)$&7256,1)/8(1&,1*7+$,&21680(56¶ behavior on reducing

FACTORS INFLUENCING THAI CONSUMERS’

BEHAVIOR ON REDUCING SINGLE-USE

PLASTIC CUPS

BY

MISS PANCHALEE AREETHAMSIRIKUL

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM IN MARKETING

(INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM)

FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND ACCOUNTANCY

THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC YEAR 2018

COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

FACTORS INFLUENCING THAI CONSUMERS’

BEHAVIOR ON REDUCING SINGLE-USE

PLASTIC CUPS

BY

MISS PANCHALEE AREETHAMSIRIKUL

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

OF MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM IN MARKETING

(INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM)

FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND ACCOUNTANCY

THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC YEAR 2018

COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

(1)

Independent Study Title FACTORS INFLUENCING THAI

CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOR ON REDUCING

SINGLE-USE PLASTIC CUPS

Author MISS PANCHALEE AREETHAMSIRIKUL

Degree Master of Science Program in Marketing

(International Program)

Major Field/Faculty/University Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy

Thammasat University

Independent Study Advisor Professor K. Douglas Hoffman, Ph.D.

Academic Year 2018

ABSTRACT

This project is a contemporary topic in applied marketing that focuses on a

societal issue that is important to Thailand. These days, Thailand has been facing a

serious problem regarding plastic waste pollution due to weak law enforcement, a lack

of effective waste management, and limited contribution from organizations at all levels

and Thai consumers. The number of plastic products is increasing every year, especially

those made of single-use plastic that create great burden to the environment.

From the review of relevant literature, there is still the limited number of

studies on the underlying factor that drive green behavior among Thai consumers.

Therefore, this study aims to explore the current consumer adoption of the plastic cup

reduction behavior and the key influential factors that can drive Thai people to reduce

plastic waste generation by focusing on plastic cups that present a great portion of

single-use plastic waste. Furthermore, the research aims to segment Thai consumers

into groups by using psychographics, demographics and behavioral factors to make a

set of appropriate recommendations for policy makers and marketers to drive each

group of consumers towards sustainable behavior.

This research was carried out with both qualitative and quantitative

research methods. The chosen non-probability sampling method were convenient

sampling and snowball sampling techniques. For the qualitative part, three methods

were used, including desk research, 10 in-depth interviews, and 80 observations at

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

(2)

selected tea-and-coffee stores in Bangkok. To complement the qualitative data,

quantitative research was conducted with 236 completed online questionnaires. The

respondents include both users and non-users of reusable personal cups in tea-and-

coffee stores in Bangkok.

The research found that more than half of the respondents have brought

their personal cups to purchase beverages at the stores, and 48% of them also showed

continuous participation. On the other hand, about half of the respondents never

adopted the use of personal cups.

The consumers were classified into four groups according to their

psychographics – nonconformist, self-centric, price sensitive environmentalist, and big

spender. There are few differences in terms of their demographic and tea-and-coffee

consumption behavior between these four groups. In contrast, there is a significant

difference in terms of their intention to reduce single-use plastic and to adopt the use of

personal cups.

This research finding suggested that Thai consumers considered the

discount benefit as a more effective solution than the penalty on plastic consumption as

opposed to other international studies around the world. It also suggested that only

raising environmental concern is insufficient to convert non-personal cup users to

personal cup users, but the combination of environmental concern and monetary

incentives need to be applied.

Marketers and policy makers should focus on price sensitive

environmentalist and big spender segments by increasing awareness on environmental

impact from plastic usage, providing information about discount campaign on personal

cups, and reducing cost of trade-off between convenience and environmental

sustainability. Moreover, it is recommended for marketers to develop a variety of

conveniently portable cup designs or pioneer a rental cup service in response to Thai

people’s need of convenience and diverse lifestyles.

Keywords: Single-use plastic, coffee cup, reusable cup, personal cup

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

(3)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my advisor, Professor

K. Douglas Hoffman, Ph.D., for his valuable advice and time in guiding me throughout

the entire research study.

My deep gratitude goes to all respondents who gave their times and

insights during the in-depth interviews and questionnaire and all my friends who helped

distributing the questionnaires. This research would not be completed without these

supports.

In addition, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my

friends, Mr. Pongsakorn Tikapichart and Miss Panaya Jaturongmanee, for

knowledgeable advice and words of encouragement.

Lastly, I am thankful for my family who have continuously been

supporting me throughout the process of this independent study and for the past two

years of my master’s degree.

Miss Panchalee Areethamsirikul

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

(4)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT (1)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (3)

LIST OF TABLES (6)

LIST OF FIGURES (7)

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Problem statement

1.2 Research purpose

1.3 Research objectives

1

2

2

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 4

2.1 Definition of single-use plastic and types

2.2 Problems with single-use plastic

2.3 Attempts to reduce plastic waste

2.4 Related models and theories

2.5 Conclusion

4

4

4

5

6

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 8

3.1 Exploratory research 8

3.1.1 Desk research

3.1.2 Interviews

3.1.3 Observation

8

9

9

3.2 Descriptive research 10

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

(5)

3.2.1 Questionnaire

3.3 Target population

3.3.1 Recruiting criteria

3.3.2 Recruiting methodology

3.4 Analysis

10

10

10

11

12

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 13

4.1 Qualitative analysis and results

4.1.1 Results from in-depth interviews

4.1.2 Results from observations

4.2 Quantitative analysis and results

4.2.1 Research results according to objectives

13

13

14

14

16

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 26

5.1 Summary of results

5.2 Implications for marketing managers and policy makers

5.2.1 Primary Target – Price sensitive environmentalist

5.2.2 Secondary Target – Big spender

5.3 Implications for marketing academics

5.4 Limitation of the study

26

26

27

27

28

29

REFERENCES 30

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: Short interview findings

APPENDIX B: In-depth interview guideline

APPENDIX C: Questionnaire design

33

34

35

BIOGRAPHY 43

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

(6)

LIST OF TABLES

Tables Page

3.1 Sampling plan for each methodology 11

4.1 Detailed demographics of completed respondents 15

4.2 Frequency and percentage of personal cup adoption rate 16

4.3 Frequency and percentage of cup usage among personal cup users 16

4.4 Results of factor analysis of the consumers’ psychographics 17

4.5 Results of cluster analysis of consumer segmentation 18

4.6 Frequency and percentage of demographics in the four clusters 20

4.7 Frequency and percentage of four clusters’ behavior in

purchasing beverages

21

4.8 Past green behavior for each segment 22

4.9 Frequency of respondents categorized by psychographics and

past personal cup adoption behavior

23

4.10 Intention to adopt personal cups among the current users and

non-users classified by psychographic factors

23

4.11 Means of importance of triggers for each segment 24

4.12 Means of importance of barriers for each segment 25

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

(7)

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures Page

2.1 Theory of planned behavior 6

3.1 Research process 8

3.2 Relationship between key research variables 12

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Problem statement

Plastic waste, especially the single-use plastics, has been a major problem

for Thailand. According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s ‘Beat Plastic

Pollution’ campaign launched on the World Environment Day, reducing single-use

plastic consumption became the global focus in 2018 (Wipatayotin, 2018). However,

Thailand has been generating two million tons of plastic waste per year, 80 percent of

which is single-use plastic waste that cannot be reused- only a fraction of which has

been recycled- and have been left in the environment (Wongruang, 2018).

