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Unpacking Plastic: Investigating Plastic Related Ambivalence
Summary
Researchers investigated consumer ambivalence toward plastic-packaged food in two studies, finding that participants showed greater psychological ambivalence and rated plastic-packaged food less favorably than unpackaged alternatives, regardless of whether they received positive or negative information about plastic.
Many people are aware of the negative consequences of plastic use on the environment. Nevertheless, they use plastic due to its functionality. In the present paper, we hypothesized that this leads to the experience of ambivalence—the simultaneous existence of positive and negative evaluations of plastic. In two studies, we found that participants showed greater ambivalence toward plastic packed food than unpacked food. Moreover, they rated plastic packed food less favorably than unpacked food in response evaluations. In Study 2, we tested whether one-sided (only positive vs. only negative) information interventions could effectively influence ambivalence. Results showed that ambivalence is resistant to (social) influence. Directions for future research were discussed.
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