The chosen non-probability sampling method were convenient
sampling and snowball sampling techniques. For the qualitative part, three methods
were used, including desk research, 10 in-depth interviews, and 80 observations at
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selected tea-and-coffee stores in Bangkok. To complement the qualitative data,
quantitative research was conducted with 236 completed online questionnaires. The
respondents include both users and non-users of reusable personal cups in tea-and-
coffee stores in Bangkok.
The research found that more than half of the respondents have brought
their personal cups to purchase beverages at the stores, and 48% of them also showed
continuous participation. On the other hand, about half of the respondents never
adopted the use of personal cups.
The consumers were classified into four groups according to their
psychographics – nonconformist, self-centric, price sensitive environmentalist, and big
spender. There are few differences in terms of their demographic and tea-and-coffee
consumption behavior between these four groups. In contrast, there is a significant
difference in terms of their intention to reduce single-use plastic and to adopt the use of
personal cups.
This research finding suggested that Thai consumers considered the
discount benefit as a more effective solution than the penalty on plastic consumption as
opposed to other international studies around the world. It also suggested that only
raising environmental concern is insufficient to convert non-personal cup users to
personal cup users, but the combination of environmental concern and monetary
incentives need to be applied.
Marketers and policy makers should focus on price sensitive
environmentalist and big spender segments by increasing awareness on environmental
impact from plastic usage, providing information about discount campaign on personal
cups, and reducing cost of trade-off between convenience and environmental
sustainability. Moreover, it is recommended for marketers to develop a variety of
conveniently portable cup designs or pioneer a rental cup service in response to Thai
people’s need of convenience and diverse lifestyles.
Keywords: Single-use plastic, coffee cup, reusable cup, personal cup
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my advisor, Professor
K. Douglas Hoffman, Ph.D., for his valuable advice and time in guiding me throughout
the entire research study.
My deep gratitude goes to all respondents who gave their times and
insights during the in-depth interviews and questionnaire and all my friends who helped
distributing the questionnaires. This research would not be completed without these
supports.
In addition, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my
friends, Mr. Pongsakorn Tikapichart and Miss Panaya Jaturongmanee, for
knowledgeable advice and words of encouragement.
Lastly, I am thankful for my family who have continuously been
supporting me throughout the process of this independent study and for the past two
years of my master’s degree.
Miss Panchalee Areethamsirikul
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT (1)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (3)
LIST OF TABLES (6)
LIST OF FIGURES (7)
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Problem statement
1.2 Research purpose
1.3 Research objectives
1
2
2
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 4
2.1 Definition of single-use plastic and types
2.2 Problems with single-use plastic
2.3 Attempts to reduce plastic waste
2.4 Related models and theories
2.5 Conclusion
4
4
4
5
6
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 8
3.1 Exploratory research 8
3.1.1 Desk research
3.1.2 Interviews
3.1.3 Observation
8
9
9
3.2 Descriptive research 10
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3.2.1 Questionnaire
3.3 Target population
3.3.1 Recruiting criteria
3.3.2 Recruiting methodology
3.4 Analysis
10
10
10
11
12
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 13
4.1 Qualitative analysis and results
4.1.1 Results from in-depth interviews
4.1.2 Results from observations
4.2 Quantitative analysis and results
4.2.1 Research results according to objectives
13
13
14
14
16
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 26
5.1 Summary of results
5.2 Implications for marketing managers and policy makers
5.2.1 Primary Target – Price sensitive environmentalist
5.2.2 Secondary Target – Big spender
5.3 Implications for marketing academics
5.4 Limitation of the study
26
26
27
27
28
29
REFERENCES 30
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Short interview findings
APPENDIX B: In-depth interview guideline
APPENDIX C: Questionnaire design
33
34
35
BIOGRAPHY 43
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LIST OF TABLES
Tables Page
3.1 Sampling plan for each methodology 11
4.1 Detailed demographics of completed respondents 15
4.2 Frequency and percentage of personal cup adoption rate 16
4.3 Frequency and percentage of cup usage among personal cup users 16
4.4 Results of factor analysis of the consumers’ psychographics 17
4.5 Results of cluster analysis of consumer segmentation 18
4.6 Frequency and percentage of demographics in the four clusters 20
4.7 Frequency and percentage of four clusters’ behavior in
purchasing beverages
21
4.8 Past green behavior for each segment 22
4.9 Frequency of respondents categorized by psychographics and
past personal cup adoption behavior
23
4.10 Intention to adopt personal cups among the current users and
non-users classified by psychographic factors
23
4.11 Means of importance of triggers for each segment 24
4.12 Means of importance of barriers for each segment 25
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figures Page
2.1 Theory of planned behavior 6
3.1 Research process 8
3.2 Relationship between key research variables 12
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Problem statement
Plastic waste, especially the single-use plastics, has been a major problem
for Thailand. According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s ‘Beat Plastic
Pollution’ campaign launched on the World Environment Day, reducing single-use
plastic consumption became the global focus in 2018 (Wipatayotin, 2018). However,
Thailand has been generating two million tons of plastic waste per year, 80 percent of
which is single-use plastic waste that cannot be reused- only a fraction of which has
been recycled- and have been left in the environment (Wongruang, 2018).
Although many Thai consumers tend to know that plastic consumption has
negative effects on the environment, there is limited participation from the consumers
in attempts to reduce plastic usage. Unlike many other nations that have widely
conducted research on effective solutions to encourage their citizens to perform green
behavior, Thailand is only at the initial state of implementing environmental protection
measures.
According to the Five-Step Waste Hierarchy Framework developed by the
European Union in 2008 (“Waste Hierarchy”, 2014), waste management can be
classified into five levels: prevention, reuse, recycle, recovery and lastly disposal.
Prevention of waste generation is the most favorable action while disposal is the least
favorable. Even though Thailand has long introduced and educated this waste
management hierarchy concept especially on ‘recycling’, the concepts of ‘reduce’ and
‘reuse’ are only actively implemented lately by both private and public sectors. By
2017, Thai government had taken a serious step and introduced several policies
regarding plastic waste management, including the “20-Year Pollution Management
Strategy”, “Pollution Management Plan 2017-2021”, “Master Plan on Waste
Management 2016-2021”, and “Plastic Debris Management Plan” (Ocharoenchai,
2017).” As for the private sectors in the same year, many supermarkets started to
introduce no plastic bag policy by offering incentives for consumers who bring their
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own shopping bags. Likewise, discount was offered to customers who bring their own
personal cups at several coffee shops in Thailand. Thus, consumer responses towards
these policies are still being observed and studied. Policies are being tested and adapted
in quest of the most effective marketing solution that will persuade consumers to adopt
the more sustainable behavior.