Although many Thai consumers tend to know that plastic consumption has

negative effects on the environment, there is limited participation from the consumers

in attempts to reduce plastic usage. Unlike many other nations that have widely

conducted research on effective solutions to encourage their citizens to perform green

behavior, Thailand is only at the initial state of implementing environmental protection

measures.

According to the Five-Step Waste Hierarchy Framework developed by the

European Union in 2008 (“Waste Hierarchy”, 2014), waste management can be

classified into five levels: prevention, reuse, recycle, recovery and lastly disposal.

Prevention of waste generation is the most favorable action while disposal is the least

favorable. Even though Thailand has long introduced and educated this waste

management hierarchy concept especially on ‘recycling’, the concepts of ‘reduce’ and

‘reuse’ are only actively implemented lately by both private and public sectors. By

2017, Thai government had taken a serious step and introduced several policies

regarding plastic waste management, including the “20-Year Pollution Management

Strategy”, “Pollution Management Plan 2017-2021”, “Master Plan on Waste

Management 2016-2021”, and “Plastic Debris Management Plan” (Ocharoenchai,

2017).” As for the private sectors in the same year, many supermarkets started to

introduce no plastic bag policy by offering incentives for consumers who bring their

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

2

own shopping bags. Likewise, discount was offered to customers who bring their own

personal cups at several coffee shops in Thailand. Thus, consumer responses towards

these policies are still being observed and studied. Policies are being tested and adapted

in quest of the most effective marketing solution that will persuade consumers to adopt

the more sustainable behavior.

In addition, the majority of international case studies, which can be used as

references, only focuses on consumer behavior of ‘plastic bag’ use and only the limited

number of research papers examines the use of other single-use plastic products such

as plastic cups.

As a result, this study aims to understand Thai consumer behavior towards

single-use plastic consumption focusing on plastic cups and to identify the key

influential factors that drive or prevent the reduced use of plastic cups. This study is a

contemporary topic in applied marketing that focuses on the area of society; thus, the

results are expected to be relevant and applicable for policies makers, marketers and

related retailers.

1.2 Research purpose

Thailand’s research on single-use plastic reduction especially on plastic

cups is still limited on the consumers’ perspective. This research aims to identify the

key factors that affect the consumer decision making to reduce their plastic

consumption. Thus, this research can be of benefit to policy makers, retailers and

related stakeholders as how to most effectively encourage the reduction in consumption

of single-use plastic in different groups of consumers.

1.3 Research objectives

Definition

• Personal cup: The reusable container that the customer brings on their own

to purchase beverages at the store.

• Personal cup users: Consumers who have brought reusable containers, cups,

or tumblers to purchase beverages at the store.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

3

• Non-personal cup users: Consumers who have never brought reusable

containers, cups, or tumblers to purchase beverages at the store.

Objectives of this research

1. To determine current consumer adoption of single-use plastic cup reduction

program in Bangkok.

2. To identify characteristics of Thai consumers based on their psychographic,

demographic and behavior towards reduced consumption of single-use plastic

cups.

2.1. To determine consumer profiles based on their psychographics.

2.2. To determine consumer profiles based on their demographics – age,

gender, income, education, etc.

2.3. To determine consumer profiles based on their behavior.

2.4. To determine consumer intention to adopt the use of personal cups in each

group.

3. To identify key attributes that influence a reduction in plastic cup consumption

among non-personal cup users.

3.1. To determine the triggers for each group of non-personal cup users.

3.2. To determine the barriers for each group of non-personal cup users.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

4

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Definition of single-use plastic and types

Single-use plastics, or sometimes referred to as ‘disposable plastics’, are

plastic products that have very short lives and are purposefully produced to be used

once before being disposed. This includes plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups,

plastic food packaging, plastic straws, etc. (“What is single-use plastic”, 2018).

2.2 Problems with single-use plastic

Annually, the world produces on average 300 million tons of plastic, more

than half of which comprises of single-use plastic that is not recycled. Majority of the

plastic waste goes to landfill and over eight million tons of this plastic finds its way to

ocean, which further generates greater impacts on the environment, marine wildlife,

and eventually human health (Kabraji, 2018).

In 2010, Thailand was ranked as the sixth largest contributor to ocean

waste. Here, over three percent of 1.03 million tons of plastic waste ended up in the

ocean due to massive mismanaged plastic waste. In response to this issue, several

mitigation strategies, such as reducing waste generation, improving the waste

management infrastructure, and limiting the growth of single-use plastic were

introduced (Jambeck et al., 2015).

2.3 Attempts to reduce plastic waste

Apart from improving the waste management infrastructure which can

require a long period of time to implement, there are many more actions that can be

taken rather quickly by the public, private, and government sectors to encourage a

reduction in single-use plastic consumption.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

5

According to UNEP (2018), the activities, such as promotion of reusable

alternatives, environmental concern introduction in school, social campaign, as well as

a ban and levy on suppliers, retailers, and consumer, are some examples of actions that

can be adopted.

Waste management has always been an issue for the Thai government due

to limited budget as well as weak law enforcement in illegal littering. However, in June

2017, Thailand agreed to commit itself to an international stage, acknowledging that

this problem needs to come to an end (“Waste Management”, 2018). The first move

taken by the Thai government was to collaborate with the business sector to reduce

plastic waste. According to Wipatayotin (2018), Thailand’s Department of Pollution

Control and Beverage Industry Association successfully removed the plastic seals from

water bottles sold in Thailand, suggesting that this can help reduce as much as 10% of

plastic waste generated per year.

As for promotion campaigns on the consumer side, Thai local authorities

have launched a 45-day plastic-bag reduction campaign in Bangkok supermarkets and

stores by offering a 1-baht discount for every 100-baht purchase if consumers bring

along their own cloth bags (Lee, 2010). In comparison, this activity was implemented

differently in European countries such as Germany, Finland, Spain where consumers

must pay a penalty fee of 0.05 to 0.50 euro if they want a shopping bag rather than

receive a discount like in Thailand (UNEP, 2018).

Moreover, there have also been movements from major coffee chains in

Thailand like Starbucks, Café Amazon, True Coffee, and Inthanin Coffee, offering a

discount to customers who bring their own personal cups (MGR Online, 2018).

2.4 Related models and theories

In the study, “Social Marketing Application of the Theory of Planned

Behavior”, by Muralidharan and Sheehan (2016), Theory of Planned Behavior model

(TPB) was used to explore the underlying motivations of consumers by assessing

whether a penalty or a reward was a more effective solution to cutting plastic bag usage.

The study found that each strategy impacted on the three components differently and

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

6

that the penalty program had a higher impact on individual intention and, thus, behavior

to reduce negative effects on the nature.

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) explained that an individual’s behavior

can be influenced by three key factors: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived

behavioral control (Ajzen, 2006). As shown in figure 2.1, ‘attitude’ is a person’s belief

and evaluation whether a particular set of behavior is positive or negative. ‘Subjective

norm’ is a person’s belief regarding the expectation of surrounding people or social

pressure. Lastly, ‘perceived behavioral control’ is a person’s belief of the level of

complication or easiness in executing such behavior.

2.5 Conclusion

As shown by many case studies, there is no perfect formula for which

would be the most successful method to influence the minimization of plastic

consumption since one method that worked in one country turned out to be a failure in

another country.

