Professional Report Assignment Sample
ANALYSIS OF THE CHANGING BEHAVIOUR OF CONSUMERS TOWARDS USING PLASTIC BAGS AND RESEARCH PROCESS
Component One: A critical comparison
Introduction
The present world has suffered a lot from serious problems, one of which is using plastic bags. Customers have updated individual knowledge and intend to use such material which is recyclable and environmentally friendly. Plastic bags not only harm the environment but are also expensive too. For that reason, customers changed their interest in it. In this comparison, two different articles have been chosen that help to know about the change. The article of 2014 has discussed the increasing charges of plastic bags that convince customers to think about other substitutes. And the second article of 2017 indicated that the customers are really worried about the harmfulness of plastics to the environment. These two articles are well-received that the discussion has chosen these particular two articles.
The topic was explored in the first article the attitudes of customers toward using plastic and clothing bags. The paper has examined the consumer attitudes and behavior’s toward using clothing and plastic bags in Eskisehir, Turkey. The research has been analyzed with the environmental consciousness of consumers regarding plastic bags. Along with that, the social pressure on people and support for banning plastic bags have been explored with structural equation models.
The 2nd article has been impacting plastic bags charges to motivate and behavior’s of consumers in plastic bag banning. Two field studies were conducted on the effect of plastic bag charges in Buenos Aires City, Argentina. Factors underlying policy support have been explored in the paper, the highlighting benefits of the changes in environmental sustainability.
Discussion
The entire discussion will be about such things related to plastic usage. The significance of plastic is that it cannot be destroyed or cannot rot. According to He et al. (2021), it is an eternal characteristic of plastic that it only burns to destroy otherwise it remains unchanged. In the introduction, it has been mentioned that a comparison of two questions will be included in the discussion. The first journal article “Charges for plastic bags: Motivational and behavioral effects. Journal of Environmental Psychology” mentioned that the increasing rate of plastic has spread a great influence over the behavior of the customers. In this article, the subject has included the pricing policies of plastics, the carrier plastic bags’ usage, changing behavior of the customers towards carrier plastic bags. On the other hand, the second journal “Consumer attitudes on the use of plastic and cloth bags. Environment, Development, and Sustainability” has enlightened some other sides. The cloth bags made with plastic have a great impact on the environment. The customers who are conscious of the consequences of using plastics and feel social pressure are the main target samples of this research. It can be said that the two articles are on the same subject. The importance of these two articles is that both analyses have captured the issues through which the present world is suffering. There are many efficient ways to make a research work successful for which this analysis also follows the same structure to balance the equity of the two research. For making this competition stronger and thought-full every feature needs to be analyzed and enlightened. Both articles have used a primary research process for which they can communicate with all the samples more accurately. The customers who refuse to use plastic bags as cloth bags have different opinions about this subject. All these opinions also thoughtful and appropriate that it will be better. According to McDonald et al. (2019) With precise communication, a team can make a research agreement that brings efficiency to the work. The research only gets accuracy if it targets the correct points. At the time of research, some unnecessary subjects come into mind about its authenticity. Devlieghere and Roose, (2019) mentioned that Experienced researchers are capable of grabbing transparency of the information due to their expertise. The comparison is also dependent on the features. Lastly, research work is not the work of an individual person but teamwork. For that reason, the researchers were walking under a research work that has to approach teamwork over individuality. The thing that most matters in research work are the authenticity of information and data. According to Alzantot, et al. (2018) the more accuracy in data can be maintained by the research, the possibility of success increases automatically. So, researchers have to keep in mind and do individual work. Through the articles, it has been proven that In the future, there is a possibility of great destruction to the environment. For which proper initiatives have to be taken.
Both papers have been followed with different methodological approaches; in the first article, the research has been followed up with a secondary quantitative approach. In the 2nd article, the main research approach has been followed by a mixed-method approach. Both types of research have been followed up with secondary and primary research approaches. However, the core difference between both approaches is the 1st article has been followed up with a secondary quantitative research approach with the selection of primary survey data from secondary sources (Arı and Yılmaz, 2017). In the research on consumers’ attitudes toward using plastic bags and clothes bags, the observation has been followed up on the survey data where the participants have been selected randomly with a simple random sampling technique. The sample comprised 321 individuals who have views on the socioeconomic differences in their neighborhood.
