Shoppers Support Paying for Plastic Bags

Aggressive moves to reduce plastic bags would be supported by shoppers according to Ipsos Research.

Ipsos's specialist retail and shopper team, as part of their examination of shopper behaviour found that 60% of shoppers support a charge for plastic bags despite the current economic climate. A third of shoppers (32%) opposed such schemes. 

Ipsos also found that consumers were evenly balanced on who they thought should be responsible for ensuring products are ethically sourced.  Around one in three shoppers (36%) said that it's their own personal responsibility to choose products that are more or less ethically sourced. Almost equal responsibility was attributed to retailers (32%).

Susanne Goller, Director - Ipsos Retail & Shopper said:

"Although most retailers are now encouraging shoppers to re-use bags and discouraging the use of new bags this research shows that they may be missing out on a cost-cutting opportunity.

"We understand that steps like these always need to be carefully considered, however some simple shopper research can often provide the answer to questions like these and help retailers make the right choices."

Knowing your customer is a vital survival tool in a recession. Ipsos's Retail and Shopper Division has over 20 years of experience in providing retailers and manufacturers with the intelligence they need to buck the trend.

Technical note

Fieldwork 25th Aug to 3rd September 2008. The sample: 1000 UK nationally representative shoppers. Data collection: online