Due to limited research on this topic in Thailand, TPB model is helpful in

determining the important variables that affect the decision to perform plastic cups

reduction under the context of Thailand. This research also aims to assess Thai

consumers’ current adoption of plastic reduction campaign that many major coffee

chains introduced during the past few years.

Figure 2.1: Theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 2006)

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

7

This study aims to fulfil this gap and assist Thai policy makers, retailers,

marketers, and related entities in understanding the underlying influences behind Thai

consumer perspectives towards reducing single-use plastic waste, specifically on plastic

cups, in order to be able to introduce the most effective strategy for each group of

consumers.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

8

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study was conducted using two research approaches which were

exploratory research and descriptive research. Figure 3.1 below shows the overall

process of this study.

Figure 3.1: Research process

3.1 Exploratory research

Exploratory research approach was used to explore the general behavior

and attitude of Thai consumers towards plastic waste reduction and to identify the key

influential factors that impact on consumer decision and, eventually, behavior in

sustaining environment. The finding was used as a guideline to further develop the

questionnaire for the descriptive research approach.

3.1.1 Desk research

The information was obtained through trusted sources such as United

Nations Environment Programme, several news portals, online articles, authenticated

websites, and Google Scholar. The desk research was conducted to obtain information

regarding the current plastic waste trend in Thailand, related policies and actions taken

by government officials, as well as marketing campaigns by private institutions that

aimed to create impacts on plastic consumption. Moreover, academic journals were

reviewed to develop general assumptions and identify possible factors that influence

consumers to perform green behavior.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

9

Objective of Desk Research

1. To identify current consumer adoption of single-use plastic cup reduction program

in Bangkok (Objective 1)


among non-personal cup users (Objective 3)

3.1.2 Interviews

Interviewing was separated into two phases. The first phase contained

short interviews with four respondents who were the active users of reusable personal

cups and refuse to use single-use plastic in their daily lives. The short interviews were

conducted on October 26 and 27, 2018. This provided general overview of current

consumer behavior and brief reasons for their actions. This information was concluded

and can be found in Appendix A. It was a helpful input to develop a more insightful in-

depth interview guideline as well as a reference for the descriptive research. Secondly,

10 in-depth interviews were conducted to get a deeper understanding of consumer

attitudes and behavior towards reducing single-use plastic. This method allowed the

researcher to probe deeper into consumers’ underlying motivations to adopt or reject

the reduction of plastic consumption. The in-depth interview guideline can be found in

Appendix B.

Objectives of Interviews





3.1.3 Observation

Observations were conducted at two coffeeshops around Bangkok to

avoid geographical bias. A total of 80 customers were observed in terms of their

behavior towards accepting or refusing to use plastic cups without any bias from the

research process. The observation results were used to develop the questionnaire.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

10

Objective of Observation



3.2 Descriptive research

The purpose of the descriptive research was to quantify the data as received

by the qualitative research through the use of a questionnaire.

3.2.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire was designed based on key variables acquired from

the exploratory research and created through Survey Monkey. Questions can be found

in Appendix C. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed solely through the online

platform. Sampling plan and screening criteria will be discussed in the next section.

Objectives of Questionnaire



2. To identify characteristics of Thai consumers based on their psychographic,

demographic and behavior towards reduced consumption of single-use plastic cups

(Objective 2)



3.3 Target population

3.3.1 Recruiting criteria

In-depth interviews were conducted with Thai males and females who

purchase beverages from coffeeshops in Bangkok. Five of the respondents were non-

personal cup users and the other five respondents were personal cup users.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

11

In addition, the observation allowed no restriction on the targets’

characteristics and were completely randomized. Eighty customers who made a

purchase at targeted coffeeshops during the set period were observed.

As for questionnaire, the same criteria as those of the in-depth

interviews were applied. The total number of completed respondents was 236.

3.3.2 Recruiting methodology

All research approaches were conducted with non-probability

sample: convenient sampling and snowball sampling methods. The researcher’s

personal connection was used to recruit respondents, while references from the network

were leveraged to gain participation of the target population.

The total of 10 respondents was recruited for in-depth interviews

through telephone. The total of 300 questionnaires was distributed online via the

researcher’s contact; friends, families, and colleagues, and 236 completed responses

were received. Thus, the respondents can cover a wider range of demographics. In

addition, a pilot questionnaire was launched prior to distributing the actual version of

questionnaire to ensure understandability, time, and effectiveness of the questionnaire.

Table 3.1 below provides the overall sampling plan for each methodology.

Table 3.1: Sampling plan for each methodology

Methodology Collection

Method

Pilot Study Completed

Respondents

Detail

1. Exploratory In-depth

interview

- 10 people Telephone

interviews

Observation - 80 people Two

coffeeshops

2. Descriptive Questionnaire 5 people 236 people Online

distribution

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

12

3.4 Analysis

Data analysis can be separated into two parts: qualitative and quantitative

data analysis plans. The outline of the relationship between key research variables is

also shown in Figure 3.2 below.

Qualitative research result was analyzed and used as a foundation to

develop quantitative research. The principles that were used in analyzing qualitative

data was the Five Key Principles in Analyzing Qualitative Data (Miller, 2018).

The quantitative research was analyzed using Statistical Package for the

Social Sciences (SPSS). The statistical methods that were used include frequencies,

means, standard deviations, factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variances

(ANOVA), etc. This research focuses on identifying factors that can influence Thai

people to reduce single-use plastic cups.

Figure 3.2: Relationship between key research variables

The conceptual model above showed a list of important information that

was obtained from this research. Consumers’ profiles were identified from

psychographics, demographics and behavioral factor. The key triggers and barriers that

influence the personal cups adoption were identified for non-personal cup users.

Moreover, the degree of personal cup adoption among the current users and the

likelihood to use personal cup for non-personal cup users were determined.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

13

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Qualitative Analysis and Results

Two exploratory research methods, in-depth interviews and observations,

were conducted. In-depth interviews with five personal cup users and five non-personal

cup users provided a deeper insight to the consumer’s opinions and attitudes towards

using single-use plastic cups, while observations enabled the researcher to witness the

actual behavior of consumers without intervening in the process.

4.1.1 Results from in-depth interviews

From the in-depth interviews with personal cup users, it was found that

there were five variables that triggered them to start using reusable personal cups

instead of single-use plastic cups: environmental concern, discount for using personal

cups, company encouragement, peer influences, and cup design. In contrast, it was

found that there were four barriers that prevent non-personal cup users from adopting

reusable cups, including inconvenience, laziness to clean the cups, disbelief in the

impacts of reducing plastic, and low awareness in ability to bring own cups.

These triggers and barriers were included in the questionnaire to test with

non-personal cup users and to identify the potentially most impactful influences to be

manipulated in the future.

In addition, interesting results were found from in-depth interviews: all

of the non-personal cup users shared the same opinion about environmental issues that

their individual behavior of using plastic cups would not have significant impacts on

the environmental problem as a whole. Furthermore, all of the non-personal cup users

agreed that 10-baht discount policy provided by the store was not attractive enough to

make them sacrifice their convenience. Thus, consumer environmental concern, value

towards convenience, and the degree of price sensitivity should be included in the

questionnaire to identify the relationship between these psychographic characteristics

and the tendency to reduce plastic-cup use.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

14

4.1.2 Results from observations

A total of 80 observations were done in two different locations and time.

