Philippine E-Journals

Attitude and Barriers Towards Sustainable Consumption

Romario P.

Discipline: Values, Environmental Ethics

 

Abstract:

This paper analyses sustainable consumption in Dumaguete City. It tries to identify consumer attitudes towards it and the existing barriers preventing people from undertaking such actions. The study is based on an extensive consumer survey in Dumaguete City, where people’s attitudes, values and also barriers were disclosed. Three groups are created based on the fact if a person undertakes sustainable actions, namely, environmentalists, mainstream and non environmentalists. The Author find out that only 7% of the inhabitants of Dumaguete City currently represent the environmentalist group, although almost 90% realize the increasing threat to the environment. For the rest, several barriers, such as the lack of information, perceived consumer effectiveness, difficulties to change habits, and perception of high costs associated with sustainable consumption exist. The study concludes that there are various further steps to be taken to solve the problem, and a brief insight in suggestions for further research is given.