The circular economy (CE), a sustainability concept that promotes resource efficiency and waste reduction, has garnered significant popularity in recent years due to its potential to address pressing environmental and economic challenges. This study applies the Bayesian Mindsponge Mindspongeconomics (BMM) framework/analytic method, based on the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF), to the factors influencing young adults’ pro-environmental behavior and their purchases of green products at different price levels. The findings indicate that young adults who are knowledgeable about the CE and who value environmental protection and energy conservation are more likely to engage in waste sorting, while the factors that affect their willingness to pay (WTP) more for green and energy-saving products vary at different price tiers. This study demonstrates that knowledge of the CE, daily waste sorting habits, and environmental concern positively impact young adults’ WTP for products that are priced 5%, 10%, and 15% higher, respectively. Furthermore, this study also highlights the potential of educational programs and cultural influences in nurturing a generation that prioritizes environmental value. This research integrates multidisciplinary perspectives and offers practical implications for policymakers, educators, and businesses seeking to promote green literacy and foster an environmental culture among the youth, contributing to the broader goals of green transformation and sustainable development associated with the CE and the green economy, especially in the urban areas of emerging countries and beyond.

Waste pollution is becoming a major health issue in many developing nations. Waste-reduction options have been investigated and proposed, but environmental culture-based initiatives have not. This study explores and advances Vietnamese families’ environmental culture related to waste management, using the Culture Tower framework and a contingent valuation method coupled with a Bayesian model (CVBM). Specifically, descriptive statistics measure environmental literacy, while CVBM determines household willingness-to-pay (WTP) and estimates WTP for waste treatment services (WTP4WTS). Based on our survey of 487 households across 11 communes and wards in Hai Phong City, local waste pollution has decreased over time, although the respondents remain concerned. Over 13% of households were dissatisfied with waste treatment services (WTSs), while approximately 50% were neutral. Most respondents (79.26%) were willing to pay for improved WTSs, with an average WTP of 60,200 VND (US$2.32) per household per month. Behavioral and perceptual factors, such as the desire for improved waste services, current perceived waste pollution, and the perception that pollution has worsened, were found to significantly influence this willingness. Our study makes three major contributions. First, it develops a novel CVBM framework that links environmental culture and an economic valuation method, strengthening green economy micro-behavioral research. Second, it advances the circular economy literature by highlighting household engagement and willingness-to-pay as key drivers of sustainable waste financing and resource-loop closure. Third, it provides empirical evidence to inform and refine Vietnam’s revised Law on Environmental Protection (2020), particularly in implementing the “polluter pays” principle, promoting waste classification at the source, and designing socially acceptable environmental financing mechanisms.

Waste pollution represents an increasingly serious problem affecting the health and well-being of people living in many developing countries. Many studies have examined and recommended waste-reducing solutions, yet environmental culture-based measures remain understudied. This study employs a novel approach that integrates the Culture Tower with the Contingent Valuation Method and a Bayesian model (CVBM) to explore and advance households’ environmental culture associated with waste management. Specifically, descriptive statistics capture respondents’ environmental perceptions and literacy, while the Bayesian model and CVM identify the determinants of households’ willingness to pay (WTP) and estimate WTP for waste treatment service (WTP4WTS), respectively. We found that despite the observed reduction in local waste pollution over time, respondents maintain a persistent concern regarding this issue. Over 13% of the households surveyed expressed dissatisfaction with waste treatment services (WTS), contrasting with nearly 50% of households that reported a neutral perspective. We also found that a significant majority (79.26%) of respondents were willing to pay for WTS, with an average WTP of 60,200 VND (US$2.32) per month. Importantly, the primary predictors of WTP4WTS were found to be the desire for improved waste services, current perceived waste pollution, and the belief that pollution has worsened over time. This study makes three key contributions. First, it develops an integrated CVBM framework linking environmental culture with economic valuation, thereby strengthening the micro-behavioral foundations of green economy research. Second, it advances the circular economy literature by identifying household engagement and willingness to pay as critical drivers of sustainable waste-financing and resource-loop closure. Third, it provides empirical evidence to inform and refine the implementation of Vietnam’s revised Law on Environmental Protection (2020), particularly in operationalizing the “polluter pays” principle, promoting waste classification at source, and designing socially acceptable environmental financing mechanisms.

Urban air pollution has become a critical governance challenge for many developing cities, where sustained air quality improvement depends not only on pollution-control capacity but also on durable public participation and financial support. Building on Cultural Additivity Theory (CAT), this study employs Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics with a Bayesian cumulative ordinal logistic specification to investigate how environmental perceptions, adaptive behavior, and household financial capacity are associated with household willingness to pay (WTP) for urban air quality improvement, using survey data from 604 households in Hanoi, Vietnam. The results show that household income, perceived pollution urgency, perceived pollution impact, and avoidance behavior are positively associated with higher WTP. More importantly, the positive associations of perceived pollution urgency and avoidance behavior with WTP are more pronounced at higher household income levels, indicating that these environmental orientations are more closely associated with higher contribution preferences at greater levels of financial capacity. These findings suggest that household WTP reflects a differentiated decision process in which environmental engagement and material circumstances jointly correspond to stated financial contribution rather than operating as isolated determinants. This study makes three contributions. First, it extends CAT into behavioral environmental economics by distinguishing environmental value formation from its expression in stated financial contribution and revealing within-decision differentiation across environmental attributes. Second, it extends the application of BMF analytics to payment card WTP data through a Bayesian cumulative ordinal logistic specification that supports posterior and probability-based interpretation. Third, it provides evidence for designing clean air governance that combines locally relevant risk communication and behaviorally informed public engagement with flexible participation arrangements that recognize heterogeneous household financial capacity.

The growing pressure of municipal waste generation and its associated environmental consequences has turned household participation into a central challenge for sustainable waste governance and circular-economy transition. This study adopts Cultural Additivity Theory and employs Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics to examine how interactions between environmental–cultural and governance value bundles shape household willingness to pay (WTP) for improved urban waste management services, using survey data from 352 households in Hai Phong City, Vietnam. The results show that both the perceived importance of Commune Authorities and Women’s Unions are positively associated with WTP. More importantly, environmental perception and behavior further strengthen these governance–WTP associations, indicating that household financial support for improved waste management is greater when governance values interact with stronger environmental–cultural values. In contrast, higher environmental service satisfaction tends to weaken the positive association between governance importance and WTP. These findings suggest that household WTP is better understood as a relational outcome of interacting value bundles rather than as the product of isolated determinants operating independently. This study makes three contributions. First, it extends Cultural Additivity Theory into the field of urban environmental governance by demonstrating how interactions among value bundles shape household environmental decision-making. Second, it advances the waste-management literature by showing that environmental perception and environmental behavior become more influential when embedded within supportive governance and community structures. Third, it provides empirical evidence for developing community-based urban waste-management policies that integrate environmental communication, source-separation initiatives, local governance, and women-led community engagement to strengthen public participation and support sustainable urban waste-management systems.