Barriers to consumer adoption of sustainable products – an empirical analysis
ISSN: 1747-1117
Article publication date: 6 June 2022
Issue publication date: 10 April 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify and study the effect of identified eight barriers to sustainable consumption on consumers’ intention to purchase sustainable products.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from a self-administered field survey in India, and 315 valid responses were obtained from the survey process. Partial least square structural equation modeling analysis was carried out to establish the validity of the measures used and to examine the impact of the identified barriers on sustainable purchase intentions.
Findings
The results of this study indicate that barriers such as low willingness to pay, low functional performance, low availability of sustainable products and difficulty of integration in the normal route have a statistically significant negative impact on consumers’ sustainable purchase intentions.
Practical implications
The findings of this study are useful for marketers and policymakers who want to increase the consumer adoption of sustainable products in emerging markets.
Originality/value
This study develops measures to capture the consumers’ perception of barriers to the adoption of sustainable products.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the editor and anonymous reviewers of Social Responsibility Journal, as their comments and suggestions helped to greatly improve the draft of the original manuscript.
Citation
Nath, V. and Agrawal, R. (2023), "Barriers to consumer adoption of sustainable products – an empirical analysis", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 858-884. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-12-2020-0495
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited