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This paper empirically examines whether proscription of a habitual consumption item can act as a mechanism to develop anti-consumption behaviour and attitudes. The paper tracks a legislated retail ban on single-use polyethylene plastic bags, analysing 1167 interviews with shoppers before the ban's announcement, during a 4-month phasing-out period (and demarketing campaign), and when the ban was in full effect. Two hundred and fifty three interviews are repeated with the same individuals to allow identification of individual-level attitudinal and behavioural change. Anti-consumption is typically conceptualised as a phenomenon based on choice. This research investigates how shoppers react when forced into anti-consumption behaviour, and how supportive voluntary anti-consumers are of others being made to change. Grouping shoppers according to their level of voluntary anti-consumption of plastic bags before the ban, the analysis finds that shoppers who voluntarily showed anti-consumption behaviour were the only group showing any voluntary shift in anti-consumption behaviours during the phasing-out period. These shoppers are supportive of forcing others to show anti-consumption, while the level of behavioural and attitudinal resistance from shoppers that showed little or no voluntary anti-consumption is low. These findings support the use of proscription to achieve anti-consumption behaviours, however, proscription does not necessarily engender full anti-consumption attitudes. This study adds to knowledge on anti-consumption and shopper resistance to proscriptive interventions designed to reduce socially undesirable behaviours. It provides further evidence that demarketing campaigns, without accompanying negative reinforcers, may be insufficient to achieve widespread behavioural change alone.

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Government and industry are increasingly calling upon households to lower their carbon emissions through improved consumption choices. Grocery products, because of their high volume, are a significant contributor to emissions and have become a focus for behaviour change efforts. Yet the assumption that the consumer knows, cares and can comprehend the information they are given in a carbon label is yet to be empirically established as consumer carbon literacy and perceptions of carbon label designs are not yet well researched. This paper finds that Australian householders have low pre-existing carbon knowledge and are consequently poor at identifying high carbon emitting grocery products, unaided. This suggests a role for on-pack carbon labels to assist at-shelf choices. However, given the quick and habitual nature of grocery shopping, a significant challenge lies in how best to communicate emissions for consumer cut-through and awareness. Testing of competing carbon labels finds that householders give highest preference ratings to formats that show emissions relative to other products, rather than stand alone, and for ones that use the traditional traffic light colour system. Governments, manufacturers, and marketers can use these findings in their efforts to raise consumers’ carbon literacy and encourage more informed grocery carbon emission choices.