The first article survey has been selected as the survey conducted by CNBC-e-Business magazine with 750,000, population and the behavioral questionnaire regarding has been compromised in the research. Based on the behavioural questionnaire, relevant literature has been involved in the research (Jayaraman et al. 2011; Ohtomo and Hirose, 2007; Ohtomo and Ohnuma, 2014). The questions on demographic characteristics and data collection tools were based on the individuals related to the research area. A dataset has been collected on the use of supermarket and grocery shopping and the number of plastic bottles used weekly. The research has included a pilot study, and the first pilot study was conducted with 80 participants with a set of questions and collection tools. A five-point Likert scale was used while studying, and some other questions were amended in the study area. A Cronbach’s alpha coefficient has been followed up in the study area, and the measurement was calculated to be 0.843. As opined by Hoekstra (2019), Cronbach’s alpha is the most effective way to use and measure researched data in investigating the reliability of measurement instruments. Based on the 80 individuals, the reliability criterion on the date set tools was comprehended in the study area.
The 2nd article has been followed up with two study areas; the first study has been followed up with a primary observation method for exploring plastic bag charges and their effect on consumers. On the other hand, the 2nd study was followed up with a primary survey technique (Jakovcevic et al. 2014). The 1st study was followed with a mixed-method approach where qualitative research papers have been followed up with changes across time. The quantitative approach was followed as a secondary quantitative approach with 20% expected frequencies (Arı and Yılmaz, 2017). The research area has been conducted with an observation research approach by observing buyers’ attitudes six supermarkets and 457 consumers were observed in the study area. The data collection took place from October 14th to December 16th with three sessions, and a minimum of 20 records were constructed in each session. Four hundred fifty-seven behavioural observations have been conducted with quantitative data analysis approach data were categorised as own bag, plastic bags, mixed-used and others. As opined by Gaboardi and Rogers (2018), research designing with a chi-square hypothesis is modelled up with differential contingency and develops an individual statistics value. Based on the data categorisation, the Chi-square tests method has been followed as the primary quantitative approach.
Hence, observation and survey research techniques have been followed in both articles. However, data analysis of both articles has been followed up with different analysis approaches. In the 1st article, the data analysis consisted of the ANOVA data analysis technique; on the other hand, the 2nd article has been followed up with the Chi-Square testing. A common phase of research areas consisted of different studies. Where in the first article, the research was conducted in three different studies; on the other hand, research in the 2nd article was followed by two studies. Based on the analysis of research methods, the research method framework in the 2nd article is more appreciated as one for the development of the research as it was impermeable with a mixed-method approach. As opined by Onghena et al. (2019), the mixed-method approach is useful in involving various kinds of information within research. In that way, both qualitative and quantitative approaches have been useful in developing research with a range of data and information in the research.
In both research developments, the focus of the studies has been consistent with public attitudes towards plastic use. Precisely, public opinions on plastic use have been measured in the study area. For instance, in the first article, consumers were unperturbed by public campaigns, and the optimism of consumers has been explored as an environmental and health hazard. In the 2nd article, evidence that indicates public support for the plastic bag changer has been explored. The major concern of the paper was to gain public opinion on plastic use charges and policies regarding plastic bags use. In order to develop a strong base for public opinion on the plastic charge, a range of government actions and policies have been explored (Muthu, Li, Hu and Mok, 2011; Teuten et al. 2009).
However, in the 2nd article, the public opinion on plastic use has been explored with direct interactions with respondents, whereas in the first article, public opinion on secondary publication has been explored. Along with that, both articles have been explored the government initiation of plastic use. For instance, in the 1st article, BYOB intentions of the Chinese government have been explored. Where in the 2nd article, governmental advertising campaigns conducted by Ireland have been explored. The core difference between both articles was the 2nd article had been investigated the opinions of the public on government initiatives. However, in the first article, government initiatives have been outlined differently from the other sections of the study.
