The role of knowledge in the decision of Granada University students to drink bottled water

ABSTRACT

Bottled water consumption has risen despite its economic and environmental costs. This study assesses the level of knowledge about the impact of bottled water consumption and the extent to which it leads to a reduction in consumption. We analyse a sample of 454 students at the University of Granada, Spain, using descriptive analysis, Spearman’s correlation and ordinary least squares (OLS). Results indicate that students have a low level of knowledge about the amount of water required to produce bottled water, the energy used to produce it and the water source. The knowledge of the last two issues is negatively associated with bottled water consumption.

KEYWORDS:

• Bottled water
• environmental knowledge
• awareness campaigns
• universities
• sustainable consumption
• Spain

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the conceptualization of the study. Pablo Moya-Fernández carried out the data collection and formal analysis. Nazaret Ibáñez-Rueda and Jorge Guardiola wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and all authors participated in the review and editing process. Francisco González-Gómez was responsible for the supervision and direction of the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8089520.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2024.2310820

Additional information

Funding

The authors received financial support from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) / Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) [project PID2022-136235NB-I00]; the Regional Government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía) and ERDF [project P18-RT-576]; the University of Granada [Plan Propio. Scientific Unit of Excellence: Inequality, Human Rights and Sustainability -DEHUSO- and project PPJIA2021-12]; and the Spanish Ministry of Universities [Spanish Aid Program for Predoctoral Contracts for University Teacher Training, FPU19/02396].