Young children’s consumer agency: The case of French children and recycling

This research offers insights into children’s agency in the context of recycling behaviors by exploring how children’s agency might be enacted in various settings (e.g., family, school, neighborhood). Using a series of child-centered methods, the authors observe children’s recycling behaviors at school and at home and investigate their behaviors using role-playing games and a verbalization phase that captures the children’s understanding of recycling and their varying degrees of agency around recycling. The findings suggest that personal (knowledge, concern), environmental (family microenvironment, encouragement, spatial organization, physical accessibility to recycling bins), and behavioral (past experiences) factors can facilitate or constrain children’s consumer agency. In particular, their level of agency varies according to each child’s specific microenvironment within the family, the location where the recycling takes place (private versus public spaces), and communication patterns within the family. From these findings, we provide several recommendations for public policymakers and business managers.