Consumer attitudes: drivers of unlawful disposal of solid waste products

ABSTRACT

The consumer attitudes towards how they participate in the disposal of solid waste products is a crucial concern in Ghana. The attribution theory in social psychology emerged in the literature as a paradigm that seeks to explain the consumer attitudes towards solid waste products disposables that are negative and individualistic. This study estimates the motivational factors to consumer attitudes and unlawful disposal of solid waste products in Bono Region of Ghana. The results indicated the direct path dimensions of the analysed hostile aggression was CoE (−0.103), SE (0.040), CR (−2.547), p (0.011), learned helplessness was CoE (0.112), SE (0.052), CR (−2.133), p (0.033), and beliefs was CoE (0.049), SE (0.049), CR (0.988), p (0.323). Beliefs were not significant. However, hostile aggression and learned helplessness were significantly related to the unlawful disposal of solid waste products. The mediation for advertising message type was EST (0.622), SE (0.038), p (0.000) significant indirect effect towards the unlawful disposal of solid waste products and moderation interaction for existential consumer EST (0.002), SE (0.000), CR (70.939), p (0.000) was significant towards the unlawful disposal of solid waste products. The results suggest that many consumers who throw away solid waste products participate in unlawful disposal practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Theory of attribution
• motivational factors
• unlawful disposal
• Ghana

1. Introduction

There has never been a community without solid waste product disposal. However, how consumers participate in the disposal of solid waste products is a crucial concern in Ghana. It is of the view that, before the industrial era, solid waste product disposal was a major issue for communities. Thus, consumer consumption resulted in a throw-away culture that created high volumes of easy-to-use disposable products (Adu-Gyamfi et al., 2023; Fan, Yang, and Shen 2019; Mauch 2016). As Nwachukwu et al. (2017) and Adjei et al. (2022) put it, solid waste product disposal is an urban and rural problem because everyone consumes products. It has been an inevitable part of daily consumer activities (Adu-Gyamfi et al., 2023; Fan, Yang, and Shen 2019). The unregulated, open dump still has been a dominant characteristic of solid waste product disposal in many parts of cities and towns in Ghana. Where daily disposals of solid waste products in major cities in Ghana like Takoradi recorded 11,760.7 tons, Kumasi had 7986.5 tons 10,610.3 tons in Koforidua, Accra/Anya 5159.3 tons, Wa 4905.2 tons, 3918.6 in Bolgatanga, Sunyani 3833.9 tons, 4530.7 tons in Tamale, 3309.5 tons in Ho, and 10,827.4 tons in Cape Coast were discovered. In the case of Sunyani, the capital of Bono Region, multiple unauthorised landfills were found. Consumers in Sunyani engaged in improper solid waste product disposal activities. For instance, dumping in a public container 52.5%, open space dumping 17.4%, burned home premises 10.4%, house-to-house collection 8.5%, and in-discriminatory dumping 11.2% (Abalo et al. 2018; Tweneboah-Koduah, Adams, and Nyarku 2020). The underlying causes of the unlawful disposal of solid waste products can be attributed to consumers’ attitudes towards trash. Solid waste product disposal starts when consumers scan for buying, using, evaluating, and disposing of products that satisfy their needs (van Dormalen and Kleesattel 2018). Consumption culture is highly considered a habit (Sztangret 2019). The unlawful disposal has environmental severity, health problem, and socio-economic implications in Ghana (Debrah et al. 2023; Nketiah et al. 2022). Thus, improper disposal of solid waste products promotes the growth of harmful microorganisms (Debrah, Vidal, and Dinis 2021).

Studies indicate that solid waste products have the essential prospect of producing more energy power, assets, and revenue. As a result, more sustainable and appropriate energy sources have been proposed, and the key among the alternatives is energy from solid waste products. Thus, using solid waste to produce energy is considered more sustainable and environmentally friendlier (Abalo et al. 2018; Sharma and Jain 2020). The needed interest, priority, and attention have not been given to waste energy generation like in Ghana. The state continues to spend more on managing solid waste products than on generating income from waste, despite the opportunities to convert the solid waste produced in the country, i.e. 1.7 billion tons a year. The poor sanitation due to indiscriminate solid waste product disposal alone is estimated to cost the government $290 million annually. This represents 1–2.5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (Adu-Gyamfi et al., 2023; Abalo et al. 2018; Miezah et al. 2015). Today, governments have used solid waste products to generate (WtE) Waste Energy. Thus, while some countries focus on energy generation, Ghana has not progressed (Abalo et al. 2018; Debrah et al. 2023). However, as the population keeps rising, more reliable energy demand is required, which the country has lacked over the years (Nketiah et al. 2022). The global market generated approximately 12,912 megawatts (MW) of energy 2016 from disposable solid waste products. For instance, these countries have converted solid waste products to boost their energy capacity; they include the USA with 2,254 megawatts, Germany with 1,888 megawatts, Japan with 1,501 megawatts, France with 872 megawatts, Italy with 826 megawatts, Britain with 781 megawatts, the Netherlands with 649 megawatts, and China 629 megawatts, respectively (Ecoprog 2022; Sharma and Jain 2020). In 2014 the value of waste energy technologies stood at $25 billion at a 7.5% market growth of multiple yearly growth rates; in 2020 was $36 billion and is expected to increase by $40 billion in 2023. Despite the cost, the potential to grow waste energy technology is on the course. Nevertheless, costs will likely decrease as technology improves (Abalo et al. 2018; Ecoprog 2022; Kalyani and Pandey 2014; Sharma and Jain 2020).

The problem confronting Ghana is the consumer’s continuous indiscriminate disposal and ever-hoarded solid waste products. The country lacks policy direction, facilities and inadequate resources for management, such as sustainable financing (Addo et al. 2017; Douti et al. 2017). The solid waste product disposal data is generally attributed to 55–80% of consumer households (Douti et al. 2017). Thousands of tons of solid waste products are produced daily in Ghana (Adu-Boahen et al., 2014; Mwinkom, Millar, and Tanguo 2018). The management of solid waste product disposal continues to feature prominently with rising costs (Obuobi et al., 2022; Boateng et al. 2019). Still, solid waste product disposals pose critical challenges in every part of Ghana (Abalo et al. 2018). The state spends 50% −70% of its budget on disposal control. The rising population growth, lack of training on solid waste sorting, weak political will, weak legislation, conflict among the level of state and overlapping duties and responsibilities, lack of awareness, limited land areas, limited data on the production of solid waste product disposal, and land tenure issues are all challenges to successfully control solid waste disposal (Adu-Gyamfi et al., 2023; Fan, Yang, and Shen 2019; Owusu and Oteng-Ababio 2015). There are limited data to understand the underlying causes of significant disposal of solid waste products residing in consumer consumption and how persistently they indiscriminately throw away solid waste products. Studies simultaneously disregard the varied motivational factors in attribution theory. By addressing this, these studies emphasise the need to study the inherent personal behaviour of unlawful consumer disposals (Adu-Gyamfi et al., 2023; D’Amato et al. 2018; Russo et al. 2019; Tweneboah-Koduah, Adams, and Nyarku 2020). As such, this has necessitated the call for studying consumer social psychology from negative attitudes using motivational factors in attribution theory in solid waste products disposal based on the personal consumer experience of continuous unlawful disposal of solid waste products. In this way, this work seeks to develop a robust model to enhance comprehension regarding attribution theory, including advertising message type and an existential consumer based on unlawful disposal of solid waste products. The study offers several contributions to the body of knowledge: First, this study produces insightful findings of inherent and persistent negative behaviour leading to the deep-rooted canker of unlawful disposables in Ghana and highlights key variables for effective policies, and second, the study position attribution theory expands the theoretical knowledge-based in solid waste product disposables in consumer social psychology. Given this, the specific objectives of this research are to:

