Decoding willingness of Indian consumers to pay a premium on green products

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relevant antecedents of willingness of Indian consumers to pay a premium for green products and empirically validate the relationship between these antecedents and willingness to pay (WTP).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were generated from 515 students enroled in various educational institutions approved by the All India Council for Technical Education and located in New Delhi and National Capital Region region of India. A combination of researcher-controlled and systematic sampling techniques was employed for the purpose of identifying the sample. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data using AMOS 20.0.

Findings

The study revealed that attitude towards green products (ATGP) has a significant and positive influence on WTP. Additionally, collectivism and environmental concern emerged as predictors of ATGP.

Practical implications

Marketing practitioners are expected to get deeper insights into reasons that contribute to the formation of positive attitude among Indian consumers towards green products. This understanding may greatly assist proactive marketers in developing appropriate strategies to increase the propensity of WTP a premium for such products.

Originality/value

The study is pioneering in the sense that the construct WTP for green products had relatively been less explored in the Indian context. The construct WTP is important for Indian consuming class which is dominated by middle and lower middle income groups for whom spending extra from their regular expenditure is a critical and sensitive issue.

Citation

Kirmani, M.D. and Khan, M.N. (2018), "Decoding willingness of Indian consumers to pay a premium on green products", South Asian Journal of Business Studies, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 73-90. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAJBS-11-2016-0091