In addition, the majority of international case studies, which can be used as
references, only focuses on consumer behavior of ‘plastic bag’ use and only the limited
number of research papers examines the use of other single-use plastic products such
as plastic cups.
As a result, this study aims to understand Thai consumer behavior towards
single-use plastic consumption focusing on plastic cups and to identify the key
influential factors that drive or prevent the reduced use of plastic cups. This study is a
contemporary topic in applied marketing that focuses on the area of society; thus, the
results are expected to be relevant and applicable for policies makers, marketers and
related retailers.
1.2 Research purpose
Thailand’s research on single-use plastic reduction especially on plastic
cups is still limited on the consumers’ perspective. This research aims to identify the
key factors that affect the consumer decision making to reduce their plastic
consumption. Thus, this research can be of benefit to policy makers, retailers and
related stakeholders as how to most effectively encourage the reduction in consumption
of single-use plastic in different groups of consumers.
1.3 Research objectives
Definition
• Personal cup: The reusable container that the customer brings on their own
to purchase beverages at the store.
• Personal cup users: Consumers who have brought reusable containers, cups,
or tumblers to purchase beverages at the store.
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• Non-personal cup users: Consumers who have never brought reusable
containers, cups, or tumblers to purchase beverages at the store.
Objectives of this research
1. To determine current consumer adoption of single-use plastic cup reduction
program in Bangkok.
2. To identify characteristics of Thai consumers based on their psychographic,
demographic and behavior towards reduced consumption of single-use plastic
cups.
2.1. To determine consumer profiles based on their psychographics.
2.2. To determine consumer profiles based on their demographics – age,
gender, income, education, etc.
2.3. To determine consumer profiles based on their behavior.
2.4. To determine consumer intention to adopt the use of personal cups in each
group.
3. To identify key attributes that influence a reduction in plastic cup consumption
among non-personal cup users.
3.1. To determine the triggers for each group of non-personal cup users.
3.2. To determine the barriers for each group of non-personal cup users.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Definition of single-use plastic and types
Single-use plastics, or sometimes referred to as ‘disposable plastics’, are
plastic products that have very short lives and are purposefully produced to be used
once before being disposed. This includes plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups,
plastic food packaging, plastic straws, etc. (“What is single-use plastic”, 2018).
2.2 Problems with single-use plastic
Annually, the world produces on average 300 million tons of plastic, more
than half of which comprises of single-use plastic that is not recycled. Majority of the
plastic waste goes to landfill and over eight million tons of this plastic finds its way to
ocean, which further generates greater impacts on the environment, marine wildlife,
and eventually human health (Kabraji, 2018).
In 2010, Thailand was ranked as the sixth largest contributor to ocean
waste. Here, over three percent of 1.03 million tons of plastic waste ended up in the
ocean due to massive mismanaged plastic waste. In response to this issue, several
mitigation strategies, such as reducing waste generation, improving the waste
management infrastructure, and limiting the growth of single-use plastic were
introduced (Jambeck et al., 2015).
2.3 Attempts to reduce plastic waste
Apart from improving the waste management infrastructure which can
require a long period of time to implement, there are many more actions that can be
taken rather quickly by the public, private, and government sectors to encourage a
reduction in single-use plastic consumption.
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According to UNEP (2018), the activities, such as promotion of reusable
alternatives, environmental concern introduction in school, social campaign, as well as
a ban and levy on suppliers, retailers, and consumer, are some examples of actions that
can be adopted.
Waste management has always been an issue for the Thai government due
to limited budget as well as weak law enforcement in illegal littering. However, in June
2017, Thailand agreed to commit itself to an international stage, acknowledging that
this problem needs to come to an end (“Waste Management”, 2018). The first move
taken by the Thai government was to collaborate with the business sector to reduce
plastic waste. According to Wipatayotin (2018), Thailand’s Department of Pollution
Control and Beverage Industry Association successfully removed the plastic seals from
water bottles sold in Thailand, suggesting that this can help reduce as much as 10% of
plastic waste generated per year.
As for promotion campaigns on the consumer side, Thai local authorities
have launched a 45-day plastic-bag reduction campaign in Bangkok supermarkets and
stores by offering a 1-baht discount for every 100-baht purchase if consumers bring
along their own cloth bags (Lee, 2010). In comparison, this activity was implemented
differently in European countries such as Germany, Finland, Spain where consumers
must pay a penalty fee of 0.05 to 0.50 euro if they want a shopping bag rather than
receive a discount like in Thailand (UNEP, 2018).
Moreover, there have also been movements from major coffee chains in
Thailand like Starbucks, Café Amazon, True Coffee, and Inthanin Coffee, offering a
discount to customers who bring their own personal cups (MGR Online, 2018).
2.4 Related models and theories
In the study, “Social Marketing Application of the Theory of Planned
Behavior”, by Muralidharan and Sheehan (2016), Theory of Planned Behavior model
(TPB) was used to explore the underlying motivations of consumers by assessing
whether a penalty or a reward was a more effective solution to cutting plastic bag usage.
The study found that each strategy impacted on the three components differently and
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that the penalty program had a higher impact on individual intention and, thus, behavior
to reduce negative effects on the nature.
Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) explained that an individual’s behavior
can be influenced by three key factors: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived
behavioral control (Ajzen, 2006). As shown in figure 2.1, ‘attitude’ is a person’s belief
and evaluation whether a particular set of behavior is positive or negative. ‘Subjective
norm’ is a person’s belief regarding the expectation of surrounding people or social
pressure. Lastly, ‘perceived behavioral control’ is a person’s belief of the level of
complication or easiness in executing such behavior.
2.5 Conclusion
As shown by many case studies, there is no perfect formula for which
would be the most successful method to influence the minimization of plastic
consumption since one method that worked in one country turned out to be a failure in
another country.
Due to limited research on this topic in Thailand, TPB model is helpful in
determining the important variables that affect the decision to perform plastic cups
reduction under the context of Thailand. This research also aims to assess Thai
consumers’ current adoption of plastic reduction campaign that many major coffee
chains introduced during the past few years.
Figure 2.1: Theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 2006)
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This study aims to fulfil this gap and assist Thai policy makers, retailers,
marketers, and related entities in understanding the underlying influences behind Thai
consumer perspectives towards reducing single-use plastic waste, specifically on plastic
cups, in order to be able to introduce the most effective strategy for each group of
consumers.
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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted using two research approaches which were
exploratory research and descriptive research. Figure 3.1 below shows the overall
process of this study.
Figure 3.1: Research process
3.1 Exploratory research
Exploratory research approach was used to explore the general behavior
and attitude of Thai consumers towards plastic waste reduction and to identify the key
influential factors that impact on consumer decision and, eventually, behavior in
sustaining environment. The finding was used as a guideline to further develop the
questionnaire for the descriptive research approach.
