Customer preference on an eco-friendly alternative for polythene grocery bag

Abstract

Polythene have become increasingly popular for industrial and consumer uses because of their flexibility and cost effectiveness. Most of the items in the supermarkets are packed using some kind of polythene packaging material and they are giving away bags for each and every item a customer buys. However, there is no proper management system. It is a known fact that polythene has become a serious threat to human and animal as well as environmental health. This study was carried out with the objective of evaluating customer preference on usage of polythene and moving for eco-friendly alternative in Colombo district. A questionnaire survey was carried out to find the customer preferences on selected four different roads in Colombo district focusing four major super markets; Cargils, Keels, Laugfs and Arpico. Total sample size was 200. According to the survey results, 43% of consumers visit super market once a week and 27% of the respondents visit super markets twice a week. 96% of respondents would like to go for a bio degradable option and majority of respondents (90%) are willing to pay an extra for an ecofriendly alternative. Also, 64% would like to pay less than 5.00 rupees for an alternative bag while 30% of respondents would like to pay up to 8.00 Sri Lanka rupees. Customers are less aware of harmfulness of polythene and they are willing to accept an alternative if they are provided with an alternative.