• Examine the relationship between consumer motivational factors (i.e. hostile aggression, learned helplessness, beliefs) and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

• Assess the mediating effect of advertising message type (AMT) in the relationship between consumers’ motivation and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

• Investigate the moderating effects of existential consumer (ESTC) interaction between beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

This study has seven sections. Following the introduction, the remainder of this study is divided into the following six sections. The second section provides a discussion of relevant literature. In the third section, the methodology. In the fourth and fifth sections, the analysis and results are presented. The sixth section provides results and discussion. The seventh section is the conclusion and practical implication. Finally, the limitations and future research are presented in the seventh section.

2. Literature review and hypothesis formulation

2.1. Theoretical perspectives of consumer disposal behaviour

Numerous theories have been applied to consumer solid waste product disposal behaviour in the literature, which serves as the foundation for societal and environmental change. The most conceptualised theories in consumer solid waste product disposables include the theory of interpersonal behaviour (TIB) used to explain consumer solid waste product reduction behaviour (Attiq et al. 2021; Chang, Wang, and Wu 2019); the theory of motivation (PMT) in pro-environmental behavioural to prevent disaster (Janmaimool 2017; Kelly and Barker 2016); the self-perception theory (SPT) in individual behaviour actions about the environment (Grewal et al. 2019; Mohebi and Bailey 2020; Ziegler and Schlett 2016); the social cognitive theory (SCT) to encourage pro-environmental behaviour (Bijandi and Nabavi 2012; Kurt 2020; LaMorte 2019; Liao, Zhao, and Zhang 2018; McCullough Chavis 2011); the value-belief-norm theory of environmentalism (VBNE) in individuals’ general predispositions to pro-environmental action (Fan, Yang, and Shen 2019; Lind et al. 2015); the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in solid waste product disposal management behaviour (Raghu and Rodrigues 2021); and the neoclassical consumer theory (NCCT) in solid waste product management (Alhassan et al. 2017) with household consumption of products being the primary source of solid waste generated (Tweneboah-Koduah, Adams, and Nyarku 2020; Zhang, Liu, and Yao 2021). The current study used the theory of attribution to explain the negative attitude of consumers that makes them persistently behave indiscriminately towards throwing away solid waste products.

2.2. Theory of attribution

The current paper draws on the attribution theory (ATBT), described initially as how it might be used in studies of consumer behaviour by Heider in 1958. Attribution theory suggests that individual perspective is an antecedent that leads a person to infer a particular cause for an outcome (Hsieh 2019; Rubenstein and Thoron 2017). The attribution theory was created to explain a person’s behaviour (Fu et al. 2021; Jackson 2019; Jiang, Gretzel, and Law 2010; Wang and Hall 2018). The attribution theory has become more well known in the literature on social psychology and offers distinctive approaches to comprehending people’s behaviour. It has been extensively applied to various disciplines, including organisational behaviour, human resource management, new technology advancement, information systems, and consumer behaviour (Hewett et al. 2018; Martinko and Mackey 2019; Ruybal and Siegel 2021; Snead et al. 2015). Such a theory could assist in highlighting how consumers’ negative attitudes influence how they throw-away solid waste products (Medori 2020). This study used attribution theory to measure the relationships between motivational factors to consumer attitudes towards unlawful disposal of solid waste products, and advertising message type and existential consumer as intervening variables. The constructs of motivational factors in attribution theory and intervening variables to consumer attitudes are further discussed in the sub-sections.

2.3. The unlawful disposal of solid waste product practices

Several approaches and components constitute unlawful disposal practices. One study referred to unlawful throw-away as non-compliance with a policy designed (D’Amato et al. 2018). Another study described illegal disposal as fly-tipping. The fly implies throwing items away casually (Liu, Kong, and Santibanez Gonzalez 2017). Also, the illegal method of disposal into the river by ignoring the environmental consequences is affected by geographic risk factors (Indrawati and Purwaningrum 2018). Indiscriminate dumping refers to the illegal disposal of solid waste products in undesignated spaces such as vacant land, water sources, and other areas (Dladla, Machete, and Shale 2016), such as when consumers dump illegally, mainly on roadsides and open fields (Du, Xu, and Zuo 2021; Erasu et al. 2018).

2.4. Consumers’ motivational factors and unlawful disposal of solid waste products

This study assessed the motivational factors conceptualised in solid waste product disposal that can engender how consumers unlawfully dispose of solid waste products. It is a crucial construct in the study to improve consumer disposables of solid waste products. Cook and Artino Jr. (2016) defined motivation as initiating and sustaining goal-directed activities. Motivation is a function of the expectation of success and perceived value. According to Weiner (2010), individual differences can determine the dimensions of motivational factors. Graham and Taylor (2016) affirmed that personal motives are a set of reasoning for achieving a particular goal. Motivation captures individual differences in people’s preference for attribution that differ on the stability dimension. A similar study reported that motivation is a reason that makes an individual behave in a particular way. Again, motivation is the force that prods an individual to take action (Shrestha 2020). Motivation is indispensable in consumer disposables because it influences cause behaviour (Munyon et al. 2019). The present study investigates how three (3) dimensions of motivational factors proposed by Weiner in 1986 used in solid waste product disposal can cause consumers’ unlawful disposal of solid waste products: hostile aggression, learned helplessness and beliefs (Thoron and Bunch 2014). This study examines how advertising message type mediates between the overall motivational factors and unlawful solid waste product disposal. Further, the study evaluates how a moderator existential consumer interacts in the relationship between beliefs and the unlawful disposal of solid waste products. These constructs are discussed with hypotheses formulation.

