Impactos ambientais decorrentes do e-commerce B2C sob a ótica do consumidor

Abstract

E-commerce is a transaction through the internet, it has grown in recent years, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Social isolation had made habits that transformed and influenced the changed on the market. The act of online consumption has several benefits such as agility, flexibility, a wide range of products, and varied prices. However, this transaction also causes environmental impacts, mainly because it is highly dependent on the transport and packaging sector, that is consequently contributing to air pollution, noise pollution, and waste generation. The consumers are fundamental in the process of searching for more sustainable e-commerce because through their demands, the companies will change their flows and attitudes. Therefore, it is very important to understand if the population is aware that this model also causes damage to the environment. In order to understand the mentioned point, the work sought to identify the perception of consumers about the environmental impacts that e-commerce can cause. In view of this, exploratory and descriptive research was carried out, using the quantitative nature, where an online form was applied. The questionnaire obtained 201 valid responses and it had as a target audience all people residing in Brazil who made online purchases in the last year. The results obtained showed that a part of the population understands and associates environmental impacts with electronic commerce, however, some demonstrate that they only notice positive points in this medium. In addition, they indicated that companies should be the most responsible if there are environmental problems due to online commerce. They also selected recycling, shopping in sustainable places, and environmental education as some of the main measures that can contribute to reducing the effects. It is worth mentioning that some companies already adopt strategies, such as the use of electric vehicles, drones, collection points, and sustainable packaging. For this reason, it is very important for online consumers to become more aware of the environment since they are key elements for more sustainable e-commerce.