Title: Exploring young consumers' sustainable plastic management behaviour in a developing country

Authors: Md. Hasibul Islam; Md. Tamzidul Islam; Md. Asif Kamal; Mahmudul Hasan; Partha Prasad Chowdhury

Addresses: Department of Operations and Supply Chain Management, American International University-Bangladesh, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh ' Department of Operations and Supply Chain Management, American International University-Bangladesh, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh ' Department of English, American International University-Bangladesh, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh ' Department of Marketing, American International University-Bangladesh, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh ' Department of Marketing, American International University-Bangladesh, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh

Abstract: This paper explores the impact of cognitive, non-cognitive, and emotional factors in shaping consumers' sustainable plastic management behaviour (SPMB), which includes plastic consumption reduction and plastic waste disposal behaviour. An extended model of the theory of planned behaviour is developed, incorporating factors- moral norm, pro-environmental habit, and anticipation of guilt feeling. Data was collected surveying young consumers from Dhaka City in Bangladesh. The result shows that intention is the main precursor of SPMB followed by the perceived behavioural control (PBC) and habit. Intention is significantly impacted by eco-awareness, moral norms, guilt feeling and habit, whereas insignificantly impacted by attitude, subjective norm and PBC. Among these factors, the impact of the moral norm was found to be strong in forming the intention of SPMB, where moral norm significantly impacts guilt feeling. It was found that non-cognitive and emotional factors are dominant compared to cognitive factors in shaping SPMB of young consumers.

Keywords: plastic pollution; plastic waste management; recycling; theory of planned behaviour; TPB; norm activation model; NAM; theory of interpersonal behaviour; TIB; Generation Z; sustainable consumer behaviour; PLS-SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/WRSTSD.2026.152593

World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, 2026 Vol.20 No.2, pp.227 - 248

Received: 14 May 2024
Accepted: 26 Aug 2024
Published online: 30 Mar 2026 *

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