2.4.1. Hostile aggression and unlawful disposal of solid waste products

Accordingly (Maneiro, Cutrín, and Gómez-Fraguela 2022), hostile aggression is a common individual attitude concerning feelings of indigestion, contempt, and resentment towards others. It is also explained as a personal attitude motivated by frustration and anger. Individual aggression is associated with sudden and impulsive behaviour, which can cause problems. Hostile aggression attitude occurs unknowingly, particularly in difficult moments (Nickerson, n.d..). Allen et al. (2018) affirmed that human aggression is any behaviour which harms a target who is encouraged to prevent adverse occurrences. The underlying issues that may influence aggression include social stress, social rejection, provocation, frustration, bad mood, exercise, alcohol intoxication, violent media, pain, and ego depletion. Kähr et al. (2016) posited that hostile aggression affects consumers’ decisions in many ways. From a social psychological perspective, aggressive behaviour is central to individual consumers’ daily activities. In a similar study (Getnet and Malik 2012), aggressiveness implies a behaviour exhibited by an individual that violates the generally accepted norms of conduct that result in substantial financial, physical, and psychological harm. It is also a dysfunctional behaviour by a customer who intentionally or unintentionally acts in some way to disrupt other encounters. Hence, it is essential to note that the hostile aggression concept provides a crucial and unique contribution to the current study. This is because hostile aggression has been applied in consumer behaviour studies and can be used to predict the cause of unlawful consumer disposables of solid waste products. Thus, for a better understanding of disposal attitudes, this study suggests that consumers’ negative experience towards solid waste product disposal is related to unlawful methods. The following hypothesis is thus stated:

H1:

Consumers’ hostile aggression towards disposal of solid waste products has a positive significant relationship with unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

2.4.2. Learned helplessness and unlawful disposal of solid waste products

Accordingly (Leonard 2019; Scherer 2022), learned helplessness occurs when an individual experiences a stressful situation, often in social life engagement. Thus, this behaviour becomes complex for the individual who persistently experiences vulnerable moments. In this case, learned helplessness leads to increased feelings of stress and depression. This individual helplessness can be termed a loss of motivation, resulting in negative behaviour. When individuals experience helpless situations, they realise they cannot control their social behaviour. Learned helplessness behaviour typically happens based on a person’s experiences. When people develop learned helplessness, such behaviour becomes difficult for them to come out from circumstances that cannot be controlled (Ackerman 2020; Gada 2022). The concept of learned helplessness has been applied to understand how attributions are linked with problems. It has been assumed that an individual’s attribution style develops during childhood. Learned helplessness thus constitutes the solid approach for discovering the root cause and minimising the consumer’s unlawful disposal of solid waste products (Hasan, Harun, and Hock 2015; Liu 2022). Consumers are not ready to learn the appropriate task delivery methods (Ntanos et al. 2019), and individuals approach learning differently could negatively affect their behaviour (LaMorte 2019). Thus, for a proper understanding of the negative disposal attitude, this study suggests that consumers’ negative experience towards solid waste product disposal is related to unlawful methods. Hence, it is hypothesised that:

H2.

Consumers’ learned helplessness towards disposal of solid waste products has a positive significant relationship with unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

2.4.3. Beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products

Patwary et al. (2022) described beliefs as mental representations of how individuals expect things in their environment to behave positively or negatively. The belief is that individuals are central to the whole environment. Individuals are expected to preserve the ecology of humanity. Beliefs refer to individuals’ positive and negative thoughts concerning the surrounding environment. A study reported that beliefs are associated with a natural course that sometimes differs based on circumstances or personality. It is essential to state that consumers’ knowledge can impact their duties and responsibilities (Perner 2010). Zhao et al. (2010) emphasised this view, claiming that beliefs represent one of the significant ways to predict consumer behaviour. Similarly (Hoque and Hossan 2020), consumers’ subjective assessments of the benefits or costs of engaging in a given behaviour are referred to as beliefs, which also include the strengths or expectancies of these expectations. When they enter into one’s memory, these dimensions of beliefs make the person form either positive or negative attitudes within the lived environment. Clements (2012), beliefs and individual social behaviours are related to the environment. Thus, beliefs affect attitudes towards the environment. Braga et al. (2019) reported that beliefs are considered a cognitive component and refer to how a person interprets the effects of a particular action. Beliefs are usually based on personal credibility, benevolence and environmental performance, influencing subjective norms and perceived behavioural control about consumer attitude. More so, one’s beliefs about attributes are important since they determine how favourable the individual is towards the object. Joung and Park‐Poaps (2013) affirmed that individual belief systems and values on human-environment relationships, consequences, and responsibility shape pro-environmental views engendered by norms. Hence, beliefs impact what people decide to believe and do in reaction to opinions in public debates (Price, Walker, and Boschetti 2014) and can be both general and specific (Cook and Artino 2016). Thus, for a proper understanding of the negative disposal attitude, this study suggests that consumers’ negative experience towards solid waste product disposal relates to an unlawful method. From the review of the literature, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H3.

Consumers’ beliefs towards disposal of solid waste products have a positive significant relationship with unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

2.4.4. Mediator: motivational factors, advertising message type, and unlawful disposal of solid waste

This study assessed the commonly employed relationship between the effectiveness and efficiency of the advertising message type and consumer decision-making in solid waste product disposal (Hongcharu 2019a). An advertising message is a paid-mediated form of communication from an identifiable source designed to persuade the consumer to take action. People react to the same advertisement differently and decide on consumption-related items (Asemah and Edegoh 2013). Advertising messages predict consumer behaviour based on the general idea that an ad will convey to the target audience. The ad’s central purpose is to give a message to a target audience to convince them to take action. Advert propagates the proper idea to the individuals at the right time. The advert contains a compelling message that provides a substantial advantage for the positive influence (Ezzat 2022). As Dean et al. (2019) put it, the content of the message type is most relevant to align with the goal. Wang et al. (2020) advertising messages become more effective with combined black-and-white imagery that boosts consumer responses, including attitudes towards the ad. Hongcharu, (2019b) indicated that variation in a message is effective because it is more memorable and convincing than repeating the same commercials. In order to determine whether the target audience believes that the communications have the power to alter their attitudes, the message’s persuasiveness is examined. There is evidence that consumer response to messages should include examining attitude change since effective messaging can influence long-term attitudes through rational and emotive appeals. Asemah and Edegoh (2013) established that persuasive language is essential for an advertising campaign to be effective. The idea that advertising moulds and reflects society is the foundation for understanding how advertising affects society. There is advertising throughout society and is designed to reflect the culture and appeal to people’s sensibilities in a given society. Advertising message type also established that lack of awareness about environmental education and untargeted messages by environmental experts worsen the situation. Using fear appeals, many environmental advertisements can influence or persuade an individual to perform or not perform specific actions through fear (Campos et al. 2021). This current study suggests that advertising message type is more likely to cause a positive significant intervention in the causal relationship when a consumer engages in unlawful disposal behaviour. Based on the above discussions, it is hypothesised that:

H4.