The first location was at Starbucks, The Mall Ramkhamheng, a shopping mall situated

on Ramkhamheng Road, on Friday 25th January 2019, 2PM – 4PM. From forty

customers that were observed, only one used his own personal cup.

The second location was at Starbucks, Q.House Lumpini, a complex with

combined functions of shopping mall and office building, on Monday 11th February

2019, 7:30AM – 8:00AM. Out of the 40 customers observed, a total of 20 customers

brought their own cups to the store.

As a result, location and time seem to play an important role in consumer

behavior in bringing their own cups to the coffeeshop. The variables identified in this

exploratory research were then included in the questionnaire.

4.2 Quantitative Analysis and Results

The questionnaire was designed to answer the following questions: (1)

How many people are adopting the plastic-cup reduction campaign? (2) Who are the

people who use and do not use personal cups? (3) Is it inconvenience, lack of awareness,

or lack of understanding in environmental problems that prevent consumers to use

reusable cups? And (4) Is it environmental problem awareness, monetary incentive,

penalty, or social pressure that can influence people?

The questionnaires were distributed to 300 respondents, 258 of whom

passed the screening questions. Nevertheless, only 236 respondents completed the

questionnaire. The majority of respondents were female, 44.5% of whom were below

30 years old. 67.8% of the respondents were single and about half graduated with

master’s degree or higher. Almost half of the respondents were employees in private

sector and the largest group of respondents earn more than 85,000 baht per month

following by 21.6% who earn between 50,001 – 85,000 baht per month. Detailed

demographics of the completed respondents can be found in Table 4.1 below.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

15

Table 4.1: Detailed demographics of completed respondents

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

16

4.2.1 Research results according to objectives

Objective 1: To determine current consumer adoption of single-use plastic cup

reduction program in Bangkok.

The questionnaire results indicated that 53.81% of the respondents have

brought their own reusable cups to purchase beverages, while 46.19% of the

respondents had never done so. Thus, the first group is referred to as personal cup users

and the second group as non-personal cup users.

Table 4.2: Frequency and percentage of personal cup adoption rate

Count %

Have you ever brought your own

personal cup to purchase the beverages?

Yes 127 53.81%

No 109 46.19%

Moreover, the degree of personal cup adoption among the current personal

cup users was determined by the frequency of usage as shown in Table 4.3 below.

Among the 127 respondents who brought their own cups, 48% showed active

participation (6.30% every time and 41.73% most of the time) in bringing their own

cups, while another 52% did not actively do so (38.58% sometimes and 13.39% rarely

bring personal cups).

Table 4.3: Frequency and percentage of cup usage among personal cup users

Count %

How often do you bring you

own personal cup to purchase

the beverage?

Every time 8 6.30%

Most of the time 53 41.73%

Sometimes 49 38.58%

Rarely 17 13.39%

Objective 2: To identify characteristics of Thai consumers based on their

psychographic, demographic and behavior towards reduced consumption of single-use

plastic cups.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

17

Many attempts were done in order to segment consumers into groups by

behavioral, demographic and psychographic factors. When the segments were grouped

by demographic and behavioral factors such as age, income, education, and frequency

in purchasing beverages, there were no significant differences between each group’s

intention toward reducing single-use plastic cup consumption. However, psychographic

factors that describe consumer characteristics such as their environmental concern,

closeness to nature, price sensitivity, value of convenience, and degree of socialization

showed the clearest distinction towards tendency to reduce plastic cup consumption

between groups of consumers.

Objective 2.1: To determine consumer profiles based on their psychographics.

Factor Analysis

A total of 11 psychographic variables were used to perform dimension

reduction function with Principal Component Analysis as an extraction method and

Varimax with Kaiser Normalization as a rotation method. As shown in Table 4.4, the

psychographic variables have been grouped into four factors.

The first factor is named ‘environmental concern’ consisting of four

psychographic variables with loading factors ranging from 0.456 to 0.791. The second

factor is called ‘high spending’ consisting of three variables with loading factors

ranging from 0.568 to 0.810. The third factor is called ‘socially active’ consisting of

two variables with loading factors ranging from 0.783 to 0.811. The fourth factor is

called ‘egotism’ consisting of two variables with loading factors ranging from 0.706 to

0.805.

Table 4.4: Results of factor analysis of the consumers’ psychographics

F1:

Environment

al concern

F2:

High

Spending

F3:

Socially

Active

F4:

Egotism

I love the nature. .759

It is my responsibility to save the

environment. .791

Everyone’s contribution can create

positive environmental impact. .766

I prefer nature than cities. .456

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

18

F1:

Environment

al concern

F2:

High

Spending

F3:

Socially

Active

F4:

Egotism

I am willing to pay higher price in

exchange for convenience. .778

I am willing to pay higher price for

better quality product. .810

I tend to go for products with the

cheapest price. -.568

I am always on trend. .811

I am easily influenced by others. .783

I am unique and make my own

choice. .706

I always use time wisely and

efficiently. .805

Cluster Analysis

These four psychographic factors were used to separate the respondents

into groups with K-means Clusters method. Three, four and five numbers of clusters

were tested to seek for the most suitable method in grouping the respondents with

similar responses. As a result, 4 clusters showed the clearest interpretation of grouping

with each segment profile as demonstrated in Table 4.5 below.

Table 4.5: Results of cluster analysis of consumer segmentation

Non-

conformist

Self-

centric

Price sensitive

Environmentalist

Big

Spender

F1: Environmental concern -.6417 -1.0490 .5231 .5967

F2: High Spending .4304 -.0256 -.9204 .7906

F3: Socially Active -.8945 .1458 .0191 .5347

F4: Egotism -.6898 .8118 .1572 -.2513

Segment 1: Nonconformist (N = 48, 20% of total respondents)

This group of people do not care about nature and society as they are not

concerned about environmental problems and tend to not follow trends nor be easily

influenced by others and campaigns. They also possess high spending characteristics,

preferring to pay higher price in return for convenience and quality.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

19

Segment 2: Self-centric (N = 46, 19% of total respondents)

This group of people are the most environmental unconcerned among all

groups, with a high level of egotism. This means that they think they are different and

highly believe in their own decisions. They tend to use time wisely and efficiently.

In addition, they do not care about nature and do not believe in their responsibility to

save the environment.

Segment 3: Price sensitive environmentalist (N = 77, 33% of total respondents)

This group is the largest segment among the four segments. They are the

most price sensitive and not willing to pay higher price in exchange for convenience

and quality. They are willing to tradeoff convenience for promotion or savings and tend

to go for the cheapest alternative. They also like to explore the nature and think it is

their responsibility to save the environment.

Segment 4: Big spender (N = 65, 28% of total respondents)

This group possess the highest level of ‘high spending’ characteristic,

which means they are willing to pay higher price in exchange for convenience and

quality product. However, they care for environment, social trend, and others’ opinions.

Objective 2.2: To determine consumer profiles based on their demographics – age,

gender, income, education, etc.

