Waste prevention and social preferences: the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations

Grazia Cecere, Susanna Mancinelli () and Massimiliano Mazzanti

Ecological Economics, 2014, vol. 107, issue C, 163-176

Abstract: It is only recently that EU policies have started defining targets for waste reduction despite waste prevention being at the top of the ‘waste hierarchy’. Against this backdrop, we examine whether individual behaviour towards waste reduction is more strongly driven by extrinsic motivations such as social norms, or intrinsic motivations, such as altruistic preferences. We exploit a new survey covering 22,759 individuals from EU27 countries. Our results suggest that individual preferences matter to move beyond an orientation based on recycling, to achieve a reduction of the sources of waste. Behaviour patterns which lead to waste reduction are seldom socially oriented, seldom exposed to peer pressure, and very reliant on purely ‘altruistic’ attitudes.

Keywords: Intrinsic motivations; Extrinsic motivations; Social norms; Recycling; Waste reduction; Green preferences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K42 Q53 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (77)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Waste Prevention and Social Preferences: The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations (2013)
Working Paper: Waste Prevention and Social Preferences: The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations (2013)
Working Paper: Waste prevention and social preferences: the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (2013)
Working Paper: Waste prevention and social preferences: the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:107:y:2014:i:c:p:163-176

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.07.007

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