Chinese Consumers’ Green Purchase Practices: A Review

Abstract

This paper reviews current research with significant findings on Chinese consumers' green purchasing behavior in the 2000 to 2023 interval. The main direction of the article is to focus on the factors analyzed in the current research that influence consumers' green purchasing intentions and behaviors, and others include social comparison strategies, advertising appeals, traditional cultural values, and environmental responsibility. The study found that factors such as social comparison strategy, advertising appeal, traditional cultural values, and sense of environmental responsibility have a significant impact on Chinese consumers' green purchasing behavior. In a collectivist society, consumers tend to adjust their purchasing decisions according to the behavioral norms of the social group. Emotionally appealing advertisements are more likely than rationally appealing advertisements to stimulate consumers' environmental awareness and purchase motivation. The concepts of "benevolence" and "propriety" in traditional culture promote green purchasing by emphasizing mutual assistance, responsibility, and compliance with environmental norms, but the "face-saving" culture sometimes leads to superficial environmental behavior. Consumers' sense of environmental responsibility, influenced by education, social norms, and personal values, is an important factor driving green purchasing intentions. Despite consumers' strong willingness to buy green, there are often significant gaps in actual behavior which are attributed to factors such as price, convenience, product availability, and information transparency. Brand authenticity can help enhance consumer trust and emotional connection, thus increasing the likelihood of green product purchases. Government subsidies and the green consumption points system can effectively increase the market share of green products. Future research can further explore the relative importance of each factor and effective strategies to bridge the gap between purchase intention and actual behavior. Meanwhile, new approaches such as digital platforms and behavioral interventions are also worthy of attention to better promote sustainable consumption in China.