Abstract
The consumer plays a key role in resource conservation; therefore, it is important to know consumer behavior to identify consumer profiles and to promote pro-environmental practices in society that encourage resource conservation and reductions in waste generation. The purpose of this paper is to implement a fuzzy model to evaluate consumer behavior in relation to three pro-environmental practices that can be implemented at the household level, including reductions in resource consumption (reduce), reuse of resources (reuse), and recycling (recycle). To identify socio-demographic profiles that characterize an environmentally responsible consumer, 2831 surveys were applied on a representative sample of consumers residing in a Mexican city. Fuzzy logic and neural networks were applied using a Sugeno-type subtractive clustering to determine each profile. The model input variables were socioeconomic status, age, education level, monthly income, occupation and the type of organizations with which the consumer is affiliated. The output variables were represented by pro-environmental practices. Results show that the consumer practices are performed independently of each other, with the most frequent pro-environmental consumer practices being reduction and reuse.
Highlights
Rapid population growth, urbanization, industrialization, and economic development have resulted in the generation of an enormous volume of solid waste in residential areas throughout the world, within the rapidly growing cities of the developing world [1]
The objective of this study is to apply a fuzzy model to evaluate consumer behavior based on the development of pro-environmental practices at the household level
Reductions in consumption are more appreciated by consumers because it has been shown that 68% of the population practices different behaviors, such as purchasing products with less packaging and, reducing consumption amounts and unnecessary products, among others
Summary
Urbanization, industrialization, and economic development have resulted in the generation of an enormous volume of solid waste in residential areas throughout the world, within the rapidly growing cities of the developing world [1]. Population growth and wealth have resulted in an increase in product consumption and, most importantly, in waste after product disposal [2]. Kurisu and Bortoleto [5] indicate that waste generation is closely related to product consumption, causing environmental problems, including greenhouse gases. In certain countries, such as Japan, it is estimated that the domestic sector contributes up to 20% of this problem, meaning that it is necessary to increase the awareness of citizens to promote the “3Rs”
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