Internet use and willingness to participate in garbage classification: an investigation of Chinese residents

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study contributes to the literature by investigating the factors factors affecting Chinese residents' willingness to participate (WTP) in garbage classification, paying particular attention to the role of Internet use. Data are drawn from the 2016 China Labour-force Dynamics Survey (N = 13,499) and analysed using a recursive bivariate probit model. The results show that Internet use can motivate people to classify the household garbage, and it increases Chinese residents’ WTP in garbage classification by 4.7 percentage points. The results also show that WTP in garbage classification of Chinese residents is largely influenced by their Internet use via smartphones. Our findings highlight the importance of distributing garbage classification information via Internet media, especially smartphones.