Consumer Awareness of Plastic: an Overview of Different Research Areas

Abstract

Plastic makes our society more practical and safer. It is hard to consider eliminating plastic in some sectors, such as the medical field. However, after use, plastic waste becomes a global problem without precedents, and when not properly disposed of, it can cause several socio-environmental problems. Some possible solutions are recycling, the circular economy, proper waste management, and consumer awareness. Consumers play a crucial role in preventing problems caused by plastic. In this work, consumer awareness of plastic is discussed according to the point of view of the research areas—environmental science, engineering, and materials science—based on the analysis of the main authors’ keywords obtained in a literature search in the Scopus database. Bibliometrix analyzed the Scopus search results. The results showed that each area presents different concerns and priorities. The current scenario, including the main hotspots, trends, emerging topics, and deficiencies, was obtained. On the contrary, the concerns from the literature and those of the daily lives of consumers do not seem to fit in, which creates a gap. By reducing this gap, the distance between consumers awareness and their behavior will be smaller.

Environmental knowledge level and consumer behavior regarding green fashion: a moderated mediation model

“…, 2021b; Huang et al. , 2022); on the other hand, it may also be due to the lack of consumers' environmental awareness (de Sousa, 2023) and their inability to realize the serious consequences of “greenwashing” on the environment.…”

“…However, the mediating role of "perceived greenwashing" was not confirmed, which doesn't support H6 and H7, probably due to the fact that "perceived greenwashing" is an exotic term and Chinese consumers are not familiar with its concept (Zhang et al, 2021b;Huang et al, 2022); on the other hand, it may also be due to the lack of consumers' environmental awareness (de Sousa, 2023) and their inability to realize the serious consequences of "greenwashing" on the environment.…”

Blockchain-Based Management of Recyclable Plastic Waste

“…Finally, consumer behavior and awareness are key factors. Despite growing public awareness of plastic pollution, many consumers do not know how to properly dispose of and recycle plastics [57]. There is a significant need for educational initiatives and incentive programs to encourage consumer participation in recycling programs [58].…”

Consumer Readiness on Rejecting the Choice of Consumption of Plastic Packaged Goods: A Study of Karnali Province

“…de Sousa (2023) found that there is a gap between consumer awareness and behavior regarding plastic waste, and that different research areas have different focuses and approaches to address the plastic problem. Scholars also identified some research gaps and opportunities for future studies.…”