An empirical investigation of household's waste separation intention: A dual-factor theory perspective

Waste separation at a household level could facilitate sustainable waste management. However, despite several efforts by the government, the adoption of household waste separation practices is still at a nascent stage. Therefore, we aim to study the factors affecting household waste separation intention (WSI). Drawing on Dual Factor Theory (DFT), two distinct sets of factors (enablers and barriers) were used to explain the WSI at the household level. This study also extended the Self Determination Theory (SDT) and Status Quo Bias (SQB) theory to broadly identify the factors and develop a conceptual model. The main study analyzed data from 494 respondents using a structural equation modeling approach. The result reveals that environmental concern, anticipated guilt, awareness of consequences, and health consciousness have a significant positive effect on WSI. In contrast, perceived inconvenience, information, and infrastructure barriers significantly negatively affect WSI. Additionally, gender and income partially moderated the studied relationships. The results offer key insights and implications for marketers and public policymakers.