In order to understand deeper about each segment profile, characteristics

of four consumer groups were identified by demographic factors such as gender, marital

status, education, income, etc. From Table 4.6, it can be seen that there are few

distinctions among all clusters. The majority of respondents for all segments were

females. In terms of age, the majority of respondent in all groups were under 30 years

old, except for the price sensitive environmentalist segment where more than half of

the respondents were above 40. Also, more than 50% of all groups had a master’s

degree or higher, except for price sensitive environmentalist, 50.6% of which were

bachelor graduates. Private sector employee was the major occupation for all segments.

In addition, price sensitive environmentalist segment was composed of the highest

number of respondents (27.3%) who earned between 18,001 – 35,000 baht per month,

while 30.4% of self-centric segment earned between 50,001 – 85,000 baht, and 33.3%

of nonconformist and 35.4% of big spender earned more than 85,000 baht per month.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

20

Table 4.6: Frequency and percentage of demographics in the four clusters

Non-

conformist

Self-

centric

Price sensitive

environmentalist

Big

spender

Count % Count % Count % Count %

Sex

Female 35 72.9% 34 73.9% 64 83.1% 51 78.5%

Male 13 27.1% 12 26.1% 13 16.9% 14 21.5%

Ag

e

<= 29 23 47.9% 23 50.0% 20 26.0% 39 60.0%

30 - 39 11 22.9% 13 28.3% 14 18.2% 11 16.9%

40 - 49 8 16.7% 8 17.4% 30 39.0% 10 15.4%

50+ 6 12.5% 2 4.3% 13 16.9% 5 7.7%

Sta

tus

Single 34 70.8% 30 65.2% 46 59.7% 50 76.9%

Married 14 29.2% 15 32.6% 29 37.7% 13 20.0%

Separated 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

Divorced 0 0.0% 1 2.2% 2 2.6% 1 1.5%

Widowed 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 1.5%

Ed

uca

tio

na

l L

evel

Secondary

School or

under

0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

High School /

Vocational

School

3 6.3% 2 4.3% 4 5.2% 2 3.1%

Bachelor’s

Degree 16 33.3% 17 37.0% 39 50.6% 30 46.2%

Master’s

Degree or

higher

29 60.4% 27 58.7% 34 44.2% 33 50.8%

Cu

rren

t O

ccu

pa

tio

n

Student 6 12.5% 2 4.3% 2 2.6% 6 9.2%

Private sector 20 41.7% 24 52.2% 34 44.2% 31 47.7%

Government

sector 5 10.4% 4 8.7% 9 11.7% 5 7.7%

Educational

sector 1 2.1% 0 0.0% 4 5.2% 0 0.0%

Entrepreneur 9 18.8% 13 28.3% 20 26.0% 14 21.5%

Freelancer 5 10.4% 1 2.2% 5 6.5% 4 6.2%

Retired 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 1.5%

Unemployed 2 4.2% 2 4.3% 3 3.9% 4 6.2%

Inco

me

>18,001 4 8.3% 3 6.5% 5 6.5% 5 7.7%

18,001-35,000 11 22.9% 7 15.2% 21 27.3% 11 16.9%

35,001-50,000 8 16.7% 9 19.6% 19 24.7% 12 18.5%

50,001-85,000 9 18.8% 14 30.4% 14 18.2% 14 21.5%

> 85,000 16 33.3% 13 28.3% 18 23.4% 23 35.4%

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

21

Objective 2.3: To determine consumer profiles based on their behavior.

Additional characteristics of the four consumer groups were identified with

drinking tea-and-coffee behavior, including frequency of drinking and place and time

of purchase. Consumers were also characterized by their past behavior in performing

other green activities, such as reduced uses of plastic bags and straws, participation in

plastic waste campaigns, sharing environmental information, etc.

According to Table 4.7, the distribution of drinking frequency was almost

uniform for all segments with one exception: the self-centric segment had lower number

of respondents who drink less than a cup a week. As for the time of purchase, the

majority of respondents purchased their beverages early in the morning. One interesting

finding is that 84.8% of the self-centric segment purchased their beverages at their usual

stores, highest among all the other groups, while only 62.3% of price sensitive

environmentalists purchased at the usual stores.

Table 4.7: Frequency and percentage of four clusters’ behavior in purchasing

beverages

Non-

conformist

Self-

centric

Price sensitive

environmentalist

Big

spender


How often do

you purchase

coffee or tea per

week?

Less than 1 cup 12 25.0% 2 4.3% 18 23.4% 12 18.5%

1 – 2 cups 9 18.8% 15 32.6% 12 15.6% 19 29.2%

3 – 4 cups 14 29.2% 7 15.2% 18 23.4% 12 18.5%

5 – 6 cups 6 12.5% 12 26.1% 11 14.3% 14 21.5%

More than 6 cups 7 14.6% 10 21.7% 18 23.4% 8 12.3%

When do you

normally buy

your beverages?

Early in the

morning 23 47.9% 19 41.3% 47 61.0% 27 41.5%

Lunch time 4 8.3% 8 17.4% 9 11.7% 6 9.2%

Afternoon 11 22.9% 14 30.4% 9 11.7% 20 30.8%

Evening 2 4.2% 1 2.2% 0 0.0% 1 1.5%

Random 8 16.7% 4 8.7% 12 15.6% 11 16.9%

Place of purchase Random stores 15 31.3% 7 15.2% 29 37.7% 17 26.2%

Usual store 33 68.8% 39 84.8% 48 62.3% 48 73.8%

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

22

From Table 4.8, price-sensitive environmentalists and big spenders clearly

showed a higher tendency to perform the other green behavior compared the other two

segments. For example, 79.2% and 73.8% of the former groups, respectively, brought

their own canvas bags and 33.8% and 36.9%, respectively, stated they shared

information about the plastic waste pollution. On the other hand, the nonconformist

segment showed the lowest amount of participation in every green activity.

Table 4.8: Past green behavior for each segment

Non-

conformist

Self-centric Price sensitive

environmentalist

Big spender


Refuse to accept

plastic bag

No 4 8.3% 10 21.7% 3 3.9% 2 3.1%

Yes 44 91.7% 36 78.3% 74 96.1% 63 96.9%

Bring your own

canvas bag

No 21 43.8% 23 50.0% 16 20.8% 17 26.2%

Yes 27 56.3% 23 50.0% 61 79.2% 48 73.8%

Refuse to use straw No 18 37.5% 27 58.7% 38 49.4% 19 29.2%

Yes 30 62.5% 19 41.3% 39 50.6% 46 70.8%

Bring your own

reusable straw

No 45 93.8% 44 95.7% 71 92.2% 53 81.5%

Yes 3 6.3% 2 4.3% 6 7.8% 12 18.5%

Participate in plastic

waste campaign

No 46 95.8% 45 97.8% 72 93.5% 63 96.9%

Yes 2 4.2% 1 2.2% 5 6.5% 2 3.1%

Share plastic pollution

information

No 35 72.9% 43 93.5% 51 66.2% 41 63.1%

Yes 13 27.1% 3 6.5% 26 33.8% 24 36.9%

Objective 2.4: To determine consumer intention to adopt the use of personal cups in

each group

In order to measure each group’s consumer intention to adopt personal

cups, each segment was separated by whether they had or had not used reusable

personal cups before. As a result, price sensitive environmentalist is the largest group

of current adopters accounting for 34% of the total current users followed by big

spender (28%), nonconformist (20%) and self-centric (19%) as shown in Table 4.9.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

23

Table 4.9: Frequency of respondents categorized by psychographics and past personal

cup adoption behavior

Personal cup users Non-personal cup users

Count % Count %

1. Nonconformist 25 20% 23 21%

2. Self-centric 24 19% 22 20%

3. Price sensitive

environmentalist 43 34% 34 31%

4. Big spender 35 28% 30 28%

In order to understand each group’s intention towards reducing single-use

plastic cup consumptions, a question regarding their intention to use personal cups in

the future was asked to both users and non-users of personal cups.