Advertising message type mediates the positive significant relationship between consumers’ motivation and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

2.4.5. Moderator: beliefs, existential consumer, and unlawful disposal of solid waste

According to one definition, existential broadly refers to one’s life experience regarding meaning, including meaningfulness and meaninglessness. Existential has been classified as (a) existential meaninglessness, emphasising the absence of existential meaning, and (b) existential meaningfulness denotes the presence of existential meaning (Li et al. 2022a). Another study explains human existence and conditions, especially in stressing that the human essence is determined through life choices. Individual existence must have priority in existentialism, and certain conditions are commonly held to be endemic to human existence (Jia 2021). The concept of existentialism has been applied by marketing scholars to enrich the understanding of consumer motivation and behaviour. Existentialism relates to being a person, happy, and oneself (Canavan 2018). Making meaning of one’s existence is important for optimal human functioning. Consumers differ in the rate they contemplate issues, and modern psychology might benefit from a measure of existential thought that would enable us to evaluate its correlations and implications. Numerous assessments that are concerned with the degree to which people have meaning in their lives to existential have been established (Allan and Shearer 2012). Marco et al. (2022) and Gerymski and Krok (2020) asserted that meaning in life is the extent to which one’s life is experienced as making sense, being directed and motivated by important goals, and mattering in the world. Thus, meaning in life constitutes an awareness of the importance and purpose of one’s life. Personal awareness, assessment, and beliefs about a person’s life are prioritised. According to one study, existential crises, also known as existential dreads, are times when individuals doubt their life’s significance, worth, or value and are adversely affected by thought. This occurs frequently but not necessarily, linked to depression or unavoidably pessimistic assumptions about one’s purpose in life. Many people in society exhibit different shapes of the existential abyss. It includes an inability to feel things and beings, a generalised uneasiness, a sense of inner emptiness and the absurdity of existence (Nedeku 2021). Thus, to properly understand the negative disposal attitude, this study suggests that consumers’ absurdity of existence towards solid waste product disposal relates to an unlawful method. From the review of the literature, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H5.

Existential consumer moderate on the positive significant relationship between beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

2.4.6. Proposed research conceptual model

The conceptual research model aims to understand the factors and social-psychological mechanisms that drive a consumer in solid waste product disposal to engage in the unlawful disposal of solid waste products, which causes negative consequences to all aspects of the market environment. The model established (direct) key specific factors (hostile aggression, learned helplessness, beliefs) and intervening variables (indirect) advertising message type and existential consumer. Thus, the causal path entails the effect of one variable on another. The conceptual research model reveals the different paradigms consumer attitudes can play towards the unlawful disposal of solid waste products, Figure 1

Figure 1. Attribution theory of motivational factors authors construct.

3. Methodology

3.1. Study area

Sunyani’s regional capital is situated in the semi-equatorial climate zone of Ghana, with two major seasons: the rainy season (April–October) and the dry season (November–March). Sunyani covers a total land area of 1067 Km2, lying between Latitude 7020’N and 7005’N and Longitudes 2030’W and 2010’W. The monthly temperatures vary between 230C and 330C, with the lowest around August and the highest around March and April. The primary economic activities in this city comprise farming and trading. The position of this region represents similar cultures of the country. The Sunyani (Bono Regional Capital) is the fifth-largest city in Ghana, with a population rate of 193,595. The samples taken from Sunyani, being the regional capital, are an appropriate representative of the research population. Geographically, Sunyani is located in the middle sector of Ghana. As long as the study sample is representative, generalisations about the population can still be drawn (Ghana Statistical Services 2021; Malhotra, Nunan, and Birks 2017).

3.2. Data collection

In an attempt to test the theorised relationships in the study, an explanatory research design was used (Malhotra, Nunan, and Birks 2017). This study used motivational factors in the attribution theory to consumer attitudes towards the unlawful disposal of solid waste products, including the intervening variables. These motivational factors in the attribution theory are hostile aggression, learned helplessness, and beliefs with advertising message type as a mediator and existential consumer as a moderator. Additionally, the explanatory design enabled the assessment of the intervening effects of elements like the advertising message type and existential consumer (Gray 2021). These inherent attitudes were selected based on personal experience of consumers’ continuous solid waste products thrown away unlawfully despite the government and stakeholders’ efforts to control the problem. Data were collected through face-to-face surveys on the streets of notable communities within Sunyani, the Bono Regional capital, using a convenience sampling approach (Ghana Statistical Services 2021; Malhotra, Nunan, and Birks 2017). The representative of categorisation under this study comprises set a minimum age of 18 years and a maximum age of 60 years for the adult male and females who can read, write, and understand. The use of convenience sampling resulted from the lack of a sampling frame unknown to consumers who can read, write and understand documents on solid waste product disposables in Ghana (Malhotra, Nunan, and Birks 2017). Also, the choice of characteristics depends on the objectives of the present study and is based on the observed prevalence of solid waste products. The data was gathered for five weeks. Avoiding the collection of biased data and maintaining the objectivity of convenience sampling, generally, only a single approach was used in relatively smaller areas and on four different occasions for geographically larger areas, but different vantage locations throughout in collecting the data. The study ensures that the timing and location of the sampling procedure cover the target population to avoid bias (Malhotra, Nunan, and Birks 2017; Skowronek and Duerr 2009). Out of the 800 questionnaires administered, 761 were received, and 727 questionnaires were fully completed and found to be usable for analysis, representing 91%.

3.3. Instrument and measures

The study used a structured closed-ended questionnaire to obtain the dataset. The items in the research and measurement scale of the model used a 5-point Likert scale with anchor points: 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, and 5 = Strongly agree. These measures were adopted and modified for this study. The consumer motivational factors (i.e. hostile aggression, learned helplessness, beliefs) items were taken from (Hau and Salili 1993; Russell 1991), advertising message type (Hongcharu, 2019a; Miller, Hadjimarcou, and Miciak 2000), consumer existential (George and Park 2017, Li et al., 2022a; Marco et al. 2022), and unlawful disposal of solid waste products (Chu 2021; Pogarsky 2004).

