Consumer Behaviour in Regard to Recycling of Green Secondary Packaging in Kenya. International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research

Abstract

Kenya aspires to become a middle-income economy by 2030, and as a result the government through NEMA is working extra hard to have a clean environment before then. There has been widespread plastic bags littering throughout the country, and as a result plastic waste issues have attracted widespread concern and attention in Kenya for the last five years. This has rekindled the idea of green marketing right from product/service design, packaging to distribution through retail outlets.A lot of research has been done on effects of characteristics of primary packaging on purchase behaviorin both developed and developing countries. However, from the accessible literature, there is no quantitative teststo show the factors driving post-purchase behavior in respect to recycling of packaging by shoppers in Kenya. This study investigated the effects of packaging characteristics and information processing on shoppers’’ post-purchase decisions in regard to recycling of secondary packaging in Kenya. Shoppers personal characteristics were controlled, and the study adopted a survey design where a sample of 600supermarket shoppers in three Nairobi metropolitan towns of Kiambu, Ruiru and Thika were interviewed using structured questionnaires. Results were analyzed using regression analysis method, and the results shows indicated that, size have a positive and significant effect on the post-purchase behavior towards green secondary packaging mainly recycling behavior, (coefficient 0. 0.503 p-value = 0.000). Graphics had significant effect on recycling behavior (Coefficient 0.264, p-value 0.000). Price had positive and significant effect on recycling behavior (Co-efficient 1.282, p- value= 0.000). Information related to brand name and logo has positive but insignificant effect on the recycling behavior of green secondary packaging. Technology related attributes (durability) had positive and significant effect on the recycling behavior (Coefficient 1.143, p-value = 0.000).Information processing has positive and significant effect on recycling behavior (Coefficient 0.605, p-value 0.000). Individual Consumer variables except for the gender (Coefficient -040, p-value 0.171) had positive and significant effect on recycling behavior. Knowledge generated in this study is important to the business community in Kenya and the Kenyan government in that, manufacturers and retailers will use it to plan their marketing strategies in order to promote the green marketing agenda, while the government through NEMA will use it as an eye opener when developing policies to guide waste disposal. Based on the results, conclusion can be reached that green secondary packaging is an intervention by NEMA that has contributed to the acceptance of recycling of green packaging and it will go a long way in improving the environment.