From Table 4.10, the current personal cup users had higher intention to

continue their uses as opposed to the non-personal cup users. Moreover, price-sensitive

environmentalist’s means of intention to adopt of 4.44 among current users and 3.44

among non-users are significantly higher than the other groups, followed by the big-

spender segment’s score of 4.06 and 3.07 respectively. In contrast, the non-personal

cup users from nonconformist and self-centric segments showed negative intention to

adopt the use of personal cups.

Table 4.10: Intention to adopt personal cups among the current users and non-users

classified by psychographic factors

Personal cup users Non-personal cup users

Intention to continue using

personal cup in the future

Intention to adopt personal

cup in the future

Mean S.D. Mean S.D.

1. Nonconformist 3.84 0.99 2.96 0.98

2. Self-centric 3.83 1.13 2.64 0.66

3. Price sensitive

environmentalist 4.44 0.83 3.44 0.96

4. Big spender 4.06 1.03 3.07 0.74

F 2.97 4.18

Sig. 0.03 0.01

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

24

Objective 3: To identify key attributes that influence a reduction in plastic cup

consumption among non-personal cup users.

Objective 3.1: To determine the triggers for each group of non-personal cup users.

Eight attributes were asked to the non-personal cup users to identify the

most impactful triggers including awareness of plastic waste impact on marine lives,

social pressure and influence, attractive cup design, monetary incentive and penalty.

The means of these attribute as shown in Table 4.11 were compared and ranked to come

up with top three influencing factors that would be most suitable to attract each group

of non-personal cup users to adopt the use of personal cups.

Table 4.11: Means of importance of triggers for each segment

Non-personal cup users

Non-

conformist Self-centric

Price sensitive

environmentalist

Big

spender

Mean Mean Mean Mean

News about marine life is

killed by plastic waste. 3.74 4.00 4.41 4.27

Image of famous people

using personal cups. 2.35 2.59 3.24 2.97

Friends started using

personal cup. 3.57 3.86 4.06 4.27

Your institution encourages

you to reduce plastic. 3.65 3.64 4.00 3.73

Government encourages you

to reduce plastic. 3.35 3.55 4.24 3.63

Attractive cup design. 3.17 3.77 4.03 3.83

Promote discount program

for bringing own cups. 3.91 4.00 4.32 4.10

Charge a fee on using plastic

cups. 3.52 3.73 3.85 4.10

For the nonconformist segment, promoting the discount program for

bringing personal cups is the best influential factor with the mean of 3.91 out of the

maximum score of 5, followed by news about dead marine lives (3.74) and

encouragement from their institutions (3.65).

As for the self-centric segment, despite the fact that they have the lowest

tendency to adopt the use of personal cups, promotion on discounting program (4.00)

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

25

and marine lives news (4.00) are also the most impactful triggers, while the third most

impactful trigger goes to influence from friends (3.86).

For price-sensitive environmentalists, it can be seen that the scores for

these triggers are higher comparing to the means of other segments. The most impactful

trigger is marine lives news (4.41), followed by discount program promotion on cups

(4.32) and lastly, government encouragement on reducing plastic (4.24).

For the big spenders, marine life news and friend influences shared the top

scores of 4.27, followed by promoting discount program and charging a fee on plastic

cups (4.10).

Objective 3.2: To determine the barriers for each group of non-personal cup users.

Four barriers were asked to each group of consumers to identify reasons

that prevent them from adopting the use of personal cups, including a lack of awareness

about ability to use personal cups, laziness to wash the cups, inconvenience, and

disbelief in environmental impacts from using plastic cups.

The results show that all the segments share the same opinion that bringing

the cups is inconvenient, which acts as their top barrier. However, only two groups, the

self-centric and big spenders, agree that their laziness to wash the cup afterwards was

the barrier that prevented them from bring their reusable personal cups.

Table 4.12: Means of importance of barriers for each segment

Non-personal cup users

Non-

conformist

Self-

centric

Price sensitive

environmentalist

Big

spender

Mean Mean Mean Mean

I do not know that personal cup can

be used at the store. 1.70 2.18 2.12 1.80

I am lazy to wash the cup

afterwards. 3.04 3.77 2.47 3.30

It is inconvenient to take the cup

with me everywhere. 4.35 4.59 3.68 4.50

I disagree that saving plastic cup

helps saving the environmental. 1.70 1.86 1.74 1.50

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

26

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary of results

From the quantitative research, about half of the respondents brought their

personal cups to purchase beverages at the stores, and 48% of this group showed

repeated, continuous active participation. On the other hand, about half of the

respondents never adopted the use of personal cups.

The respondents were classified into four groups of consumers according

to their psychographics – nonconformist, self-centric, price sensitive environmentalist

and big spender. There are few differences in terms of their demographics and tea-and-

coffee consumption behavior between these four groups. In contrast, there is a

significant difference in terms of their intention to reduce single-use plastic and adopt

personal cups: price sensitive environmentalists and big spenders showed the highest

potential to adopt the use of personal cups.

While there are some shared potential triggers among all the non-personal

cup users in all groups, like promoting discount campaign on personal cups and news

about plastic threat to marine lives, each group has their own unique potential trigger.

As for the barriers to adoption, all the groups agreed that inconvenience was the main

reason that prevented them from using personal cups. Furthermore, self-centric and big

spender segments agreed that it was also the laziness to wash the cups afterwards that

prevented them from using personal cups. The results and insights found were aimed

to make recommendation for policy makers and related marketers as shown in the

following section.

5.2 Implications for marketing managers and policy makers

It is recommended that tea-and-coffee store owners, marketers, and policy

makers who want to encourage the use of personal cups focus on ‘price sensitive

environmentalists’ as the primary target and ‘big spender’ as the secondary target. This

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

27

is due to the fact that these two groups have the highest tendency to convert and become

personal cup users. Secondly, the price sensitive environmentalist has the lowest barrier

to adopt the personal cups. Thus, this group is the easiest segment that can be converted

into personal cup users.

5.2.1. Primary Target – Price sensitive environmentalist

According to their perceived effective triggers and psychographic

characteristics, price-sensitive environmentalists can be most influenced by the

combination of price incentive and threats of environmental problems. It is

recommended that both messages should be communicated, not just one or the other

since it would be more effective to influence this group of consumers to change their

current behavior. Thus, marketers and policy makers should focus on communicating

clear negative effects of single-use plastic cups on the environment and wildlife

together with immediate benefits such as discount that they would receive from

bringing their own personal cups.

Moreover, 23.5% of this group respondents stated that they were not

aware that some stores allowed the use of personal cups. This figure is the highest

among all the groups. Thus, information about monetary benefits of reducing use of

plastic cup and encouragement on using personal cups should be clearly presented at

each store. There is a high chance that this group of consumers will convert easily.