3.4. Data analysis

The analysis of data used AMOS v29 with the Stats Tools Package. The Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) software was employed among other software on the basis that it is designed for the analysis of covariance structure models, including structural equation modelling (SEM), path analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). It is commonly compared to other statistical applications designed for similar purposes, including Mplus and LISREL. This software, AMOS, features an easy-to-use graphical interface that allows nonprogrammers to construct models with common online drawing tools visually. The one-sided arrows used in this study show hypothesised cause/effect relationships, while two-sided arrows illustrate nondirectional covariances (Barnidge and Zúñiga 2017). A covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) was conducted by testing the postulated theoretical relationships (Maneiro, Cutrín, and Gómez-Fraguela 2022). First, the determination of sampling adequacy using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) and varimax, Cronbach Alpha to test the reliability of the factors, and the checking of research deviation using the latent common factor (LCF). It is among the several procedures to minimise the potential and test for common method bias (Afthanorhan et al. 2021; Ranaweera and Jayawardhena 2014). Second, structural equation modelling was undertaken. Using established multivariate analysis methodologies, structural equation modelling (SEM) provides coherent and integrated answers to queries (Malhotra, Nunan, and Birks 2017). The measurement and path analysis/structural models were employed as part of the two-step SEM methodology. Under a two-step measurement approach, first, this study carried out a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to establish how the study items or parameters loaded concerning the study constructs. This was followed by step two; path analysis was developed to quantify the relationships among multiple variables and mediation and moderation analysis (Fan et al. 2016; Maneiro, Cutrín, and Gómez-Fraguela 2022).

4. Results

4.1. Solid waste product throws away/disposal

Table 2 illustrates the respondents’ responses concerning the type of solid waste product thrown away. A mean score of 90.88 was obtained for the eight-item close-ended question. Based on the mean scores, mostly 54.2% of the participants engage in plastics disposal, 20.4% food waste, 7.0% leather, 6.9% metal, 4.3% paper, 3.1% textile, 2.9 e-waste, and 0.8% glass.

4.2. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA)

Bartlett's test of sphericity for the items was significant (X² = 17723, p < 0.000). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) index for the extraction techniques of the EFA was 0.854, which exceeded the proposed index value of 0.60 (Kim et al. 2016; Shi, Lee, and Maydeu-Olivares 2019).

4.3. Common latent factor (CLF)

The most popular way to handle common method bias is to include a common latent factor in Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) by assigning it with all the items of the constructs included in the model (Ranaweera and Jayawardhena 2014). To get the estimate difference, the latent common method factor is calculated as the estimate with CLF minus without CLF. If the difference between them is greater than 0.2, then we can retain the CLF construct in a model. This study calculation indicates that the method bias does not exist in the attribution theory model since all observations are below that threshold value, as enumerated in Table 1 and Figure 2 (Afthanorhan et al. 2021).

Figure 2. Latent common method factor of the measurement constructs of common method bias.

Table 1. Latent common method factor – standardized regression weight.

Standardized regression weight	Constructs	Estimate with CLF	Estimate with No CLF	Difference
HTA1 <---	Hostile	0.89	0.889	0.001
HTA2 <---	aggression	0.867	0.87	-0.003
HTA3 <---		0.947	0.945	0.002
HTA4 <---		0.832	0.829	-0.058
HTA5 <---		0.885	0.884	0.001
LDH1 <---	Learned	0.787	0.786	0.001
LDH2 <---	Helplessness	0.782	0.782	0.000
LDH3 <---		0.745	0.748	-0.003
LDH4 <---		0.717	0.715	0.002
LDH5 <---		0.745	0.643	0.000
BLF1 <---	Beliefs	0.761	0.755	0.006
BLF2 <---		0.699	0.755	0.002
BLF3 <---		0.729	0.724	0.005
BLF4 <---		0.771	0.772	-0.001
BLF5 <---		0.681	0.681	0.000
ADT1 <---	Advertising	0.796	0.76	0.036
ADT2 <---	Message type	0.892	0.86	0.032
ADT3 <---		0.843	0.934	0.009
ADT4 <---		0.843	0.914	-0.071
ADT5 <---		0.814	0.827	-0.013
MYL1 <---	Motivational	0.882	0.877	0.005
MTL2 <---	Factors	0.754	0.751	0.003
MTL3 <---		0.752	0.751	0.001
MTL4 <---		0.789	0.762	-0.003
MTL5 <---		0.675	0.671	0.004
EXT1 <---	Existential	0.707	0.708	-0.001
EXT2 <---	Consumer	0.673	0.673	0.000
EXT3 <---		0.771	0.773	-0.002
EXT4 <---		0.767	0.767	0.000
EXT5 <---		0.774	0.773	0.001
SDP1 <---	Unlawful	0.924	0.93	-0.006
SDP2 <---	disposal of	0.868	0.905	-0.037
SDP3 <---	solid waste	0.848	0.845	0.003
SDP4 <---	products	0.876	0.861	0.015
SDP5 <---		0.846	0.832	0.014

4.4. Assessing the measurement model

The overall measurement scale items for the measurement model underwent confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Table 3 and Figure 3 Also, measures of construct validity, including composite reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity (HTM), were evaluated. According to the standardised threshold for composite reliability, convergence is attained when the estimate range is between 0.70 and 0.60 (Hair et al. 2019), and the average variance extracted (AVE) standardised value should be greater than 0.50. These defined standard values determined the path of the investigation of this current study (Fornell and Larcker 1981). Nonetheless, it has been advised that when values are marginal (below criteria) to the conventional threshold, it is acceptable to use regarding based shared variance on testing system model fit (Fornell and Larcker 1981). When the thresholds are somewhat below 0.50, and the model fits well, even items with low average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR) datasets can function well since measurement error factors are already considered (Fornell and Larcker 1981; Lim and Brooks 2009).

Table 2. Type of solid waste product thrown away (n = 727).

Items	Frequency	Percent (%)
Plastic (plastic bottled, polythene, sachet, wrapper)	394	54.2
Metal (canned, tin)	49	6.7
Glass	6	0.8
E-waste (mobile phone, television, computer)	21	2.9
Paper (cardboard and others)	31	4.3
Textile (clothes)	27	3.7
Leather (shoes, sandals, carpet, and others)	51	7.0
Food waste	148	20.4
Total	727	100

Figure 3. Measurement model of motivational factors, advertising message type, existential consumer and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

Indicators of the measurement model’s goodness-of-fit, such as the Chi-square (x2/df) (Dash 2013), Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) (Doll, Xia, and Torkzadeh 1994), Adjusted Goodness-of-Fit Index (AGFI) (MacCallum and Hong 1997), Standard Root Mean Residual (SRMR), Normal Fit Index (NFI) (Hu and Bentler 1999), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI) (Hatcher and O’Rourke 2013), and Root Mean Squares Error of Approximation (RMSEA) (Hu and Bentler 1999), were also evaluated. The reason for these indices was to check the sample discrepancy and measures based on the population discrepancy of the study. The recommended indices were all acceptable thresholds, which is crucial. Overall, the results’ model fit indicates a considerable level of significance, as shown in Table 4 (Kim et al. 2016; Shi, Lee, and Maydeu-Olivares 2019).