Both articles have been reviewed in journals with a wide range of data relevant from 1980 to 2013. In the first article, 49 references were used, and most of the data were reviewed articles. A wide range of data on organisational behaviour and human decision, quality of plastic shopping bag waste and pro-environmental behaviours of consumers have been involved. Consumers’ intentions on plastic use and factors on the intention-behaviour of consumers have been explored in the paper with the help of supportive articles. Most of the supportive articles were peer reviewed journals, and along with that, news articles have been explored as the secondary database. All the references were correctly followed in the article for study development, and an adequate presentation of the theoretical research presentation has been outlined in the study area.
In the 2nd article, the data set has been explored with a vast range of data relevance, and here a total of 36 references have been used in the research. Most of the research was peer reviewed papers regarding plastic use, environmental concern on plastic reduction, promotion of energy conservation and acceptability of plastic use. The supportive articles have a wide range of relevance and articles were selected from 1980 to 2012, and a variety of papers have been reviewed. Most of the supportive articles have been used as the comparative findings’ presentation with the collected data set.
The major concern of the first article was to provide an effective evaluation of the consumers’ attitude toward using plastic and clothing bags. The significance of the article can be outlined as making students aware of the consumers’ opinions on plastic use. On the other hand, the 2nd article is concerned with the impact plastic charges have on users. Here a range of plastic reduction policies and environmental conservation strategies have been explored. The main difference between the significance of both articles is that the first article is only about the attitude of consumers toward environmental conservation. On the other hand, the 2nd article has explored the attitude of consumers towards plastic charges; here are the major differences between both articles. It has been seen; people often have positive opinions on reducing plastic. However, when it is the question of being charged for plastic use, consumers do not always rely on the newly implemented policies. Here the significance of both articles can be outlined as the exploration of the attitude of consumers will allow authorities to create and implement new policies and initiatives for consumers. On the other hand, the attitude of consumers toward plastic charges can be helpful in reframing government policies on plastic use.
Ethical consideration
The research work has promised to make all the work with proper security. It also states that the data and information shared by the samples will be preserved with great confidentiality. As both the search work has included primary data collection the persons who are added with the research work have been promised that all the personal information will be secure with great efficiency that any kind of fraud does not take place. The things that will be maintained in the research work are honesty, integrity, openness, objectivity, and intellectual property. The two articles that has been included have provided some proportions that help to do the work more accurately.
Between these two articles, there is a certain time gap that makes this analysis proper. The first article that was published in 2014 has maintained a specific problem related to plastic usage but in the second article that was published in 2017, there is an analysis of another issue of plastic usage. The time between the article is not very long so that the accuracy can easily be maintained. Every research works follows such a way that makes work more accurate. So that all these things have been maintained in this analysis of comparison.
The mentioned two articles have been discussed appropriately in this elaboration. The analyses indicated that there are many issues related to using plastic bags in food packaging which need to be mitigated. For making this analysis more structured some points have been added that are greater related to the topic and the requirements. Firstly, the skills needed in research work by the research have been mentioned. This thing has cleared out all the queries that frequently occur at the time of analyzing a researcher’s expertise. After that, the ‘big issues’ related to plastic have been analyzed. Bioethics and ethics are two components that have great importance in a research job. These three sections have made a clear path to analyze the actual relation of the researcher’s expertise and analyze big issues of a particular area. Only the time can be managed by the researchers and all the requirements can be fulfilled with great accuracy. Buy this process the scientific comparison has been done and in further it will also increase many scopes that can be nurtured.
Component 2: Blog on the future field
Responsible for Covid-19/ Irresponsible for waste reduction
Plastic is the most effective environmental pollutant and has become a fascinating topic for environmental activists. The proliferation of products packaged is the major source of pollution, and however, plastic packaging has become an inseparable part of business life. The increasing consumption of product packages has become a major concern for environmental sustainability (Chirani et al. 2021). The lightweight, easy to use, and practical usage of plastic have become an attractive part of consumers, and businesses are majorly using it for attracting customers to their brand. Along with that, businesses are vastly using plastic for increasing product sustainability, and businesses have less attention toward minimising product packaging. As per further reports, the UK alone produces 4.9 million metric tons of plastic waste from product packaging each year (Statista.com, 2021). However, the United States of America has become the major producer of plastic waste, and China is the largest region for single use plastic production. Here, serious attention to plastic waste reduction needs to be given, and here the concern needs to be taken by the consumers first.
