Participate or not: Impact of information intervention on residents’ willingness of sorting municipal solid waste

Abstract The municipal solid waste (MSW) classification policies have been officially implemented in many cities of China. In this paper, study 1 is a scenario experiment that investigates whether the information intervention can help to increase the residents' willingness of MSW sorting and the intention to pay for MSW sorting services. Study 2 is conducted based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore how the information intervention has the above impacts. The results of the structural equation models (SEM) show that the information intervention can directly promote the generation of MSW sorting willingness. In addition, the information intervention can enhance residents’ behavioral attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control and satisfaction with policy. Among them, behavioral attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control can further enhance residents' willingness of MSW sorting. And the willingness to pay for the third-party organizations' MSW sorting service can be strengthened through the behavioral attitude, perceived behavioral control, and satisfaction with policy. The results of hierarchical regression show that residents who own their own real estate are more motivated to take the initiative in waste sorting rather than paying for sorting services. Finally, this paper concludes by putting forward corresponding policy recommendations.