Kalynn Tann

1. Kalynn Tan – Iowa State University
Bioplastics Conference 2015
Do Consumers Even
Care About Bioplastic
Containers?

2. Where there’s a Need; There’s a Way
O When approximately 4 Billion petroleum-
based plastic containers are used per
year AND less than 2% of those are
recycled, will consumers recognize the
need for bioplastic containers?
O Will Midwest consumers latch on to an
eco-conscious product?

3. Early Research Indicates “Yes”
for Intent
O According to a 2013 survey conducted by
Cone Communication’s Green Gap Trend
Tracker, a record-high 71% of consumers
consider the environment when they shop.
This is up from 66% in 2008.
O However, only about 42% say that they
dispose of products in a way that fulfills the
intended environmental benefit
O But of the 1,068 American respondents polled
for this survey, 85% indicated they would like
companies to teach them how to properly ruse
and dispose of green products

4. Designing a Survey to Measure
Intent
O Over the summer/fall of 2015, 241 survey
responses about consumer behavior in
regard to bioplastic plant containers were
collected.
O Plant Sale at Reiman Gardens (May 9, 2015) - 48
responses
O Holub’s Greenhouse in Ames, IA (May 17, 2015) – 16
responses
O IMGC 2015 in Council Bluffs, IA (September 22-25, 2015)
– 177 responses

5. Sample Questions
O Ordinal (Likert) Scale Questions
O “The type of container influences my
purchasing behavior.” (also asked about color,
price, durability, recyclability, fertilizer effect,
ability to biodegrade in soil, home compost)
O “I would pay more for a plant in a durable
(ability to withstand wear, pressure, and impact)
container.” (also asked about renewable,
fertilizer effect, biodegradable (breaks down in
soil or compost))
O All questions offered only responses of strongly
disagree, disagree, agree, and strongly agree

6. O Ratio Scale Questions
O “How much more would you be willing to pay
for a plant in a renewable container?” (also
asked about fertilizer effect and ability to
biodegrade)
O Other Questions
O Gender
O Age
O Approximate Family Income
O “How often do you buy plants?”
O “How many plants do you usually buy at a
time?”

7. Demographics of the Survey
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 18-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81+
Age of Respondents
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Income Level of Respondents
The majority of our survey
takers were between 51 and
70 (64%).
Approximate family income
looked fairly normal with the
largest portion falling into the
$60K-100K bracket (39%).

8. Results
O Consumers that took the survey indicated
that they were most influenced by :
O Price (94%)
O Ability to degrade in home compost and
soil (78% and 80%, respectively)
O Recyclability and fertilizer effect (both 67%)

9. Over 50% of consumers
surveyed said they would pay
more for products that were
renewable (73%), biodegradable
(73%), or exhibited a fertilizer
effect (64%)!

10. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
No response
$0.00
$0.25
$0.50
$0.75
$1
$1+
How Much More are you Willing to Pay for
Various Container Attributes?
Biodegradable Fertilizer Effect Renewable
• Consumers are least willing to pay more for a fertilizer
effect
• 63% of consumers surveyed would pay an
additional $0.50 or more for the fertilizer effect
compared to 71% for biodegradability or
renewability

11. Cluster Analysis
O The Green Ones:
O Influenced by:
O Price
O Durability
O Recyclability
O The fertilizer effect
O Biodegradability
O On average, willing to
pay up to a $1 for a
container that is
renewable or
biodegradable and up
to $0.75 for a
container with the
fertilizer effect
O The Ones Who Do Not Act
O Influenced by:
O Price
O Recyclability
O Bioegradability
O On average, willing to pay
up to a $0.25 for a
container that is
renewable ,
biodegradable or
endowed with a fertilizer
effect

12. Designing an Experiment to
Measure Action

13. The Set-up
O 20 of each of the 8 different 4” bioplastic
container types + 20 control tested at 10
greenhouses in Iowa and at Reiman
Gardens (180 pots total at each location)
O In both cases, the number of pots sold
was recorded

14. Results
O The plant sale at Reiman Gardens revealed
that the most popular pots were:
O PHA-DDGS (9)
O PLA-Soy-Biores (6)
O PUR-coated paper fiber (5)
O Petroleum-based plastic control (4)
O Recycled PLA (3)
O The greenhouse consumer trials revealed
that:
O Recycled PLA and PHA-DDGS were the most
popular followed by PLA-Soy-Biores (55/35/10)
and Biores (80/20)

15. Future Work
O Set up another round of consumer trials in
the 3 closest Iowa greenhouses and either
visit them or receive updates from them
on a weekly basis
O Develop a marketing plan for pots based
on the specific clusters found from the
cluster analysis

16. Thank you!
Dr. Bill Graves
Dr. Jim Schrader
Dr. Chris Currey
Kenny McCabe
Dr. Heidi Kratsch
Dr. Melody Hefner
Dr. Barrett Kirwan and his lab