As inconvenience in carrying the cup is the only main barrier that

prevents this segment from adopting personal cups, it is recommended that policy

makers along with marketers develop and promote new cup designs that are easily

portable and foldable. Since the idea of personal cups, tumblers, and mugs is quite new

to the Thai community, a variety of cup designs is very limited and has not yet expanded

to cover everyone’s lifestyle.

5.2.2. Secondary Target – Big spender

According to their perceived effective triggers and psychographic

characteristics, big spenders can be most influenced by social pressure, knowledge

about environmental problems, and lastly monetary incentives. Since they are easily

influenced by friends and are less price sensitive, it is more important for marketers to

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

28

focus on creating viral marketing campaigns that impact society as a whole. The more

people are aware of the campaign, the more likely this group will follow the trend and

adopt the use of personal cups.

In addition, this group places importance on convenience in their

life and is willing to pay higher price in exchange for convenience, so it is recommended

that more convenient cup designs or possible cup rental service be needed. The cup

rental service could also be packaged as a one-stop service that offers both reusable

cups and a cleaning service. Thus, this solution can provide both convenience and solve

another barrier of this segment which is the laziness in cleaning their cups afterwards.

However, this idea needs to be further tested with potential customers for its product-

market fit as well as its feasibility.

5.3 Implications for marketing academics

With the result of discount incentive being the top trigger for consumers,

the future study could consider investigating further into how much would be the

optimum price for both consumers and tea-and-coffee shop owners.

Moreover, the result suggested that Thai consumers prefer discount from

reducing plastic cups over penalty from using plastic cups as opposed to many other

international studies. This might be due to the fact that most Thai consumers are not

accustomed to the tax levy practice and the questionnaire responses were based on

respondents’ limited experience. Thus, future research could involve the studies on

stores that apply penalty fee in comparison to the stores that apply discount benefit.

This could result in a more accurate outcome as it involves real consumer behavior

rather than consumer perception.

This research only focused on reducing the use of single-use plastic cups.

However, it is possible to expand the study into other types of single-use plastic such

as drinking straws and water bottles to find the shared influential factors that ultimately

encourage Thai consumers to perform more sustainable behavior.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

29

5.4 Limitation of the study

Firstly, this study focused on environmental problems and involved a lot of

socially responsible questions, which can create respondent bias to answer honestly.

Secondly, this study only focused on the Bangkok area, which might pose

behavior bias in tea-and-coffee consumption as well as others consumer behavior

biases.

Thirdly, the non-probability convenience sampling method was used when

recruiting respondents, which could act as a limitation to representativeness of the

whole population. Especially, the proportion of people who adopted the use of personal

cups in this study could have been affected and cannot be generalized since the people

who are interested in this topic have higher tendency to help and participate in the

survey like this.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

30

REFERENCES

Ajzen, I. (Revised 2006 ). Constructing a TpB Questionnaire: Conceptual and

Methodological Considerations. Retrieved December 4, 2018, from

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0574/b20bd58130dd5a961f1a2db10fd1fcbae9

5d.pdf

Jambeck et al., J. R. (2015). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science

Magazine. Retrieved November 24, 2018, from

https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_AMERICAN

A/Science-2015-Jambeck-768-71__2_.pdf

Kabraji, A. M. (2018, June 5). 300 Million Tons a Year: Can the plastic crisis be

solved? Retrieved November 24, 2018, from Khaosod English:

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/opinion/2018/06/05/300-million-tons-a-year-

can-the-plastic-crisis-be-solved/

Lee, L. (2010, June 28). Thailand fights addiction to plastic bags. Retrieved

December 8, 2018, from The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/28/thailand-plastic-bags

MGR Online. (2018, June 23). ร้านกาแฟไหนบ้าง? น าแก้วมาเอง ได้ส่วนลดตลอดปี 2561. Retrieved

December 7, 2018, from Manager Online:

https://mgronline.com/onlinesection/detail/9610000062384

Miller, K. (2018, October). Qualitative Analysis: Models and Methods (Independent

Study 1 Lecture). Thammasat University, Thailand.

Muralidharan, S., & Sheehan, K. (2016, February 8). “Tax” and “Fee” Message

Frames as Inhibitors of Plastic Bag Usage Among Shoppers: A Social

Marketing Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Retrieved

December 6, 2018, from Sage Journals:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1524500416631522

Ocharoenchai, N. (2017, June 14). Producer responsibility: the key to solving

Thailand’s plastic crisis. Retrieved December 4, 2018, from Green Peace:

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

31

http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/blog/producer-responsibility-the-key-to-

solving-th/blog/59748/

UNEP. (2018). SINGLE-USE PLASTICS: A Roadmap for Sustainability. Retrieved

2018, from

https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25496/singleUsePlasti

c_sustainability.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1

Waste hierarchy: challenges and opportunities. (2014, July 9). Retrieved December 4,

2018, from Let's Recycle: https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-

news/waste-hierarchy-challenges-and-opportunities/

Waste management in Thailand. (2018, September 12). Retrieved December 3, 2018,

from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_management_in_Thailand

What is single-use plastic and why is it a problem? (2018). Retrieved November 24,

2018, from Plastic Free Challenge: http://www.plasticfreechallenge.org/what-

is-single-use-plastic/

Wipatayotin, A. (2018, June 10). Plastic waste fight steps up . Retrieved October 7,

2018, from Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-

reports/1482237/plastic-waste-fight-steps-up

Wongruang, P. (2018, May 06). SPECIAL REPORT: Alarm raised as Thailand

drowns in plastic trash. Retrieved October 7, 2018, from The Nation:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30344702

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

APPENDICES

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

33

APPENDIX A

SHORT INTERVIEW FINDINGS

Four in-depth interviews were conducted on October 26 and 27. Two of the

interviewees are the frequent users of eco-friendly alternatives for single-use plastic

while the other two are the non-current users of eco-friendly alternatives. All of the

interviewees are females aged 25 to 28 who live in Bangkok and were recruited through

convenient sampling method. The primary research was done to understand the general

consumer behavior and key factors that affect consumer decision on reducing single-

use plastic consumption to further design the questionnaire.

Interview results:

1. Both interviewees who are the frequent users of eco-friendly alternatives

mentioned that environmental concern was the main reason for their reduction

of plastic use.

2. The two frequent users of eco-friendly alternatives had different triggers that

converted them to being active on reducing plastic use. One was triggered by

online media influence, while the other was self-motivated after noticing a

large amount of plastic consumed in her household.

3. Both interviewees who are the frequent users of eco-friendly alternatives

mentioned that each type of single-use plastic (plastic bags, plastic cups and

drinking straws) poses a different level of difficulty in their attempt to reduce

its consumption. Thus, they have different attitude and behavior towards each

type of plastic products.

4. Both interviewees who do not use eco-friendly alternatives said that

inconvenience is the main reason that make them continue to use single-use

plastic.

5. All interviewees mentioned that price incentive is the least important variable

that can affect their decision on reducing the consumption of single-use plastic.

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

34

APPENDIX B

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW GUIDELINE

1. Are you the regular customer of coffeeshop?

2. Have you ever participated in reducing single-use plastic?

3. If yes,

a. Please describe your normal routine that can reduce plastic usage

b. How often do you do it? Is there any specific condition?

c. When did you start such behavior?

d. What was the key influential factor for you to reduce plastic waste?

e. Is the trigger different among all plastic products?

f. In your opinion, what kind of media or impact would be most effective

in promoting plastic waste reduction

4. If no,

a. Have you ever seen any promotional media regarding reducing plastic?

b. What is your thought on such campaign?

c. What is the main barrier that prevent you from reducing plastic?

d. In your opinion, what kind of media or impact would be most effective

in promoting plastic waste reduction?