3.1.1 Desk research
The information was obtained through trusted sources such as United
Nations Environment Programme, several news portals, online articles, authenticated
websites, and Google Scholar. The desk research was conducted to obtain information
regarding the current plastic waste trend in Thailand, related policies and actions taken
by government officials, as well as marketing campaigns by private institutions that
aimed to create impacts on plastic consumption. Moreover, academic journals were
reviewed to develop general assumptions and identify possible factors that influence
consumers to perform green behavior.
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Objective of Desk Research
1. To identify current consumer adoption of single-use plastic cup reduction program
in Bangkok (Objective 1)
2. To identify key attributes that influence a reduction in plastic cup consumption
among non-personal cup users (Objective 3)
3.1.2 Interviews
Interviewing was separated into two phases. The first phase contained
short interviews with four respondents who were the active users of reusable personal
cups and refuse to use single-use plastic in their daily lives. The short interviews were
conducted on October 26 and 27, 2018. This provided general overview of current
consumer behavior and brief reasons for their actions. This information was concluded
and can be found in Appendix A. It was a helpful input to develop a more insightful in-
depth interview guideline as well as a reference for the descriptive research. Secondly,
10 in-depth interviews were conducted to get a deeper understanding of consumer
attitudes and behavior towards reducing single-use plastic. This method allowed the
researcher to probe deeper into consumers’ underlying motivations to adopt or reject
the reduction of plastic consumption. The in-depth interview guideline can be found in
Appendix B.
Objectives of Interviews
1. To identify current consumer adoption of single-use plastic cup reduction program
in Bangkok (Objective 1)
2. To identify key attributes that influence a reduction in plastic cup consumption
among non-personal cup users (Objective 3)
3.1.3 Observation
Observations were conducted at two coffeeshops around Bangkok to
avoid geographical bias. A total of 80 customers were observed in terms of their
behavior towards accepting or refusing to use plastic cups without any bias from the
research process. The observation results were used to develop the questionnaire.
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Objective of Observation
1. To identify current consumer adoption of single-use plastic cup reduction program
in Bangkok (Objective 1)
3.2 Descriptive research
The purpose of the descriptive research was to quantify the data as received
by the qualitative research through the use of a questionnaire.
3.2.1 Questionnaire
The questionnaire was designed based on key variables acquired from
the exploratory research and created through Survey Monkey. Questions can be found
in Appendix C. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed solely through the online
platform. Sampling plan and screening criteria will be discussed in the next section.
Objectives of Questionnaire
1. To identify current consumer adoption of single-use plastic cup reduction program
in Bangkok (Objective 1)
2. To identify characteristics of Thai consumers based on their psychographic,
demographic and behavior towards reduced consumption of single-use plastic cups
(Objective 2)
3. To identify key attributes that influence a reduction in plastic cup consumption
among non-personal cup users (Objective 3)
3.3 Target population
3.3.1 Recruiting criteria
In-depth interviews were conducted with Thai males and females who
purchase beverages from coffeeshops in Bangkok. Five of the respondents were non-
personal cup users and the other five respondents were personal cup users.
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In addition, the observation allowed no restriction on the targets’
characteristics and were completely randomized. Eighty customers who made a
purchase at targeted coffeeshops during the set period were observed.
As for questionnaire, the same criteria as those of the in-depth
interviews were applied. The total number of completed respondents was 236.
3.3.2 Recruiting methodology
All research approaches were conducted with non-probability
sample: convenient sampling and snowball sampling methods. The researcher’s
personal connection was used to recruit respondents, while references from the network
were leveraged to gain participation of the target population.
The total of 10 respondents was recruited for in-depth interviews
through telephone. The total of 300 questionnaires was distributed online via the
researcher’s contact; friends, families, and colleagues, and 236 completed responses
were received. Thus, the respondents can cover a wider range of demographics. In
addition, a pilot questionnaire was launched prior to distributing the actual version of
questionnaire to ensure understandability, time, and effectiveness of the questionnaire.
Table 3.1 below provides the overall sampling plan for each methodology.
Table 3.1: Sampling plan for each methodology
Methodology Collection
Method
Pilot Study Completed
Respondents
Detail
1. Exploratory In-depth
interview
- 10 people Telephone
interviews
Observation - 80 people Two
coffeeshops
2. Descriptive Questionnaire 5 people 236 people Online
distribution
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3.4 Analysis
Data analysis can be separated into two parts: qualitative and quantitative
data analysis plans. The outline of the relationship between key research variables is
also shown in Figure 3.2 below.
Qualitative research result was analyzed and used as a foundation to
develop quantitative research. The principles that were used in analyzing qualitative
data was the Five Key Principles in Analyzing Qualitative Data (Miller, 2018).
The quantitative research was analyzed using Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (SPSS). The statistical methods that were used include frequencies,
means, standard deviations, factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variances
(ANOVA), etc. This research focuses on identifying factors that can influence Thai
people to reduce single-use plastic cups.
Figure 3.2: Relationship between key research variables
The conceptual model above showed a list of important information that
was obtained from this research. Consumers’ profiles were identified from
psychographics, demographics and behavioral factor. The key triggers and barriers that
influence the personal cups adoption were identified for non-personal cup users.
Moreover, the degree of personal cup adoption among the current users and the
likelihood to use personal cup for non-personal cup users were determined.
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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Qualitative Analysis and Results
Two exploratory research methods, in-depth interviews and observations,
were conducted. In-depth interviews with five personal cup users and five non-personal
cup users provided a deeper insight to the consumer’s opinions and attitudes towards
using single-use plastic cups, while observations enabled the researcher to witness the
actual behavior of consumers without intervening in the process.
4.1.1 Results from in-depth interviews
From the in-depth interviews with personal cup users, it was found that
there were five variables that triggered them to start using reusable personal cups
instead of single-use plastic cups: environmental concern, discount for using personal
cups, company encouragement, peer influences, and cup design. In contrast, it was
found that there were four barriers that prevent non-personal cup users from adopting
reusable cups, including inconvenience, laziness to clean the cups, disbelief in the
impacts of reducing plastic, and low awareness in ability to bring own cups.
These triggers and barriers were included in the questionnaire to test with
non-personal cup users and to identify the potentially most impactful influences to be
manipulated in the future.
In addition, interesting results were found from in-depth interviews: all
of the non-personal cup users shared the same opinion about environmental issues that
their individual behavior of using plastic cups would not have significant impacts on
the environmental problem as a whole. Furthermore, all of the non-personal cup users
agreed that 10-baht discount policy provided by the store was not attractive enough to
make them sacrifice their convenience. Thus, consumer environmental concern, value
towards convenience, and the degree of price sensitivity should be included in the
questionnaire to identify the relationship between these psychographic characteristics
and the tendency to reduce plastic-cup use.