Figure 1: Plastic waste in the UK
(Source: Statista.com, 2021)
Consumers are the largest chain in plastic waste production, and this is why consumers are the first concern while taking the initiative on plastic waste reduction. The cycle of plastic use and production can be broken by awakening every single plastic user in the world. As per further reports, a single consumer in the UK alone produces about 36 kilograms of plastic packaging waste in a year (Statista.com, 2021). Hence, in order to take initiatives on plastic production, consumers are the first who need to be awakened to plastic use reduction. Awareness is one’s consciousness of things which primary targets while obtaining customers’ attention toward anything.
Both businesses and consumers find glass a less effective substitute for plastic packaging. For instance, consumers find it less portable, whereas companies are finding it a less cost-effective process. Major groups of companies are still unconcerned about reducing plastic packaging. Companies like Unilever has given examples of the plastic reduction from their packaging. For instance, currently, Unilever is using at least 25 per cent recycled plastic in its product packaging and promoting environmental sustainability (Unileverusa.com, 2021).
Image 1: Plastic waste created by one household in the lockdown
(Source: Inews.co.uk, 2020)
In the early period of Covid-19, a trend was seen to be aware of plastic use as the pandemic affected the psychology of people toward environmental sustainability. However, less effectiveness of environmental awareness has been seen after the Covid-19 situation. Instead of this, the enormous demand for personal protective equipment and masks has increased waste production. On the other hand, takeaway and home delivery services have additionally increased waste production in the pandemic situation. On the other hand, homemade plastic waste has reached a new low level in the lockdown situation. As per a further report, the generation of household plastic has jumped by 29% in the lockdown period in the UK (Inews.co.uk, 2020). A major change has been seen in the use of single-use plastic bags, food packaging and single-use masks. The waste production on single-use masks by 35% in the pandemic situation compared to pre-pandemic situations (Leal Filho et al. 2021). Hence, a broad difference in plastic waste generation has been seen in the Covid-19 situation, and the lockdown has given several ways in plastic waste production.
Figure 2: Change in consumption of plastic materials in lockdown
(Source: Leal Filho et al. 2021)
Ecological attitudes of people are changing, however, there are many miles that need to be followed. Consumers often try to reduce plastic use; however, the major issue with stepping a level forward is they have a lack of options as substitutes for plastic packaging. An easy substitute for plastic packaging is glass packaging. The UK government has already taken major steps for reducing plastic waste reduction such as retraining in single use plastic products, banning microbeads and campaigns for increasing consumers’ awareness (Napper and Thompson, 2020). However, there is less awareness of plastic use minimisation among consumers. I think the initiatives taken by the government would not be enough if they do not impose these plastic reduction policies at the ground level. I would like to research the impression of government initiatives on consumers. In future research, I would like to highlight loopholes in the government legislation by which consumers are not aware of plastic use reduction. With this insight knowledge, I would like to draw the attention of consumers to the benefits of plastic reduction to environmental sustainability.
Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson is a famous American Biologist born in Springdale, Pennsylvania, on 27, 1907. Rachel Carson is well known for her environmental and pollution writing and her awareness of the natural history of the sea. She has a deep interest in the natural world, and with an aim, she changed her major study subject from English to Biology at Pennsylvania College for Women (Nfei.org, 2020). In 1936 Carson was appointed as an aquatic biologist in the Bureau of Fisheries, USA. The outlook of the environmental movement started in 1960, and soon she was inspired by environmental writing. Her first serialised writing was published as Silent Spring in The New Yorkers in 1962. Carson stated in Silent Spring that the planetary ecosystem is reaching its end. However, it can be sustained by limiting environmental impacts (Rachelcarson.org, 2022). Throughout her life, she has been a part of many environmental movements. Her writings were always to help people start to think about the ecosystems. Throughout her life, Carson was engaged with ’emotionalism’ and ‘gross distortion’, which means without a great emotional change, it would not be possible to bring a big change. Her environmental writings were influential, however, before her death had not had the opportunity to see any substantive results on the environmental issue. However, her writing is still praised for the remarkable combination of scientific accuracy with environmental issues.
Reference list
Component One
Alzantot, M., Balaji, B. and Srivastava, M., 2018. Did you hear that? adversarial examples against automatic speech recognition. arXiv preprint arXiv:1801.00554.
