The main aim of this diploma thesis is to analyse packaging free (zero waste) shops in the conditions of the Czech market from the point of view of consumers and selected zero waste stores. The thesis is divided into two parts: theoretical and practical. The theoretical part contains literary research which is mainly focused on basic information for understanding the essence of the diploma thesis. The practical part is based on two questionnaire surveys between consumers and selected packaging free shops. The objective of these questionnaire surveys is to confirm or reject predetermined hypotheses. The work concludes with summarization and evaluation of whole situation about this problem on the Czech market.

Background: In our world of growing consumption and waste generation, shopping at packaging-free stores can be a step towards sustainable consumption and minimizing our environmental impact. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the main predictors of Hungarian consumers’ intention to shop at packaging-free stores using a TBP approach. Method: A quantitative, descriptive study was conducted, during which primary data were collected through an online survey with 208 responses and analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression. Conclusion: The empirical findings suggest that Attitude and Perceived Behavioural Control are strong predictors of purchase intention in the context of shopping at packaging-free stores.

The pollution of the oceans through plastics has received global wide media coverageover the last years. Also, micro-plastics in ground water and even in fish had beendetected, which leads to increased awareness of waste-reduction. Since the beginning ofthis decade, more bulk food stores open in Germany’s cities and provide an alternative toconventional, packaged products.Plastics and so-called micro-plastics have been found in the bodies of seabirds and in fish.There is an imminent danger of plastics ending up in the human bodies while it travels upthe food chain.In order to reduce their impact on the environment, an increasing number of customersengages in the zero-waste movement. To reduce single-use plastics, customers can shoptheir groceries in bulk-food stores, which allow shopping loose goods from largecontainers in contrast to individually packed items in regular supermarkets. Customerscan bring their own reusable packaging to buy mostly dry foods such as vegetables, pasta,nuts, grains but also some liquids such as oil, honey etc. The stores often also include anon-food section where additional consumable products can be bought.The paper identified a research gap in regards the store concept of bulk-stores which isan emerging trend in Germany since 2014.This thesis analyzes the motivators of bulk-food store shoppers in Germany based on anadapted version of the Theory of Planned Behavior by Izek Ajzen. The frameworkthereby builds upon research conducted by Maloney et al. (2014) who tested motivatorsof organic clothing customers.The research identified a significant positive influence of the Personal Norm and asignificant negative correlation between Perceived Expensiveness on the PurchaseIntention of the customers.The main barriers for bulk food shoppers were identified as the distance to the next store,the product portfolio and perceived high prices. Other issues have been discovered butwere – in comparison –only of secondary relevance.The paper contributes to closing the gap in literature between bulk foods and othersustainability-related topics, such as organic products and their production. Furthermore,it provides a foundation for future research on the topic.