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4.1.2 Results from observations
A total of 80 observations were done in two different locations and time.
The first location was at Starbucks, The Mall Ramkhamheng, a shopping mall situated
on Ramkhamheng Road, on Friday 25th January 2019, 2PM – 4PM. From forty
customers that were observed, only one used his own personal cup.
The second location was at Starbucks, Q.House Lumpini, a complex with
combined functions of shopping mall and office building, on Monday 11th February
2019, 7:30AM – 8:00AM. Out of the 40 customers observed, a total of 20 customers
brought their own cups to the store.
As a result, location and time seem to play an important role in consumer
behavior in bringing their own cups to the coffeeshop. The variables identified in this
exploratory research were then included in the questionnaire.
4.2 Quantitative Analysis and Results
The questionnaire was designed to answer the following questions: (1)
How many people are adopting the plastic-cup reduction campaign? (2) Who are the
people who use and do not use personal cups? (3) Is it inconvenience, lack of awareness,
or lack of understanding in environmental problems that prevent consumers to use
reusable cups? And (4) Is it environmental problem awareness, monetary incentive,
penalty, or social pressure that can influence people?
The questionnaires were distributed to 300 respondents, 258 of whom
passed the screening questions. Nevertheless, only 236 respondents completed the
questionnaire. The majority of respondents were female, 44.5% of whom were below
30 years old. 67.8% of the respondents were single and about half graduated with
master’s degree or higher. Almost half of the respondents were employees in private
sector and the largest group of respondents earn more than 85,000 baht per month
following by 21.6% who earn between 50,001 – 85,000 baht per month. Detailed
demographics of the completed respondents can be found in Table 4.1 below.
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Table 4.1: Detailed demographics of completed respondents
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4.2.1 Research results according to objectives
Objective 1: To determine current consumer adoption of single-use plastic cup
reduction program in Bangkok.
The questionnaire results indicated that 53.81% of the respondents have
brought their own reusable cups to purchase beverages, while 46.19% of the
respondents had never done so. Thus, the first group is referred to as personal cup users
and the second group as non-personal cup users.
Table 4.2: Frequency and percentage of personal cup adoption rate
Count %
Have you ever brought your own
personal cup to purchase the beverages?
Yes 127 53.81%
No 109 46.19%
Moreover, the degree of personal cup adoption among the current personal
cup users was determined by the frequency of usage as shown in Table 4.3 below.
Among the 127 respondents who brought their own cups, 48% showed active
participation (6.30% every time and 41.73% most of the time) in bringing their own
cups, while another 52% did not actively do so (38.58% sometimes and 13.39% rarely
bring personal cups).
Table 4.3: Frequency and percentage of cup usage among personal cup users
Count %
How often do you bring you
own personal cup to purchase
the beverage?
Every time 8 6.30%
Most of the time 53 41.73%
Sometimes 49 38.58%
Rarely 17 13.39%
Objective 2: To identify characteristics of Thai consumers based on their
psychographic, demographic and behavior towards reduced consumption of single-use
plastic cups.
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Many attempts were done in order to segment consumers into groups by
behavioral, demographic and psychographic factors. When the segments were grouped
by demographic and behavioral factors such as age, income, education, and frequency
in purchasing beverages, there were no significant differences between each group’s
intention toward reducing single-use plastic cup consumption. However, psychographic
factors that describe consumer characteristics such as their environmental concern,
closeness to nature, price sensitivity, value of convenience, and degree of socialization
showed the clearest distinction towards tendency to reduce plastic cup consumption
between groups of consumers.
Objective 2.1: To determine consumer profiles based on their psychographics.
Factor Analysis
A total of 11 psychographic variables were used to perform dimension
reduction function with Principal Component Analysis as an extraction method and
Varimax with Kaiser Normalization as a rotation method. As shown in Table 4.4, the
psychographic variables have been grouped into four factors.
The first factor is named ‘environmental concern’ consisting of four
psychographic variables with loading factors ranging from 0.456 to 0.791. The second
factor is called ‘high spending’ consisting of three variables with loading factors
ranging from 0.568 to 0.810. The third factor is called ‘socially active’ consisting of
two variables with loading factors ranging from 0.783 to 0.811. The fourth factor is
called ‘egotism’ consisting of two variables with loading factors ranging from 0.706 to
0.805.
Table 4.4: Results of factor analysis of the consumers’ psychographics
F1:
Environment
al concern
F2:
High
Spending
F3:
Socially
Active
F4:
Egotism
I love the nature. .759
It is my responsibility to save the
environment. .791
Everyone’s contribution can create
positive environmental impact. .766
I prefer nature than cities. .456
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F1:
Environment
al concern
F2:
High
Spending
F3:
Socially
Active
F4:
Egotism
I am willing to pay higher price in
exchange for convenience. .778
I am willing to pay higher price for
better quality product. .810
I tend to go for products with the
cheapest price. -.568
I am always on trend. .811
I am easily influenced by others. .783
I am unique and make my own
choice. .706
I always use time wisely and
efficiently. .805
Cluster Analysis
These four psychographic factors were used to separate the respondents
into groups with K-means Clusters method. Three, four and five numbers of clusters
were tested to seek for the most suitable method in grouping the respondents with
similar responses. As a result, 4 clusters showed the clearest interpretation of grouping
with each segment profile as demonstrated in Table 4.5 below.
Table 4.5: Results of cluster analysis of consumer segmentation
Non-
conformist
Self-
centric
Price sensitive
Environmentalist
Big
Spender
F1: Environmental concern -.6417 -1.0490 .5231 .5967
F2: High Spending .4304 -.0256 -.9204 .7906
F3: Socially Active -.8945 .1458 .0191 .5347
F4: Egotism -.6898 .8118 .1572 -.2513
Segment 1: Nonconformist (N = 48, 20% of total respondents)
This group of people do not care about nature and society as they are not
concerned about environmental problems and tend to not follow trends nor be easily
influenced by others and campaigns. They also possess high spending characteristics,
preferring to pay higher price in return for convenience and quality.
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Segment 2: Self-centric (N = 46, 19% of total respondents)
This group of people are the most environmental unconcerned among all
groups, with a high level of egotism. This means that they think they are different and
highly believe in their own decisions. They tend to use time wisely and efficiently.
In addition, they do not care about nature and do not believe in their responsibility to
save the environment.
Segment 3: Price sensitive environmentalist (N = 77, 33% of total respondents)
This group is the largest segment among the four segments. They are the
most price sensitive and not willing to pay higher price in exchange for convenience
and quality. They are willing to tradeoff convenience for promotion or savings and tend
to go for the cheapest alternative. They also like to explore the nature and think it is
their responsibility to save the environment.