Table 3. Confirmatory factor analysis of measurement model.

Constructs and scale items	Item Code	Standardised Factor Loading	CR	AVE	Cronbach’s alpha
Hostile aggression (Hau and Salili 1993; Russell 1991)
My self-control is consistent with the way I throw away solid waste products	HTA1	0.890	0.947	0.783	0.946
My inability to self-control relates to throwing away solid waste products	HTA2	0.867
It is not intentional to throw away solid waste product	HTA3	0.947
The actions of other persons do not describe the way I throw away solid waste product	HTA4	0.832
The solid waste products I throw away do not describe my self-control	HTA5	0.885
Learned helplessness (Hau and Salili 1993; Russell 1991)
I throw away solid waste products as it pleases me	LDH1	0.787	0.855	0.543	0.853
I am at the stage throwing away solid waste products relates to myself	LDH2	0.782
I am at the stage throwing away solid waste products relates to myself	LDH3	0.745
The way I throw away solid waste products does not define me	LDH4	0.717
My throw-away solid waste products do not describe my mood	LDH5	0.643
Beliefs (Hau and Salili 1993; Russell 1991)
My thought relates to solid waste products I throw away	BLF1	0.761	0.850	0.531	0.849
The throw-away solid waste products are in line with my thought	BLF2	0.699
The lived environment is consistent with my thought of throwing away solid waste products	BLF3	0.729
My throw-away solid waste products and my thought does not relate	BLF4	0.771
My thought does not focus on the way I throw away solid waste products	BLF5	0.681
Advertising message type (Hongcharu, 2019a; Miller, Hadjimarcou, and Miciak 2000)
I give considerable attention to emotion about how I throw away solid waste products.	ADT1	0.796	0.934	0.738	0.933
I am emotionally connected to the way I throw away solid waste products	ADT2	0.892
I give considerable attention to appeal about the way I throw away solid waste products	ADT3	0.943
There is not any intimacy between me and passionate for the way I throw away solid waste products	ADT4	0.843
I do not feel punished about the way I throw solid waste products	ADT5	0.814
Motivational Factors (Hau and Salili 1993; Russell 1991)			0.877	0.589	0.875
The environment moves me about the way I throw away solid waste products	MTL1	0.882
There is internal rewards to the way I throw away solid waste products	MTL2	0.754
The way I throw away solid waste products describes my motive	MTL3	0.752
There is no point in being disturbed about the way I throw away solid waste products	MTL4	0.759
There is nothing to be concerned about in the way I throw away solid waste products	MTL5	0.675
Existential Consumer (George and Park 2017; Li et al. 2022b; Marco et al. 2022)
I can’t make sense of the way I throw away solid waste products in my life	EXT1	0.707	0.857	0.547	0.857
I can’t understand my life the way I throw away solid waste products	EXT2	0.673
I am confused about why I throw away solid waste products	EXT3	0.771
I don’t know what I’m trying to achieve in my life the way I throw away solid waste products	EXT4	0.767
I can’t identify anything important for me to strive the way I throw away solid waste products	EXT5	0.774
Unlawful disposal of solid waste products (Chu 2021; Pogarsky 2004).
The way I throw away solid waste products does not cause any harm to soil and air pollution.	SDP1	0.924	0.941	0.762	0.941
The way solid waste products are thrown away does not cause human health issues.	SDP2	0.868
The surrounding water in towns and cities does not have anything to do with how solid waste products are thrown away.	SDP3	0.848
The state is not punishing enough about how solid waste products are disposed of.	SDP4	0.876
Solid waste products have not been handled well in the state.	SDP5	0.846

Note: X²df =3.310; SRMR = 0. 048, GFI = 0.880, AGFI = 0.860; NFI = 0.901; TLI = 0.929, CFI = 0.929; RMSEA = 0.056.

Table 4. Goodness-of-fit indices indicators of the measurement model.

Measures	Current research Model	Standardised Value	Interpretation
X^2/df	3.310(x2=1784.072, df=539)	Between 1 and 5 (Dash 2013)	Excellent fit
GFI	0.880	>0.90 (Doll, Xia, and Torkzadeh 1994)	Acceptable
AGFI	0.860	>0.80) (MacCallum and Hong 1997)	Good fit
SRMR	0.048	<0.08 (Hu and Bentler 1999)	Excellent fit
CFI	0.929	>0.90 (Hatcher and O’Rourke 2013)	Good fit
TLI	0.921	>0.90 (Hatcher and O’Rourke 2013)	Good fit
IFI	0.929	>0.90 (Meyers, Gamst, and Guarino 2016)	Good fit
NFI	0.901	>0.90 (Hu and Bentler 1999)	Good fit
RMSEA	0.056	<0.06 (Hu and Bentler 1999)	Excellent fit

As Henseler et al. (2015) demonstrated, measuring discriminant validity using AVE, MSV, or MaxR(H) square roots is insufficient, predominantly when indicator loadings vary a little. The heterotrait–monotrait ratio (HTMT) was thus developed. Discriminant validity fails when HTMT value exceeds 0.9 and/or if the confidence interval contains a value greater than 1, this indicates discriminant validity issues. Table 5 shows discriminant validity values within the acceptable criteria, indicating discriminant validity, and the HTMT does not reflect discriminant validity issues (Yusoff et al. 2020).

Table 5. Discriminant validity of heterotrait–monotrait ratio (HTMT).

No	Items	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1	HTA
2	LDH	0.053
3	BLF	0.029	−0.031
4	ADT	−0.020	0.031	0.419
5	MTL	0.082	−0.063	0.070	0.043
6	EXT	−0.029	0.003	−0.078	−0.047	−0.020
7	SDP	0.116	−0.100	0.104	0.068	0.632	−0.105

5. Main results

5.1. Structural model

The study assessed direct relationship paths and described them. Also, the results obtained from the indirect relationship path is presented in Table 7. The study used the mediation procedure by Zhao et al. (2010) and Schreiber et al. (2006). Furthermore, in assessing the moderating mechanism of interaction effect the steps by Memon et al (Memon et al. 2019) was applied.

Table 7. Mediation results of advertising message type in the relationship between motivational factors and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

						95% Confidence Interval for β
Hypothesis (H)			Path/Relationships			Estimate	SE	P
H4	Motivational Factors	→	Advertising Message type	→	Unlawful disposal of solid waste products	0.622	0.038	0.000

Note: ** p<0.05; ** p < 0.010, *** p<0.1.

5.2. Paths analysis – direct hypothesis results

The direct effect represents the independent (IVs) constructs/variables (exogenous) and dependent variable (DV) (endogenous) of the study theory model, Figure 4 The direct paths analysis (H1, H2, H3) is presented in Table 6.

