The impact of a public information campaign on preferences for marine environmental protection. The case of plastic waste

Highlights: • The effect of an information campaign on the impact of plastic bags was evaluated. • A choice experiment was used to assess the added value of information • Different attributes were selected to describe various marine ecosystem services. • Clear economic benefits can be obtained from protecting the marine environment. • The information campaign significantly influenced the preferences of participants. - Abstract: This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a public information campaign, which was conducted on a major Greek Island (Syros), aimed at reducing plastic waste - and specifically plastic bags - in the local coastal/marine environment. A choice experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects on individual preferences for reducing plastic waste pollution under different status of environmental awareness, after the information campaign. The evaluation process was quite independent of the information campaign. Two samples of respondents were taken; one consisting of participants in the environmental campaign and the other consisting of non-participants. The results show: (a) significant differences between the preferences of the two samples; (b) variations in the willingness to pay values between the two samples for protection of the coastal/marine environment, but; (c) not significant differences in their commitment to take action (i.e. in their willingness to alter their current plastic bag use behavior).