Segment 4: Big spender (N = 65, 28% of total respondents)
This group possess the highest level of ‘high spending’ characteristic,
which means they are willing to pay higher price in exchange for convenience and
quality product. However, they care for environment, social trend, and others’ opinions.
Objective 2.2: To determine consumer profiles based on their demographics – age,
gender, income, education, etc.
In order to understand deeper about each segment profile, characteristics
of four consumer groups were identified by demographic factors such as gender, marital
status, education, income, etc. From Table 4.6, it can be seen that there are few
distinctions among all clusters. The majority of respondents for all segments were
females. In terms of age, the majority of respondent in all groups were under 30 years
old, except for the price sensitive environmentalist segment where more than half of
the respondents were above 40. Also, more than 50% of all groups had a master’s
degree or higher, except for price sensitive environmentalist, 50.6% of which were
bachelor graduates. Private sector employee was the major occupation for all segments.
In addition, price sensitive environmentalist segment was composed of the highest
number of respondents (27.3%) who earned between 18,001 – 35,000 baht per month,
while 30.4% of self-centric segment earned between 50,001 – 85,000 baht, and 33.3%
of nonconformist and 35.4% of big spender earned more than 85,000 baht per month.
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Table 4.6: Frequency and percentage of demographics in the four clusters
Non-
conformist
Self-
centric
Price sensitive
environmentalist
Big
spender
Count % Count % Count % Count %
Sex
Female 35 72.9% 34 73.9% 64 83.1% 51 78.5%
Male 13 27.1% 12 26.1% 13 16.9% 14 21.5%
Ag
e
<= 29 23 47.9% 23 50.0% 20 26.0% 39 60.0%
30 - 39 11 22.9% 13 28.3% 14 18.2% 11 16.9%
40 - 49 8 16.7% 8 17.4% 30 39.0% 10 15.4%
50+ 6 12.5% 2 4.3% 13 16.9% 5 7.7%
Sta
tus
Single 34 70.8% 30 65.2% 46 59.7% 50 76.9%
Married 14 29.2% 15 32.6% 29 37.7% 13 20.0%
Separated 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
Divorced 0 0.0% 1 2.2% 2 2.6% 1 1.5%
Widowed 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 1.5%
Ed
uca
tio
na
l L
evel
Secondary
School or
under
0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
High School /
Vocational
School
3 6.3% 2 4.3% 4 5.2% 2 3.1%
Bachelor’s
Degree 16 33.3% 17 37.0% 39 50.6% 30 46.2%
Master’s
Degree or
higher
29 60.4% 27 58.7% 34 44.2% 33 50.8%
Cu
rren
t O
ccu
pa
tio
n
Student 6 12.5% 2 4.3% 2 2.6% 6 9.2%
Private sector 20 41.7% 24 52.2% 34 44.2% 31 47.7%
Government
sector 5 10.4% 4 8.7% 9 11.7% 5 7.7%
Educational
sector 1 2.1% 0 0.0% 4 5.2% 0 0.0%
Entrepreneur 9 18.8% 13 28.3% 20 26.0% 14 21.5%
Freelancer 5 10.4% 1 2.2% 5 6.5% 4 6.2%
Retired 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 1.5%
Unemployed 2 4.2% 2 4.3% 3 3.9% 4 6.2%
Inco
me
>18,001 4 8.3% 3 6.5% 5 6.5% 5 7.7%
18,001-35,000 11 22.9% 7 15.2% 21 27.3% 11 16.9%
35,001-50,000 8 16.7% 9 19.6% 19 24.7% 12 18.5%
50,001-85,000 9 18.8% 14 30.4% 14 18.2% 14 21.5%
> 85,000 16 33.3% 13 28.3% 18 23.4% 23 35.4%
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Objective 2.3: To determine consumer profiles based on their behavior.
Additional characteristics of the four consumer groups were identified with
drinking tea-and-coffee behavior, including frequency of drinking and place and time
of purchase. Consumers were also characterized by their past behavior in performing
other green activities, such as reduced uses of plastic bags and straws, participation in
plastic waste campaigns, sharing environmental information, etc.
According to Table 4.7, the distribution of drinking frequency was almost
uniform for all segments with one exception: the self-centric segment had lower number
of respondents who drink less than a cup a week. As for the time of purchase, the
majority of respondents purchased their beverages early in the morning. One interesting
finding is that 84.8% of the self-centric segment purchased their beverages at their usual
stores, highest among all the other groups, while only 62.3% of price sensitive
environmentalists purchased at the usual stores.
Table 4.7: Frequency and percentage of four clusters’ behavior in purchasing
beverages
Non-
conformist
Self-
centric
Price sensitive
environmentalist
Big
spender
Count % Count % Count % Count %
How often do
you purchase
coffee or tea per
week?
Less than 1 cup 12 25.0% 2 4.3% 18 23.4% 12 18.5%
1 – 2 cups 9 18.8% 15 32.6% 12 15.6% 19 29.2%
3 – 4 cups 14 29.2% 7 15.2% 18 23.4% 12 18.5%
5 – 6 cups 6 12.5% 12 26.1% 11 14.3% 14 21.5%
More than 6 cups 7 14.6% 10 21.7% 18 23.4% 8 12.3%
When do you
normally buy
your beverages?
Early in the
morning 23 47.9% 19 41.3% 47 61.0% 27 41.5%
Lunch time 4 8.3% 8 17.4% 9 11.7% 6 9.2%
Afternoon 11 22.9% 14 30.4% 9 11.7% 20 30.8%
Evening 2 4.2% 1 2.2% 0 0.0% 1 1.5%
Random 8 16.7% 4 8.7% 12 15.6% 11 16.9%
Place of purchase Random stores 15 31.3% 7 15.2% 29 37.7% 17 26.2%
Usual store 33 68.8% 39 84.8% 48 62.3% 48 73.8%
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From Table 4.8, price-sensitive environmentalists and big spenders clearly
showed a higher tendency to perform the other green behavior compared the other two
segments. For example, 79.2% and 73.8% of the former groups, respectively, brought
their own canvas bags and 33.8% and 36.9%, respectively, stated they shared
information about the plastic waste pollution. On the other hand, the nonconformist
segment showed the lowest amount of participation in every green activity.
