ABSTRACT
The industrialization and the media has induced a consumist behavior by people, where products are used and discarded more frequently and without criteria, which results in a larger volume of residues wasted in the environment. The consumer could interfere in that process choosing products and services that are less harmful to the environment, or that could be recycled to contribute for the improvement of their quality of life, communities and for the planet health. This non compromising with the environment consequences and the power of modifying this scenario by recycling process, for instance, turn the consumers important. Although exist a search for the benefits of recycling, the cost of this activity could still be considered high for a significant segment of consumers. This paper verifies the consumer’s propensity of recycling based on the concept of value or relationship between costs and benefits. Consumers were interviewed in two stages. In the first, a deep quality interview research method was used to identify the variables perceived as cost and benefit in the action of recycling. In the second stage a qualitative research method was accomplished with 124 consumers interviewed with a questionnaire based on a Likert scale. Regarding to the benefits, the results demonstrate that there is a worried about the environmental subject, but at a macro sense. Regarding to the costs, there is a predisposition observed only in the final process of the consumption that doesn’t exist in the moment of the product purchase. Suggestions are made regarding the communication strategies by companies and public policies, even for education programs to increase conscientious consumption.
KEYWORS
Consumer behavior; Cost and benefit; Recycling; Environment