Antecedents of young adults’ willingness to support brands investing in renewable energy sources

Abstract

Nowadays organizations are directed to sustainable development, including renewable energy sources. For this investment to translate into competitive advantage, consumers should appreciate it. Young adults are a group that is entering the market. It is their attitude that determines the willingness of enterprises to investment in RES. The purpose of presented study, was to identify the relationship between the components of young adults' attitudes towards brands that invest in RES. A quantitative study was conducted on a sample of 976 young adults. A SEM model was created. It was found that attitudes of young adults toward organizations investing in RES are emotional since mainly the affective factors directly influence their acceptance for such brands. The most significant affective components are created by positive emotions, feelings of satisfaction as well as contentment. The cognitive components have an indirect influence through emotions. Perceptions of the importance of RES for humanity and the planet turn out to be more important than assumptions related to the intentions of companies that invest in RES. Young adults show a clear acceptance of brands investing in RES, declaring willingness to share costs, to choose and to recommend. Gender has a moderating effect on the research model.