Evaluation of the effect of plastic bag fee on consumer behavior in the behavioral economics

In this study; concerns addressed within the framework of sustainable development goals are discussed in the context of concepts such as sustainability, sustainable development and green growth. The main focus of sustainability goals is the concerns about the depletion of non-renewable natural resources and consequently disposable plastic consumption problems. These problems have been examined in the context of the avoidance of loss, the strength of the present, the framing effect, the referencing, the default choices, the visibility and the optimism error, which are the main findings of behavioral economics. Paternalism and libertarian paternalism policies that can be applied to increase the benefits of limited rational individuals have been explained. Then, various intervention methods and examples used in many countries are mentioned to prevent excessive consumption of disposable plastic bags. Based on the concept of nudge, it has been argued that changes can be made in individuals' stereotypical conception of consumption through psychological and economic incentives. The literature on taxes and prohibitions, which are interventions for plastic bags, is presented in detail. In Turkey, which entered into force as of January 1, 2019 in the context of the Environmental Law regulations plastic bag fee was introduced. The plastic bag fee being implemented in Turkey, in order to determine the effect on consumer behavior, face to face a consumer survey was conducted in Istanbul. In order to examine the change in plastic bag demand, principal components analysis, paired sample t-test and multiple regression analysis methods were used. As a result, the intervention applied in the form of plastic bag fee has been observed to be successful. Suggestions were presented by discussing how the intervention applied could be supported in the context of behavioral economic policies.