5. Demographics

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Education

d. Income

e. Occupation

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

35

APPENDIX C

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

This survey is a part of the Independent Study project under Master of

Marketing, Thammasat University. The objective is to study the behavior of consumer

on reducing single-use plastic cup in the tea-and-coffee store.

Please answer each question as honestly as possible. All of the information

will be kept confidential and be used for academic purpose only.

The questions will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Screening questions:

1. Have you ever purchased beverages from tea-and-coffee store within the past

year? (excluding bubble tea shop)

a. Yes

b. No

2. Do you currently live in Bangkok and Metropolitan area?

a. Yes

b. No

General Questions:

3. How often do you purchase coffee or tea (excluding bubble tea)?

a. Less than 1 cup a week

b. 1 – 2 cups a week

c. 3 – 4 cups a week

d. 5 – 6 cups a week

e. More than 6 cups a week

4. Where do you normally purchase your beverages?

Never Less

than 1

cup a

week

1 – 2

cups a

week

3 – 4

cups a

week

5 – 6

cups a

week

More

than 6

cups a

week

Starbucks

Café Amazon

Inthanin

Coffee

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

36

Never Less

than 1

cup a

week

1 – 2

cups a

week

3 – 4

cups a

week

5 – 6

cups a

week

More

than 6

cups a

week

True Coffee

Black

Canyon

Street vendor

Others

5. When do you normally buy your beverages?

a. Early in the morning before work/school

b. Lunch time

c. Afternoon

d. Evening

e. Random

6. Which of the following statement describe you the best?

a. I normally buy beverages from the usual tea-and-coffee store near my

workplace/school.

b. I don’t stick to one store.

“Personal cup or personal tumbler is the reusable container that customer bring on

their own to purchase beverages at the store.”

7. In the past 3 months, have you ever brought your own personal cup to

purchase the beverages?

a. Yes (Continue to Question 8)

b. No (Go to Question 13)

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

37

Section A: This section is for respondents who answer ‘Yes’ to Question 7.

8. How often do you bring you own personal cup to purchase the beverage?

a. Every time

b. Most of the time

c. Sometimes

d. Rarely

9. How strongly do you agree that these statements are the major reasons that

drive you to bring your own cups? (Please rate 1 to 5, 1 = strongly disagree, 2

= disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree)

a. There is a discount for bringing own cup.

b. Environmental problem from plastic waste.

c. My company/school encourages me to use my own cup.

d. Many people around me bring their own cups.

e. The cup design is cute and I want to use it.

f. Others, please specify………….

10. Please rate how effective is each media campaign in driving people toward

reducing plastic and bringing their own cup? (Please rate 1 to 5, 1 = strongly

disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree)

a. News about marine life is killed by plastic waste.

b. Image of famous people using personal cups.

c. Friends started using personal cup.

d. Your own company encourages you to reduce plastic.

e. Government encourages you to reduce plastic.

f. Attractive cup design.

g. Promote discount program for bringing own cups.

h. Levy on using plastic cups.

i. Others, please specify

11. If tea-and-coffee store does not offer any discount for personal cup, will you

still bring your own cup to the store?

a. Yes

b. No

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

38

12. How likely are you to continue using personal cup in the next 3 months?

a. Extremely unlikely

b. Very unlikely

c. Moderately likely

d. Very likely

e. Extremely likely

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

39

Section B: This section is for respondents who answer ‘No’ to Question 7 stating

they have never brought their own personal cup to the store.

13. How strongly do you agree with the following statements? (Please rate 1 to 5,

1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree)

“I do not bring my own personal cup because…”

a. I do not know that personal cup can be used at the store.

b. I am lazy to wash the cup afterwards.

c. It is inconvenient to take the cup with me everywhere.

d. I do not think that saving a cup a day makes a big environmental

impact.

14. How likely are you to adopt the use of personal cup within next year?

a. Extremely likely

b. Very likely

c. Moderately likely

d. Very unlikely

e. Extremely unlikely

15. How strongly do you agree that the following statements could be the triggers

that influence you to bring your own cup? (Please rate 1 to 5, 1 = strongly

disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree)

a. News about marine life is killed by plastic waste.

b. Image of famous people using personal cups.

c. Friends started using personal cup.

d. Your own company encourages you to reduce plastic.

e. Government encourages you to reduce plastic.

f. Attractive cup design.

g. Promote discount program for bringing own cups.

h. Levy on using plastic cups.

i. Others, please specify

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

40

Section C: This section is to identify ALL respondents’ psychographics and

demographics.

16. Please rate “5” for statements that best describe you and “1” for statements

that do not describe you at all).

a. I love the nature.

b. It is my responsibility to save the environment.

c. Every single contribution can create positive environmental impact.

d. I like exploring in the nature rather than the cities.

e. I am willing to pay higher price in exchange for convenience.

f. I am willing to pay higher price for better quality product.

g. I tend to go for product with the cheapest price.

h. I always use time wisely and efficiently.

i. I am always on trend.

j. I am unique and make my own choice.

k. I am easily influenced by others.

17. How strongly do you agree that reducing plastic consumption can reduce

environmental problem?

a. Strongly disagree

b. Disagree

c. Neutral

d. Agree

e. Strongly agree

18. Which of the following statements have you performed before (Can select

more than 1)

a. Refuse to accept plastic bag at supermarket or convenience store

b. Bring your own canvas bag

c. Refuse to use straw

d. Bring your own reusable straw

e. Participate in plastic waste collection campaign

f. Share information about plastic waste pollution and related information

to the others

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

41

Your personal information and responses will be strictly kept anonymous and

confidential.

19. Gender

a. Male

b. Female

c. Other

20. Age

21. Marital Status

a. Single

b. Married

c. Separated

d. Divorced

e. Widowed

22. Highest or current level of education

a. Primary School or under

b. Secondary School

c. High School / Vocational School

d. Bachelor’s Degree

e. Master’s Degree or higher

23. Current occupation

a. Student

b. Private sector employee

c. Government officer / State enterprise officer

d. Teacher / Professor / Educational staff

e. Entrepreneur

f. Freelancer

g. Retired

h. Unemployed

i. Other (please specify: _____________________)

24. Do you normally drive?

a. Yes

b. No

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

42

25. Range of your monthly personal income

a. Less than 18,001 Baht per month

b. 18,001 – 35,000 Baht per month

c. 35,001 – 50,000 Baht per month

d. 50,001 – 85,000 Baht per month

e. more than 85,000 Baht per month

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

43

BIOGRAPHY

Name Miss Panchalee Areethamsirikul

Date of Birth November 15, 1990

Educational Attainment 2012: Bachelor of Business Administration,

Chulalongkorn University

Work Position Business Development (2017 – Present)

Ek Chai Distribution Co., Ltd.

Work Experiences Analyst (2013 – 2015)

Hay Group Limited

Ref. code: 25616002040431GBA

)$&7256,1)/8(1&,1*7+$,&21680(56¶ behavior on reducing

Documents