Search results

This paper aims to address the green purchasing gap by: exploring environmentally conscious consumers’ mental representation of the barriers responsible for the green purchasing gap; assessing which barriers are perceived as the most relevant in hampering the purchase of green products for environmentally conscious consumers; and investigating the relationships among these barriers. Although consumers are increasingly concerned about environmental deterioration, the current market share of green products remains fairly low.

An introspective qualitative study is conducted; 51 environmentally conscious consumers showing a green purchasing gap are interviewed, and the data are analysed with a cognitive mapping technique (Decision Explorer software) and Freeman’ structural indices (UCINET software).

Higher price and scarce availability of green products are the main barriers to green purchasing. However, consumers’ perceptions of price and availability may vary by changing other barriers (e.g. green products displacement inside the store and in-store communication).

This work reconstructs the decisional premises of environmentally conscious consumers’ choices to not purchase green products, identifies the most relevant barriers to green purchasing behaviour and the relationships between these barriers. With this knowledge, marketers of green products can focus on the most important barriers so that interventions in these barriers may change environmentally conscious consumers’ perceptions of other related barriers.

The paper's aim is to investigate environmentally conscious behaviour among young individuals in Australia with special attention given to their climate change risk perceptions.

In total, 20 in‐depth interviews were employed in this qualitative investigation. The informants of the investigation are young individuals (aged between 19‐25 years) in a major city in Australia. Twenty semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews ranging from 1.5‐3 hours were conducted. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to ensure informant diversity and access to “information rich” cases of youth engaged in environmental groups, activism and environmental behaviour.

Four thematic categories were derived. They are: unperceived adverse effects of climate change, disassociation between adverse effects of climate change and environmentally conscious behaviour, challenges to the dominant economic model and, redefined environmental paradigm

Based on the implications of the findings, several recommendations for communicating climate change remedial actions and encouraging environmentally conscious behaviour among young individuals are made.

The study contributes toward enhancing the understanding of climate change risk perceptions and environmentally conscious behaviour among young environmentalists in Australia where studies on young consumers are scarce. Findings of the study are useful in gaining young individuals' support for the successful implementations of climate change remedial actions.

Many market examples show that consumers are willing to pay a premium for “green” products and services. The purpose of this paper is to gain some insight into how consumers respond to green alternatives, and examine how managers can best position their green products to maximize the premium consumers are willing to pay.

A series of behavioral experiments was conducted to demonstrate how the green product's characteristics are framed significantly affects the size of the “green premium” consumers are willing to pay.

The results show that positive framing (focusing on the advantages of the green product) works best for environmentally conscious consumers while negative framing (focusing on avoiding the disadvantages of the non‐green product) works best for less environmentally conscious consumers. Additionally, subtractive price framing which focuses on the discount consumers would pay for the non‐green product alternative results in a higher green premium than additive price framing which focuses on the additional price consumers would pay for the green choice, and especially so for less environmentally conscious consumers.

Overall, the results suggest that green firms can maximize the green‐pricing premium by careful targeting of consumers and framing their products appropriately.

This paper explores how the difference between the green versus non‐green alternative can be framed in different ways, and interact with the consumer's level of environmental consciousness, to influence the “green premium,”, i.e. how much more consumers are willing to pay for the green alternative relative to a comparable non‐green alternative.

The paper attempts to investigate the term “environmental consciousness” and identify the underlying components of environmental consciousness and its antecedents. Also, to propose the framework explaining the linkage between environmental consciousness, its antecedents, components, and behavioral outcome, and also the variables, if any, that may intervene between environmental consciousness and environmentally conscious consumer behavior.

The paper reviews extant literature to bring conceptual clarity to the term environmental consciousness and its linkages with the related variables.

Environmental consciousness – a mental state variable – is found distinct from its antecedents and associated behaviors. It is a multi‐dimensional construct varying from low general level to high product‐specific level.

This paper provides understanding for the term environmental consciousness and its relation with other variables and thus leaves the wide scope for research in the future.

The extent to which green marketing efforts can gainfully be taken to the market and given a required scale depends upon environmental consciousness of the consumers. According to levels of environmental consciousness, green consumer segments are obtained and “greener” consumer segments can be targeted to induce pro‐environmental purchase behavior.

The proposed model in the study would allow the green marketers to support the whole idea of environment protection through appropriate marketing strategies.

Based on extant review of literature, the paper proposes the term environmental consciousness as a mental state variable, which is distinct from its antecedents and behavioural outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relative importance of four main attributes of food products for consumer’s choice. These are price, taste, environmental friendliness and healthfulness, tested across hedonic and utilitarian food products (milk and ice-cream). The weighting of attributes involved in food choices is a complex phenomenon, as consumers must consider contradictory requirements when making their choices. Consumers’ decision-making processes might also be influenced by food category. Some food products are mostly consumed for pleasure, whereas others are consumed because of their nutritional value.

The study employs a choice-based conjoint technique, which addresses how consumers make trade-offs across a set of product attributes.

The results indicate that price and taste attributes are rated as the most important for both hedonic and utilitarian food products. However, when the authors group consumers according to their product preferences, the relative importance of product attributes changes. Specifically, the importance of environmental friendliness and healthfulness is much higher among the health-conscious and environmentally conscious segments than for other segments.

To the knowledge, this is the first study comparing the importance of this combination of product attributes (price, taste, calorie content and eco-label) across hedonic and utilitarian foods in a choice-based conjoint setting. Moreover, a new way of grouping consumers according to their ethical-value profiles enables the authors to create a psychographic description of these segments, and to relate it to their food attribute preferences.

Concerns related to the environment are evident in the increasingly ecologically conscious marketplace. Using various statistical analyses, investigats the demographic, psychological and behavioral profiles of consumers who are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products. Finds that this segment of consumers were more likely to be females, married and with at least one child living at home. They reported that today’s ecological problems are severe, that corporations do not act responsibly toward the environment and that behaving in an ecologically favorable fashion is important and not inconvenient. They place a high importance on security and warm relationships with others, and they often consider ecological issues when making a purchase. Managerial implications for green marketers and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the purchase behavior of consumers towards green products by adapting and extending the theory of planned behavior with the inclusion of three pertinent environmental factors posited to reflect environmental consciousness in the form of environmental concern, environmental knowledge and environmental values.

The data was collected from 410 consumers at shopping malls with retail stores selling green and non-green products in a developing country using cluster sampling and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling.

The findings of this study indicate that environmental factors reflecting environmental consciousness positively influence consumers’ attitude towards purchasing green products, wherein consumers’ environmental values have a stronger influence than their environmental concern and environmental knowledge. The findings also reveal that subjective norm, attitude and perceived behavioral control toward purchasing green products positively shape green purchase intention. The same positive effect is also witnessed between green purchase intention and behavior. However, perceived behavioral control towards purchasing green products had no significant influence on green purchase behavior.

This study suggests that green marketers should promote environmental consciousness among consumers to influence and shape their planned behavior towards green purchases. This could be done by prioritizing efforts and investments in inculcating environmental values, followed by enhancing environmental knowledge and finally inducing environmental concern among consumers. Green marketers can also leverage subjective norm and perceptions of behavioral control toward purchasing green products to reinforce green purchase intention, which, in turn, strengthens green purchase behavior. This green marketing strategy should also be useful to address the intention–behavior gap as seen through the null effect of perceived behavioral control on purchase behavior toward green products when this strategy is present.

This study contributes to theoretical generalizability by reaffirming the continued relevance of the theory of planned behavior in settings concerning the environment (e.g. green purchases), and theoretical extension by augmenting environmental concern, environmental knowledge and environmental values with the theory of planned behavior, resulting in an environmentally conscious theory of planned behavior. The latter is significant and noteworthy, as this study broadens the conceptualization and operationalization of environmental consciousness from a unidimensional to a multidimensional construct.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how and why environmentally conscious consumers rationalise their non-green purchase behaviour.

Seven focus groups were conducted. A total of 51 people, aged 19-70 years, participated in the study. Theoretical thematic analysis was used to organise the data as various themes emerged.

