Why Buy Free? Exploring Perceptions of Bottled Water Consumption and Its Environmental Consequences

Paul Ballantine,Rachel Bayfield,Lucie Ozanne

doi:10.3390/su11030757

Abstract

This exploratory study examines the consumption motivations of those consumers who choose to buy bottled water, while at the same time exploring the perceptions they hold about the potential environmental consequences of their actions. Based upon a sample of sixteen participants aged from 19 to 56, our findings revealed five main themes as to why people purchase bottled water, including: (1) Health, comprising the two subthemes of personal health and cleanliness, (2) the bottle, (3) convenience, (4) taste, and (5) self-image. Our findings also highlighted the perceptions held about the environmental consequences of bottled water consumption and the considerable challenges marketers have to address if they are to persuade consumers to consider alternatives to this consumption practice.

Highlights

The global bottled water market was valued at $US198.50 billion in 2017 across the four main categories of still water, carbonated water, flavoured water, and functional water, with more than three-quarters of sales being within the still water category [1]
Plastic bottles are commonly made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which takes 400 years to naturally decompose yet is highly recyclable [3]
This study explores the consumption motivations of those consumers who choose to buy bottled water, while at the same time exploring the perceptions they hold about the potential environmental consequences of their actions

Summary

Introduction

The global bottled water market was valued at $US198.50 billion in 2017 across the four main categories of still water, carbonated water, flavoured water, and functional water, with more than three-quarters of sales being within the still water category [1]. A recent report found that a million plastic bottles are purchased every minute around the world, with that figure likely to increase another 20% by 2021 [3]. This growth is driven by an insatiable desire for bottled water and the spread of a western, urbanised convenience-orientated culture to China and the Asia-Pacific region [3]. It is estimated that at least 8 million tonnes of plastics, including bottles, leak into the ocean each year [4], impacting fisheries, the marine ecosystem, and potentially human health [5,6]. Manufacturing the nearly 28 billion plastic bottles used each year to package water in the United

Methods

Results

Conclusion