Is All Fair in Sustainability Policy? Heterogeneous Consumer Responses to a Single-Use Plastic Tableware Policy and Repeal
(A2026-134289)

AUTHORS

Stav Rosenzweig, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

ABSTRACT

We examine an environmental tax on single-use plastic tableware that was implemented and then repealed one year later. Using retail panel data and a difference-in-difference-in-differences design, we compare purchasing patterns of the general population in a small OECD economy country, with a high-traditionality group that perceived the tax as disproportionately burdensome. The policy reduced single-use tableware purchases overall, and this reduction persisted after repeal, partly due to sticky post-tax prices. However, purchases of high-traditionality consumers decreased more during the tax period but increased significantly after repeal. The post-repeal increase is consistent with consumer reactance theory, whereby individuals who view a policy as unfair may over-purchase once restrictions are lifted to express dissatisfaction with the original policy.