Recycling as a marketing problem: A framework for strategy development

TLDR

Recycling behavior is treated as a product in a social marketing framework, and research is categorized into consumer, pricing, distribution, and promotional studies; this article offers a framework to integrate past recycling research by conceptualizing compliance as a marketing problem. The article aims to integrate recycling research and suggest actionable strategies for community recycling programs. The authors use a marketing framework that conceptualizes recycling compliance as a marketing problem to integrate diverse research areas. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Abstract

Abstract This article provides a framework for integrating past recycling research by conceptualizing recycling compliance as a marketing problem. Within a social marketing framework, recycling behavior is considered the product, and the marketing problem is to sell recycling to the consumers or public. Recycling research is then categorized as consumer research (research on characteristics of the recycler), pricing research (research on the costs to the consumer, including implicit or less tangible costs), distribution research (research on modes of participation for the recycler), and promotional research (research on intervention strategies such as raffles and contests, personal selling techniques such as block leader programs, and persuasive communications). Using this framework, we provide an integration of a vast amount of recycling research, and also suggest how this research can be used to design actionable strategies for the development of community recycling programs. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.