Devlieghere, J. and Roose, R., 2019. Documenting practices in human service organisations through information systems: When the quest for visibility ends in darkness. Social Inclusion, 7(1), pp.207-217.
He, W., Layton, A.C., Creasy, T.S. and Borges, A., 2021. Resistance to Opportunities of Plastic Recycling. Enquiry The ARCC Journal for Architectural Research, 18(2), pp.51-72.
Hoekstra, R., Vugteveen, J., Warrens, M.J. and Kruyen, P.M., 2019. An empirical analysis of alleged misunderstandings of coefficient alpha. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 22(4), pp.351-364.
Jayaraman, K., Hasnah, H., Sung, G. B., and Lin, S. K. 2011. Consumer reflections on the usage of plastic bags to parcel hot edible items: An empirical study in Malaysia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19, pp.1527–1535.
McDonald, N., Schoenebeck, S. and Forte, A., 2019. Reliability and inter-rater reliability in qualitative research: Norms and guidelines for CSCW and HCI practice. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 3(CSCW), pp.1-23.
Muthu, S. S., Li, Y., Hu, J. Y., and Mok, P. Y. 2011. Carbon footprint of shopping (grocery) bags in China, Hong Kong and India. Atmospheric Environment, 45(2), pp.469-475. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.09.054
Muthu, S. S., Li, Y., Hu, J. Y., and Mok, P. Y. 2011. Carbon footprint of shopping (grocery) bags in China, Hong Kong and India. Atmospheric Environment, 45(2), pp.469-475. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.09.05
Ohtomo, S., and Hirose, Y. 2007. The dual-process of reactive and international decision-making involved in eco-friendly behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27, pp.117–125.
Ohtomo, S., and Ohnuma, S. 2014. Psychological interventional approach for reduce resource consumption: Reducing plastic bag usage at supermarkets. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 84, pp.57–65.
Onghena, P., Maes, B. and Heyvaert, M., 2019. Mixed methods single case research: State of the art and future directions. Journal of mixed methods research, 13(4), pp.461-480.
Teuten, E. L., Saquing, J. M., Knappe, D. R. U., Barlaz, M. A., Jonsson, S., Björn, A., Rowland, S. J., Thompson, R. C., Galloway, T. S., Yamashita, T., Ochi, D., Yutaka Watanuki, Y., Moore, C., Hung Viet, P., Tana, T. S., Prudente, M., Boonyatumanond, R., Zakaria, M. P., Akkhavong, K., Ogata, Y., Hirai, H., Iwasa, S., Mizukawa, K., Hagino, Y., MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 34 Imamura, A., Saha, M. & Takada, H. 2009. Transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and wildlife. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 364, 2027-2045. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0248
Component Two
Chirani, M.R., Kowsari, E., Teymourian, T. and Ramakrishna, S., 2021. Environmental impact of increased soap consumption during COVID-19 pandemic: Biodegradable soap production and sustainable packaging. Science of The Total Environment, 796, p.149013.
Inews.co.uk, 2020. Household plastic waste jumps 29% during lockdown. https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/household-plastic-waste-jumps-lockdown-recycling-everyday-plastic-575889
Leal Filho, W., Salvia, A.L., Minhas, A., Paço, A. and Dias-Ferreira, C., 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic and single-use plastic waste in households: A preliminary study. Science of the Total Environment, 793, p.148571.
Napper, I.E. and Thompson, R.C., 2020. Plastic debris in the marine environment: history and future challenges. Global Challenges, 4(6), p.1900081.
Nfei.org, 2020. Rachel Carson. https://www.nfei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/woolbrightrachel-carson.pdf
Rachelcarson.org, 2022. Silent Spring. http://www.rachelcarson.org/SilentSpring.aspx
Statista.com, 2021. Plastic waste in the UK – statistics & facts. https://www.statista.com/topics/4918/plastic-waste-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/#dossierKeyfigures
Unileverusa.com, 2021. Unilever NA Investment Will Recover Half of Plastic Packaging Footprint. https://www.unileverusa.com/news/press-releases/2021/unilever-na-investment-will-recover-half-of-plastic-packaging-footprint/
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