Impact of online-based information and interaction to proenvironmental behavior on plastic pollution

The impact of virtual dissemination and interaction through online-based plastics sustainability groups is analyzed through its effect on behavior of consumers. The assessment was done through an online general population survey that yielded 213 respondents who are interested or conscious about plastic pollution, of which, 40 respondents are part of online proenvironmental behavior communities. Results yielded that upon exposure to interactive and dynamic information sharing which is the usual nature of online proenvironmental behavior communities, the respondents generally registered more positive outlook and intent towards their future plastic consumption. Moreover, actual proenvironmental behavioral practices on plastics sustainability and recycling recorded an overall increase after joining online proenvironmental behavior communities. This study considers seven different proenvironmental behavior practices and has found that on average, there is a 12.86 percentage point increase in respondents who practice these either often or always, with very high compliance rates for waste segregation (70%), reuse plastic packaging (80%), bring your own bag (82.5%), and bring your own water bottle (90%). Thus, it can be concluded that online proenvironmental behavior communities can be an effective avenue for plastics sustainability advocacies, as proenvironmental behavioral change could be an outcome of value co-creation emanating from moral identity and value theory, which may as well be derived virtually.