Table 4.8: Past green behavior for each segment
Non-
conformist
Self-centric Price sensitive
environmentalist
Big spender
Count % Count % Count % Count %
Refuse to accept
plastic bag
No 4 8.3% 10 21.7% 3 3.9% 2 3.1%
Yes 44 91.7% 36 78.3% 74 96.1% 63 96.9%
Bring your own
canvas bag
No 21 43.8% 23 50.0% 16 20.8% 17 26.2%
Yes 27 56.3% 23 50.0% 61 79.2% 48 73.8%
Refuse to use straw No 18 37.5% 27 58.7% 38 49.4% 19 29.2%
Yes 30 62.5% 19 41.3% 39 50.6% 46 70.8%
Bring your own
reusable straw
No 45 93.8% 44 95.7% 71 92.2% 53 81.5%
Yes 3 6.3% 2 4.3% 6 7.8% 12 18.5%
Participate in plastic
waste campaign
No 46 95.8% 45 97.8% 72 93.5% 63 96.9%
Yes 2 4.2% 1 2.2% 5 6.5% 2 3.1%
Share plastic pollution
information
No 35 72.9% 43 93.5% 51 66.2% 41 63.1%
Yes 13 27.1% 3 6.5% 26 33.8% 24 36.9%
Objective 2.4: To determine consumer intention to adopt the use of personal cups in
each group
In order to measure each group’s consumer intention to adopt personal
cups, each segment was separated by whether they had or had not used reusable
personal cups before. As a result, price sensitive environmentalist is the largest group
of current adopters accounting for 34% of the total current users followed by big
spender (28%), nonconformist (20%) and self-centric (19%) as shown in Table 4.9.
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Table 4.9: Frequency of respondents categorized by psychographics and past personal
cup adoption behavior
Personal cup users Non-personal cup users
Count % Count %
1. Nonconformist 25 20% 23 21%
2. Self-centric 24 19% 22 20%
3. Price sensitive
environmentalist 43 34% 34 31%
4. Big spender 35 28% 30 28%
In order to understand each group’s intention towards reducing single-use
plastic cup consumptions, a question regarding their intention to use personal cups in
the future was asked to both users and non-users of personal cups.
From Table 4.10, the current personal cup users had higher intention to
continue their uses as opposed to the non-personal cup users. Moreover, price-sensitive
environmentalist’s means of intention to adopt of 4.44 among current users and 3.44
among non-users are significantly higher than the other groups, followed by the big-
spender segment’s score of 4.06 and 3.07 respectively. In contrast, the non-personal
cup users from nonconformist and self-centric segments showed negative intention to
adopt the use of personal cups.
Table 4.10: Intention to adopt personal cups among the current users and non-users
classified by psychographic factors
Personal cup users Non-personal cup users
Intention to continue using
personal cup in the future
Intention to adopt personal
cup in the future
Mean S.D. Mean S.D.
1. Nonconformist 3.84 0.99 2.96 0.98
2. Self-centric 3.83 1.13 2.64 0.66
3. Price sensitive
environmentalist 4.44 0.83 3.44 0.96
4. Big spender 4.06 1.03 3.07 0.74
F 2.97 4.18
Sig. 0.03 0.01
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Objective 3: To identify key attributes that influence a reduction in plastic cup
consumption among non-personal cup users.
Objective 3.1: To determine the triggers for each group of non-personal cup users.
Eight attributes were asked to the non-personal cup users to identify the
most impactful triggers including awareness of plastic waste impact on marine lives,
social pressure and influence, attractive cup design, monetary incentive and penalty.
The means of these attribute as shown in Table 4.11 were compared and ranked to come
up with top three influencing factors that would be most suitable to attract each group
of non-personal cup users to adopt the use of personal cups.
Table 4.11: Means of importance of triggers for each segment
Non-personal cup users
Non-
conformist Self-centric
Price sensitive
environmentalist
Big
spender
Mean Mean Mean Mean
News about marine life is
killed by plastic waste. 3.74 4.00 4.41 4.27
Image of famous people
using personal cups. 2.35 2.59 3.24 2.97
Friends started using
personal cup. 3.57 3.86 4.06 4.27
Your institution encourages
you to reduce plastic. 3.65 3.64 4.00 3.73
Government encourages you
to reduce plastic. 3.35 3.55 4.24 3.63
Attractive cup design. 3.17 3.77 4.03 3.83
Promote discount program
for bringing own cups. 3.91 4.00 4.32 4.10
Charge a fee on using plastic
cups. 3.52 3.73 3.85 4.10
For the nonconformist segment, promoting the discount program for
bringing personal cups is the best influential factor with the mean of 3.91 out of the
maximum score of 5, followed by news about dead marine lives (3.74) and
encouragement from their institutions (3.65).
As for the self-centric segment, despite the fact that they have the lowest
tendency to adopt the use of personal cups, promotion on discounting program (4.00)
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and marine lives news (4.00) are also the most impactful triggers, while the third most
impactful trigger goes to influence from friends (3.86).
For price-sensitive environmentalists, it can be seen that the scores for
these triggers are higher comparing to the means of other segments. The most impactful
trigger is marine lives news (4.41), followed by discount program promotion on cups
(4.32) and lastly, government encouragement on reducing plastic (4.24).
For the big spenders, marine life news and friend influences shared the top
scores of 4.27, followed by promoting discount program and charging a fee on plastic
cups (4.10).
Objective 3.2: To determine the barriers for each group of non-personal cup users.
Four barriers were asked to each group of consumers to identify reasons
that prevent them from adopting the use of personal cups, including a lack of awareness
about ability to use personal cups, laziness to wash the cups, inconvenience, and
disbelief in environmental impacts from using plastic cups.
The results show that all the segments share the same opinion that bringing
the cups is inconvenient, which acts as their top barrier. However, only two groups, the
self-centric and big spenders, agree that their laziness to wash the cup afterwards was
the barrier that prevented them from bring their reusable personal cups.
Table 4.12: Means of importance of barriers for each segment
Non-personal cup users
Non-
conformist
Self-
centric
Price sensitive
environmentalist
Big
spender
Mean Mean Mean Mean
I do not know that personal cup can
be used at the store. 1.70 2.18 2.12 1.80
I am lazy to wash the cup
afterwards. 3.04 3.77 2.47 3.30
It is inconvenient to take the cup
with me everywhere. 4.35 4.59 3.68 4.50
I disagree that saving plastic cup
helps saving the environmental. 1.70 1.86 1.74 1.50
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of results
From the quantitative research, about half of the respondents brought their
personal cups to purchase beverages at the stores, and 48% of this group showed
repeated, continuous active participation. On the other hand, about half of the
respondents never adopted the use of personal cups.
The respondents were classified into four groups of consumers according
to their psychographics – nonconformist, self-centric, price sensitive environmentalist
and big spender. There are few differences in terms of their demographics and tea-and-
coffee consumption behavior between these four groups. In contrast, there is a
significant difference in terms of their intention to reduce single-use plastic and adopt
personal cups: price sensitive environmentalists and big spenders showed the highest
potential to adopt the use of personal cups.