Through application of neutralisation theory, this study identified additional barriers to green consumption. Two new neutralisation techniques emerged, namely protecting (maintaining) one’s sense of self and consumer attachment to the brand. These techniques recognise the impact consumer culture has had on consumers.

The study took place in an urban centre hence the views of the participants may be different from those who live in rural centres; low-income consumers were under-represented; and more male participants would have been desirable.

Despite its limitations, this study reveals that consumers will rationalise their decisions in order to protect their self-esteem and self-identity. Until green becomes a social norm, consumers will continue to place individual goals over collective goals. Understanding this rationalisation process is important if marketers and policy makers want to encourage behavioural change.

This study makes a valuable contribution to the understanding of the green attitude-behaviour gap. It provides fresh insights into how environmentally conscious consumers vindicate their non-green consumption behaviours and how marketers and policy makers can overcome these challenges. It also identifies two new neutralisation techniques and extends the theory to a consumer culture context.

The purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: What factors influence attitude toward green brands among Pakistani millennials? Does attitude toward green brands affect purchase intention? Does gender moderate the effect?

Data was collected through an online questionnaire distributed through multiple academic and professional networks. The questionnaire was answered by 242 Pakistani millennials. SmartPLS was used to conduct partial least square-structural equation modeling analysis. The analysis was conducted using a two-stage protocol typically followed in SEM analysis. First, an outer model assessment was done to measure construct reliability and validity. This was followed by hypotheses testing in the inner model assessment. Moderating effects were tested using the multigroup analysis feature of SmartPLS.

The antecedent factors tested in this study are green brand skepticism, environmental consciousness and attitude toward green campaigns. Results show that these factors do influence a person’s attitude toward a green brand, which, in turn, influences his/her purchase intention regarding that brand. Marketers of green brands can use the factors outlined in this study to improve consumer attitudes toward their company and products. This study showed that women are more positively affected by green campaigns. Green campaigns in Pakistan may be more successful if directed at female millennials.

This study conveys helpful implications for marketing managers, as specific antecedents are found to be significant predictors of purchase intention for green brands. Companies should not let the fear of consumer skepticism stop them from advocating their green products and initiatives. Green marketing campaigns can inspire millennials to encourage their social groups to be environmentally conscious. By actively helping the environment, these consumers may feel a sense of pride for their cohort and their country. As a result, Pakistan might undergo a transition to buying green brands, adopting green lifestyles and demanding green products from non-green brands.

Most of the research on green marketing and branding for millennials pertains to developed countries. However, as roughly 90% of the global millennial population live in developing countries, it is important to conduct research in developing countries. This paper specifically focuses on Pakistan, a developing country in South Asia. A propensity toward environmental issues among millennials makes this study an important one, both for the Pakistani market and for generalizations in populated developing countries having a similar profile.

The study aims to develop and test a relationship-building model for green brands. It synthesizes findings on the consumer motives offered by green brands, with relationship marketing and branding literature to the specific context of green brands to build a parsimonious model testing the links amongst four relational benefits, i.e. confidence, socialization, self-expression and altruism; two relational mediators, i.e. satisfaction and relationship quality; three behavioural outcomes, i.e. word-of-mouth, expectation of continuity and cross-buying; and two moderators of the benefits-mediators relationship, i.e. environmental consciousness and relationship length.

Data are collected from consumers of three brands of natural cosmetic products, totalling 848 questionnaires. Structural equation modelling is used to test the hypothesized relationships across the three brands.

The results show that confidence benefit has the strongest influence on relationship quality, followed by self-expression and altruism. Relationships quality and satisfaction with the green brand have a significant impact on all three behavioural outcomes. Both environmental consciousness and length of the relationship moderate the hypothesized interrelationships.

A new set of relational benefits for the green context is suggested. Several future research opportunities are suggested.

The study offers suggestions for managers to leverage relationship benefits for relationship strengthening.

No previous work has studied in an integrated way the relationship benefits and mediators to model the consumer–green brand relationship. The study provides a better understanding of the antecedents of consumer loyalty towards green brands.