Electrical and Electronic Products Consumers’ Sustainable Behaviour in the Context of Consolidating Their Fundamental Rights

• Published in: Amfiteatru economic 2023-02, Vol.25 (62), p.28-47
• Main Authors: Csorba, Luiela Magdalena, Văduva, Florin, Gherguț, Dan-Ion
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitudes; Business Economy / Management; Consumer behavior; Consumer protection; consumer's rights; Consumers; Durable goods; electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE); electrical and electronic products (EEP); Electronic waste; Energy and Environmental Studies; Energy consumption; Environmental policy; Environmental protection; EU directives; Green procurement; Health initiatives; Human Rights and Humanitarian Law; Influence; Legislation; Public Administration; Public policy; Purchasing; Recovery; Recycling; recycling/recovering; Social development; Socio-Economic Research; Sustainability; the sustainable consumer behavior
• ISSN: 1582-9146; 2247-9104; 2247-9104
• DOI: 10.24818/EA/2023/62/28

In recent years, the concern for durable electrical and electronic products as well as the recovery and recycling of electrical and electronic waste has increased, simultaneously with new initiatives aimed not only at protecting the environment, but ensuring consumer’s health, while consolidating their fundamental rights. The research aims to identify the factors that influence the sustainable behaviour of the Romanian consumer of electrical and electronic products. In this sense, the ecological attitude, the purchasing behaviour of these goods, and also the recovery/recycling attitude of electrical and electronic waste were taken into account. Data were collected through an online questionnaire from 421 Romanian respondents and processed with the lavaan software package version 0.6-12 of R for structural equation modelling.The novelty of the article lies in how variables such as propensity to recover/recycle, tendency of purchasing durable goods, ecological behaviour, are put in a new context, combining environmental and consumers’ protection. The research makes theoretical contributions by proposing and testing specific consumer protection constructs, which do not appear in the literature. From the environmental public policies point of view, the work highlights the factors that can contribute to the development of a responsible behaviour of both the population and public authorities, to stimulate the purchase of sustainable goods, and to ensure an increase in the collection rate of electrical and electronic products in Romania.