While there are some shared potential triggers among all the non-personal
cup users in all groups, like promoting discount campaign on personal cups and news
about plastic threat to marine lives, each group has their own unique potential trigger.
As for the barriers to adoption, all the groups agreed that inconvenience was the main
reason that prevented them from using personal cups. Furthermore, self-centric and big
spender segments agreed that it was also the laziness to wash the cups afterwards that
prevented them from using personal cups. The results and insights found were aimed
to make recommendation for policy makers and related marketers as shown in the
following section.
5.2 Implications for marketing managers and policy makers
It is recommended that tea-and-coffee store owners, marketers, and policy
makers who want to encourage the use of personal cups focus on ‘price sensitive
environmentalists’ as the primary target and ‘big spender’ as the secondary target. This
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is due to the fact that these two groups have the highest tendency to convert and become
personal cup users. Secondly, the price sensitive environmentalist has the lowest barrier
to adopt the personal cups. Thus, this group is the easiest segment that can be converted
into personal cup users.
5.2.1. Primary Target – Price sensitive environmentalist
According to their perceived effective triggers and psychographic
characteristics, price-sensitive environmentalists can be most influenced by the
combination of price incentive and threats of environmental problems. It is
recommended that both messages should be communicated, not just one or the other
since it would be more effective to influence this group of consumers to change their
current behavior. Thus, marketers and policy makers should focus on communicating
clear negative effects of single-use plastic cups on the environment and wildlife
together with immediate benefits such as discount that they would receive from
bringing their own personal cups.
Moreover, 23.5% of this group respondents stated that they were not
aware that some stores allowed the use of personal cups. This figure is the highest
among all the groups. Thus, information about monetary benefits of reducing use of
plastic cup and encouragement on using personal cups should be clearly presented at
each store. There is a high chance that this group of consumers will convert easily.
As inconvenience in carrying the cup is the only main barrier that
prevents this segment from adopting personal cups, it is recommended that policy
makers along with marketers develop and promote new cup designs that are easily
portable and foldable. Since the idea of personal cups, tumblers, and mugs is quite new
to the Thai community, a variety of cup designs is very limited and has not yet expanded
to cover everyone’s lifestyle.
5.2.2. Secondary Target – Big spender
According to their perceived effective triggers and psychographic
characteristics, big spenders can be most influenced by social pressure, knowledge
about environmental problems, and lastly monetary incentives. Since they are easily
influenced by friends and are less price sensitive, it is more important for marketers to
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focus on creating viral marketing campaigns that impact society as a whole. The more
people are aware of the campaign, the more likely this group will follow the trend and
adopt the use of personal cups.
In addition, this group places importance on convenience in their
life and is willing to pay higher price in exchange for convenience, so it is recommended
that more convenient cup designs or possible cup rental service be needed. The cup
rental service could also be packaged as a one-stop service that offers both reusable
cups and a cleaning service. Thus, this solution can provide both convenience and solve
another barrier of this segment which is the laziness in cleaning their cups afterwards.
However, this idea needs to be further tested with potential customers for its product-
market fit as well as its feasibility.
5.3 Implications for marketing academics
With the result of discount incentive being the top trigger for consumers,
the future study could consider investigating further into how much would be the
optimum price for both consumers and tea-and-coffee shop owners.
Moreover, the result suggested that Thai consumers prefer discount from
reducing plastic cups over penalty from using plastic cups as opposed to many other
international studies. This might be due to the fact that most Thai consumers are not
accustomed to the tax levy practice and the questionnaire responses were based on
respondents’ limited experience. Thus, future research could involve the studies on
stores that apply penalty fee in comparison to the stores that apply discount benefit.
This could result in a more accurate outcome as it involves real consumer behavior
rather than consumer perception.
This research only focused on reducing the use of single-use plastic cups.
However, it is possible to expand the study into other types of single-use plastic such
as drinking straws and water bottles to find the shared influential factors that ultimately
encourage Thai consumers to perform more sustainable behavior.
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5.4 Limitation of the study
Firstly, this study focused on environmental problems and involved a lot of
socially responsible questions, which can create respondent bias to answer honestly.
Secondly, this study only focused on the Bangkok area, which might pose
behavior bias in tea-and-coffee consumption as well as others consumer behavior
biases.
Thirdly, the non-probability convenience sampling method was used when
recruiting respondents, which could act as a limitation to representativeness of the
whole population. Especially, the proportion of people who adopted the use of personal
cups in this study could have been affected and cannot be generalized since the people
who are interested in this topic have higher tendency to help and participate in the
survey like this.
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APPENDICES
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APPENDIX A
SHORT INTERVIEW FINDINGS
Four in-depth interviews were conducted on October 26 and 27. Two of the
interviewees are the frequent users of eco-friendly alternatives for single-use plastic
while the other two are the non-current users of eco-friendly alternatives. All of the
interviewees are females aged 25 to 28 who live in Bangkok and were recruited through
convenient sampling method. The primary research was done to understand the general
consumer behavior and key factors that affect consumer decision on reducing single-
use plastic consumption to further design the questionnaire.
Interview results:
1. Both interviewees who are the frequent users of eco-friendly alternatives
mentioned that environmental concern was the main reason for their reduction
of plastic use.
2. The two frequent users of eco-friendly alternatives had different triggers that
converted them to being active on reducing plastic use. One was triggered by
online media influence, while the other was self-motivated after noticing a
large amount of plastic consumed in her household.
3. Both interviewees who are the frequent users of eco-friendly alternatives
mentioned that each type of single-use plastic (plastic bags, plastic cups and
drinking straws) poses a different level of difficulty in their attempt to reduce
its consumption. Thus, they have different attitude and behavior towards each
type of plastic products.
4. Both interviewees who do not use eco-friendly alternatives said that
inconvenience is the main reason that make them continue to use single-use
plastic.
5. All interviewees mentioned that price incentive is the least important variable
that can affect their decision on reducing the consumption of single-use plastic.
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APPENDIX B
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW GUIDELINE
1. Are you the regular customer of coffeeshop?
2. Have you ever participated in reducing single-use plastic?
3. If yes,
a. Please describe your normal routine that can reduce plastic usage
b. How often do you do it? Is there any specific condition?
c. When did you start such behavior?
d. What was the key influential factor for you to reduce plastic waste?
e. Is the trigger different among all plastic products?
f. In your opinion, what kind of media or impact would be most effective
in promoting plastic waste reduction
4. If no,
a. Have you ever seen any promotional media regarding reducing plastic?
b. What is your thought on such campaign?
c. What is the main barrier that prevent you from reducing plastic?
d. In your opinion, what kind of media or impact would be most effective
in promoting plastic waste reduction?
