A quantitative study on whether sustainable and environmentally-friendly packaging by a company influences customers’ intentions to repurchase in a South African Context

Abstract

Packaging waste is having a major impact on the environment and this is becoming a major concern for society to deal with today. Approximately a third of the waste that is entering the environment is as a result of packaging waste (Davies, 2016). Therefore, organisations are required to address this issue in order to become more sustainable and environmentally-friendly to reduce the impact that they have on the environment. This quantitative research study examines whether the use of sustainable and environmentally-friendly packaging materials by an organisation increases customers’ intentions to repurchase their products within a South African context. The researcher collected the data using a closed-ended questionnaire because objectivity was important for the purpose of this study. Furthermore, the results that were obtained from the questionnaires are easy to quantify and analyse. The results indicated that there is a moderate relationship between the use of sustainable and environmentally-friendly packaging materials and customers’ intentions to repurchase. Therefore, the results indicate that if organisations were to utilise sustainable and environmentally-friendly packaging materials, it may have an impact on customers’ attitudes towards them and increase the market share they currently have.