Table 6. Analysis of hypothesised structural paths of motivational factors and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

							95% Confidence Interval for β
Hypothesis(H)		Paths/ Relationships		Estimate	S. E.	C. R.	p.
H1	Hostile aggression	→	Unlawful disposal of solid waste products	−0.103	0.040	−2.547	0.011
H2	Learned helplessness	→	Unlawful disposal of solid waste products	0.112	0.052	2.133	0.033
H3	Beliefs	→	Unlawful disposal of solid waste products	0.049	0.049	0.988	0.323

Note: ** p<0.05; ** p < 0.010, *** p<0.1.

Figure 4. Direct structural model pathways relationships between hostile aggression, learned helplessness, beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

The findings revealed that there was a statistically significant relationship between hostile aggression and unlawful disposal of solid waste products with a coefficient (β) of − 0.103, standard error (S.E.) of 0.040, and critical ratio (t-value) of − 2.547 at p = 0.011, p ≤ 0.05 threshold (H1). This is based on the prediction and a set of confidence levels of 95%. The results suggest that hostile aggression influences consumers’ participation based on unlawful disposal of solid waste products practices.

Learned helplessness was also found to have a statistically significant relationship towards unlawful disposal of solid waste products with a coefficient (β) of 0.112, standard error (S.E.) of 0.052, and critical ratio (t-value) of 2.139 at p = 0.033, p ≤ 0.05 threshold (H2). This is based on the prediction and a set of confidence levels of 95%. The finding suggests that learned helplessness influences consumer attitudes towards their participation in unlawful disposal of solid waste products practices.

Next, there was a statistically insignificant relationship between beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products with a coefficient (β) of 0.049, standard error (S.E.) of 0.049, and critical ratio (t-value) of 0.988 at p = 0.325, p ≤0.05 threshold (H3). This is based on the prediction and a set of confidence levels of 95%. The results indicate that the beliefs variable does not significantly drive consumers’ unlawful disposal of solid waste product practices.

5.3. Mediation analysis – indirect hypothesis results

This study focuses on the significance of the indirect effect to ascertain whether advertising message type has mediating effect as specified in Hypothesis H4. From the indirect (mediation) effects of the hypothesised path as presented in Table 7, based on the advertising message type. The results indicate that advertising message type has a statistically significant indirect effect on the relationship between motivational factors and unlawful disposal of solid waste products, with an estimate (β) of 0.622 and standard error (S.E.) of 0.038 at p = 0.000, with p ≤0.05 threshold (H4). This is based on the prediction and a set of confidence levels of 95%. The results revealed that advertising message type indirectly related consumers’ unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

5.4. Moderation analysis

The main approach of moderation assessment is to measure and test the variation effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. This study hypothesised the existential consumer on the relationship between beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products Figure 5. Figure 6 and Table 8 results indicate the regression weight for existential consumer in the prediction has a significant effect on unlawful disposal of solid waste products of critical ratio (t) = 70.939, p = 0.000, p ≤ 0.05. Thus, the interaction effect of existential consumers in predicting beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products is statistically significant in this study. The interaction effect reported here suggests that individual dimensions of existentialism largely caused unlawful disposal of solid waste products activities.

Figure 6. Moderation hypothesised results of the existential consumer interaction between beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

Table 8. Moderating results of the existential consumer interaction between beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products.

						95% Confidence Interval for β
Hypothesis (H)		Path/Relationships		Estimate	SE	CR	P
H5	Beliefs		→ Unlawful disposal of solid waste products	−0.760	0.019	−40.742	0.000
	Existential consumer		→ Unlawful disposal of solid waste products	−0.452	0.030	−15.135	0.000
	Interaction		→ unlawful disposal of solid waste products	0.002	0.000	70.939	0.000

Note: ** p<0.05; ** p < 0.010, *** p<0.1.

Figure 5. Mediation (indirect) hypothesised results of the advertising message type between motivational factors and unlawful disposal of solid waste products as shown in figure 5.

6. Discussion

The present study used motivational factors to consumer attitudes to predict the unlawful disposal of solid waste products, particularly in Ghana. The motivational factors were based on the theory of attribution and other intervening variables to predict consumer disposal behaviour. The current study is in reaction to (Adu-Gyamfi et al., 2023; D’Amato et al. 2018; Russo et al. 2019; Tweneboah-Koduah, Adams, and Nyarku 2020) concerns by addressing a social psychological approach to the personal consumer experience of continuous unlawful solid waste disposables.

A motivational subtype of attitude that emerged from the predictive pathway analysis was hostile aggression. This study shows that this subtype of consumer attitude is highly committed and engaged in the unlawful disposal of solid waste products. This aligns with (Getnet and Malik 2012; Kähr et al. 2016) past studies that hostile aggressive behaviour is crucial in individual daily activities and is generally linked with a violation. These views do not contradict (Maneiro, Cutrín, and Gómez-Fraguela 2022), who asserted that hostile aggression is a personal attitude motivated by frustration and anger. In some cases, individual aggression has been associated with sudden and impulsive behaviour, which can cause problems.

The model demonstrated that the learned helplessness component of motivational factors is significantly related to the unlawful disposal of solid waste products. The finding suggests that consumers’ learned helplessness significantly impacts their unlawful disposal of solid waste products. This aligns with (Leonard 2019; Scherer 2022) literature that learned helplessness has a significant relationship with consumers or individuals who mainly gain their social life experience from what they see about what others do from the negative dimension. Also, the finding is corroborated by the literature view by Ntanos et al. (2019), who affirm that consumers are not learning to do the appropriate disposal as it is frustrating and disturbing government expenditure daily. The finding is not at variance from the literature position on previous studies. It is so because how individuals approach learning differently could negatively affect their behaviour (LaMorte 2019). The study indicates that learned helplessness is extensively linked to society’s solid waste product disposable problems. The consequence of this negative attitude is that it becomes complex for an individual to come out from difficult circumstances (Ackerman 2020; Hasan, Harun, and Hock 2015) if proper checks are not implemented as proposed (Kyere, Addaney, and Ayaribilla Akudugu 2019).

The finding on beliefs test analysis in solid waste product disposal was statistically insignificant to link consumers’ unlawful disposal of solid waste products. It is of the view that the negative attitude of consumers’ beliefs does not engender their unlawful solid waste products disposal. This finding did not support the existing literature claim that beliefs represent one of the major ways of predicting consumer behaviour towards the unlawful disposal of solid waste products. This finding has refuted the claim (Zhao, Lynch, and Chen 2010a). In essence, negative beliefs do not match negative consequences on the social environment as presented in the past study (Hoque and Hossan 2020). However, the stakeholders on solid waste product disposal can pick something substantial from this finding, as various stages of analysis have demonstrated a positive degree of the outcome. The best interest is to see beliefs as crucial, and decisions can be made on them. As suggested in the previous study, the approach that can be used to handle individual beliefs should focus on what persons choose to believe and their response to contentions in public debates (Price, Walker, and Boschetti 2014).