5. Demographics
a. Age
b. Gender
c. Education
d. Income
e. Occupation
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APPENDIX C
QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN
This survey is a part of the Independent Study project under Master of
Marketing, Thammasat University. The objective is to study the behavior of consumer
on reducing single-use plastic cup in the tea-and-coffee store.
Please answer each question as honestly as possible. All of the information
will be kept confidential and be used for academic purpose only.
The questions will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
Screening questions:
1. Have you ever purchased beverages from tea-and-coffee store within the past
year? (excluding bubble tea shop)
a. Yes
b. No
2. Do you currently live in Bangkok and Metropolitan area?
a. Yes
b. No
General Questions:
3. How often do you purchase coffee or tea (excluding bubble tea)?
a. Less than 1 cup a week
b. 1 – 2 cups a week
c. 3 – 4 cups a week
d. 5 – 6 cups a week
e. More than 6 cups a week
4. Where do you normally purchase your beverages?
Never Less
than 1
cup a
week
1 – 2
cups a
week
3 – 4
cups a
week
5 – 6
cups a
week
More
than 6
cups a
week
Starbucks
Café Amazon
Inthanin
Coffee
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Never Less
than 1
cup a
week
1 – 2
cups a
week
3 – 4
cups a
week
5 – 6
cups a
week
More
than 6
cups a
week
True Coffee
Black
Canyon
Street vendor
Others
5. When do you normally buy your beverages?
a. Early in the morning before work/school
b. Lunch time
c. Afternoon
d. Evening
e. Random
6. Which of the following statement describe you the best?
a. I normally buy beverages from the usual tea-and-coffee store near my
workplace/school.
b. I don’t stick to one store.
“Personal cup or personal tumbler is the reusable container that customer bring on
their own to purchase beverages at the store.”
7. In the past 3 months, have you ever brought your own personal cup to
purchase the beverages?
a. Yes (Continue to Question 8)
b. No (Go to Question 13)
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Section A: This section is for respondents who answer ‘Yes’ to Question 7.
8. How often do you bring you own personal cup to purchase the beverage?
a. Every time
b. Most of the time
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely
9. How strongly do you agree that these statements are the major reasons that
drive you to bring your own cups? (Please rate 1 to 5, 1 = strongly disagree, 2
= disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree)
a. There is a discount for bringing own cup.
b. Environmental problem from plastic waste.
c. My company/school encourages me to use my own cup.
d. Many people around me bring their own cups.
e. The cup design is cute and I want to use it.
f. Others, please specify………….
10. Please rate how effective is each media campaign in driving people toward
reducing plastic and bringing their own cup? (Please rate 1 to 5, 1 = strongly
disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree)
a. News about marine life is killed by plastic waste.
b. Image of famous people using personal cups.
c. Friends started using personal cup.
d. Your own company encourages you to reduce plastic.
e. Government encourages you to reduce plastic.
f. Attractive cup design.
g. Promote discount program for bringing own cups.
h. Levy on using plastic cups.
i. Others, please specify
11. If tea-and-coffee store does not offer any discount for personal cup, will you
still bring your own cup to the store?
a. Yes
b. No
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12. How likely are you to continue using personal cup in the next 3 months?
a. Extremely unlikely
b. Very unlikely
c. Moderately likely
d. Very likely
e. Extremely likely
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Section B: This section is for respondents who answer ‘No’ to Question 7 stating
they have never brought their own personal cup to the store.
13. How strongly do you agree with the following statements? (Please rate 1 to 5,
1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree)
“I do not bring my own personal cup because…”
a. I do not know that personal cup can be used at the store.
b. I am lazy to wash the cup afterwards.
c. It is inconvenient to take the cup with me everywhere.
d. I do not think that saving a cup a day makes a big environmental
impact.
14. How likely are you to adopt the use of personal cup within next year?
a. Extremely likely
b. Very likely
c. Moderately likely
d. Very unlikely
e. Extremely unlikely
15. How strongly do you agree that the following statements could be the triggers
that influence you to bring your own cup? (Please rate 1 to 5, 1 = strongly
disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree)
a. News about marine life is killed by plastic waste.
b. Image of famous people using personal cups.
c. Friends started using personal cup.
d. Your own company encourages you to reduce plastic.
e. Government encourages you to reduce plastic.
f. Attractive cup design.
g. Promote discount program for bringing own cups.
h. Levy on using plastic cups.
i. Others, please specify
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Section C: This section is to identify ALL respondents’ psychographics and
demographics.
16. Please rate “5” for statements that best describe you and “1” for statements
that do not describe you at all).
a. I love the nature.
b. It is my responsibility to save the environment.
c. Every single contribution can create positive environmental impact.
d. I like exploring in the nature rather than the cities.
e. I am willing to pay higher price in exchange for convenience.
f. I am willing to pay higher price for better quality product.
g. I tend to go for product with the cheapest price.
h. I always use time wisely and efficiently.
i. I am always on trend.
j. I am unique and make my own choice.
k. I am easily influenced by others.
17. How strongly do you agree that reducing plastic consumption can reduce
environmental problem?
a. Strongly disagree
b. Disagree
c. Neutral
d. Agree
e. Strongly agree
18. Which of the following statements have you performed before (Can select
more than 1)
a. Refuse to accept plastic bag at supermarket or convenience store
b. Bring your own canvas bag
c. Refuse to use straw
d. Bring your own reusable straw
e. Participate in plastic waste collection campaign
f. Share information about plastic waste pollution and related information
to the others
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Your personal information and responses will be strictly kept anonymous and
confidential.
19. Gender
a. Male
b. Female
c. Other
20. Age
21. Marital Status
a. Single
b. Married
c. Separated
d. Divorced
e. Widowed
22. Highest or current level of education
a. Primary School or under
b. Secondary School
c. High School / Vocational School
d. Bachelor’s Degree
e. Master’s Degree or higher
23. Current occupation
a. Student
b. Private sector employee
c. Government officer / State enterprise officer
d. Teacher / Professor / Educational staff
e. Entrepreneur
f. Freelancer
g. Retired
h. Unemployed
i. Other (please specify: _____________________)
24. Do you normally drive?
a. Yes
b. No
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25. Range of your monthly personal income
a. Less than 18,001 Baht per month
b. 18,001 – 35,000 Baht per month
c. 35,001 – 50,000 Baht per month
d. 50,001 – 85,000 Baht per month
e. more than 85,000 Baht per month
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BIOGRAPHY
Name Miss Panchalee Areethamsirikul
Date of Birth November 15, 1990
Educational Attainment 2012: Bachelor of Business Administration,
Chulalongkorn University
Work Position Business Development (2017 – Present)
Ek Chai Distribution Co., Ltd.
Work Experiences Analyst (2013 – 2015)
Hay Group Limited
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