Investigating Students' Attitude and Intention to Use Biodegradable Drinking Straw in Emerging Country

Plastic drinking straw is widely used for drinking water and has been very important for society as an effective tool in a restaurant and other service businesses. However, excessive use leads to large amount of plastic waste that would harm the environment. Plastic waste pose serious environmental pollutions, economical disadvantages and health problems in humans and animals. Therefore, the government has taken its first step to ban the usage of plastic straw in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan in 2019. The government has strategies for public outreach to advocate the drawbacks of using plastic straw. The government suggested the public to reduce the usage of plastic straw or to choose biodegradable drinking straw as an alternative in order to save the environment. Efforts to design the best strategy is worth it if environmental awareness and attitude with regards to the plastic consumption among society are high. Therefore, this research is important to examine the students? attitudes, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control towards students? intention. A total of 242 participants aged between 18 to 24 years participated in the survey via systematic random sampling technique. The findings revealed that students attitudes, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control have a significant influence on their favorable intention toward biodegradable drinking straw. The outcome of this research would be in form of a guideline for both scholars and policymakers to plan for further strategies with regards to the usage of biodegradable straw. Furthermore, this study contributes to theory by providing empirical evidence of the relationship between attitudes toward the environment, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls on intentions of young educated consumers in using biodegradable drinking straw.