Advertising message type shows a statistically significant relationship between motivational factors and unlawful disposal of solid waste products. The result indicates that the advertising message type delivered to change consumer and social behaviour; is not making any positive gains. Instead, a negative attitude towards solid waste products disposable is persistent. This brings the disconnect between the advertising message type conveyed and the expected positive reaction towards the environment; when the audience for the message is not well targeted with a crafted message that seems convincing (Campos et al. 2021). Still, the state will continue spending on advertisements and will not yield significant positive results. Hence, an integrated message approach should be crafted to match the different growth rates of the population, such as teenagers, youth and older adults. Thus, Brand and Product Development Managers can start with point-of-sale and event sponsorship programmes targeted at Basic Schools, secondary schools, colleges, and universities. The finding supports the literature claim, the ad’s central purpose is to give a message to a target audience to convince them to take action and limited awareness of the consequence that affects solid waste disposable on the environment (Asemah and Edegoh 2013). The finding is further in accordance with the literature, where open dumping of solid waste products was linked to the lack of public awareness and the general willingness to participate and cooperate on disposal practices (Hongcharu, 2019b), and the community and limited education of citizens constitute the basis for inappropriate disposal (Dean, Fielding, and Wilson 2019).

Testing existential consumers in the interaction effect of beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products revealed a statistically significant relationship among the variables. This finding aligns with the literature claims that human existence and conditions, especially in stressing that the human essence is determined through life choices leading to unlawful disposables (Jia 2021). Also, the result is in line with (Marco et al. 2022; Nedeku 2021), who found that existential crises, also known as existential dreads, are times when individuals doubt the significance, worth, or value of their life and are adversely affected by thought. This occurs frequently, but is not necessarily, linked to depression or unavoidably pessimistic assumptions about one’s purpose in life. Many people in society exhibit different shapes of the existential abyss.

7. Conclusion and practical implications

This study estimated the attribution theory of motivational factors to consumer attitudes based on unlawful disposal of solid waste products. The study used a face-to-face survey questionnaire to gather data. With 727 questionnaire responses, hypothetical statements were evaluated using covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM). The study’s findings revealed that hostile aggression and learned helplessness of consumer attitudes were statistically significant based on unlawful disposal of solid waste products. However, the results also suggest that beliefs and its relationship with the unlawful disposal of solid waste products was statistically insignificant. Regarding the mediator and moderator variables, advertising message type was statistically significant in the relationship between motivational factors and unlawful disposal of solid waste products. On the part of the existential consumer, its interaction between beliefs and unlawful disposal of solid waste products was also statistically significant. The present study’s findings show that consumer attitudes based on unlawful disposal of solid waste products are influenced by motivational factors (hostile aggression, learned helplessness), advertising message type, and existential consumer. Such results have reinforced that the negative consumer attitudes intensify the consumers’ continuous unlawful solid waste product disposal. These approaches cater to the negative consumer attitude to control solid waste product disposal from an individual level when utilised. This research is crucial, as the government needs to incorporate a marketing body and marketing-oriented firms to create the desire for them to govern the unlawful disposal of solid waste products from consumers and retailers perspectives. Such a unique proposition will differentiate it from the existing macro-level perspective of solid waste management.

This study investigated consumer attitudes: drivers of unlawful disposal of solid waste products using the Attribution Theory in social psychology with motivational factors (hostile aggression, learned helplessness and beliefs), advertising message type and existential consumers. Theoretical tests implied that hostile aggression and learned helplessness positively related to the unlawful disposal of solid waste products, though belief was insignificant. Proposed tests also displayed that advertising message type and existential consumer constructs positively related to the unlawful disposal of solid waste products. The need to strengthening these constructs could improve positive disposable attitudes. Hence, the study contributes to the existing literature on social marketing.

From a policy perspective, despite the consumer demonstrating negative attitudes towards disposing of solid waste products indiscriminatory in the environment coupled with the rising population, the government of Ghana can convert the disposable challenges into a beneficial use. In conjunction with the stakeholders, the government needs to invest in solid waste products for renewable energy projects in Ghana. Also, the government should set up a commission with budgetary allocation for renewable energy development in Ghana. Another approach is the government providing appropriate grounds for individual firms that provide energy from solid waste sources. In addition, the government can promote and persuade private firms to invest in waste energy as there are tremendous opportunities. This contemporary approach could resolve indiscriminate disposal and multiple hoarded dumping sites and generate favourable benefits for the citizens and the country.

From a managerial perspective, the findings of this study inspire branding and marketing practitioners to work towards stronger strategic advocacy of knowledge acquisition and skill-building to improve customers’ aptitude for solid waste product disposables. The emphasis should be placed on Ghana’s ongoing problem with unlawful solid waste disposal; a strong consumer-focused strategy must be developed on top of the existing commercial and state frameworks. Finally, the solid waste product should appeal to the attitudes and social acceptance of the consumers.

8. Limitations and future research

In interpreting the results of the current study, it is important to consider its limitations. Two obvious limitations are the exclusive use of consumers who can read, write and understand and the convenience sampling approach to select respondents, which may limit the generalisation of the findings. Despite this, the sample collected was justified in terms of the statistical methods used using the AMOS V29 and the Stats Tool Package based on SEM. It is suggested that these same variables may be researched using different methodological strategies in subsequent research. Also, future research that examines the characteristics of samples who cannot read, write and understand is necessary. In the future research, it will also be important to consider how male and female consumers differ in their approaches to solid waste product disposal. The theory of attribution can still be applied, as understanding the inherent behaviour of individuals can provide further root causes of the unlawful disposal of solid waste products participation.

Availability of data and materials

This study used primary and secondary data sources. Primary data sources were obtained from the participants in the field, and secondary data sources were obtained from the literature or past studies. Therefore, the main data source was used in this study.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

A survey statement was provided on the questionnaire to ensure participants’ confidentiality regarding their contributions towards this study. Further, the University of Professional Studies Research Ethics Committee approved the questionnaire for the fieldwork.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no funding

Notes on contributors

Abraham Yeboah

A Y writing - conceptualisation, original draft, data curation, methodology, formal analysis and interpretation of the data of attitudes towards unlawful disposal of solid waste products;

Vida Owusu-Prempeh

O. P V Writing – review and editing, supervision, conceptualization

Ofosu Agyekum

O. A Writing – review and editing, supervision, conceptualisation, formal analysis and interpretation

Ebenezer Kwame Addae

E KA Writing – review and editing, supervision, conceptualization

Nana Owusu-Frimpong

N OF Conceptualisation, supervision, software, review and editing