Indian consumers’ risk perception in buying green products: the case of LED light bulbs

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the various perceived risk facets such as financial risk, performance risk, psychological risk, social risk, and physical risk influence the Indian consumers’ perceived overall risk during the purchase of green products such as energy-efficient LED light bulbs.Design/methodology/approachA self-administered questionnaire comprising a total of 29 items was employed over a sample of 272 respondents. The structural equation modeling using partial least squares was used for data analysis.FindingsPsychological risk emerged as the most influential of the various risk facets in affecting perceived overall risk. Financial, physical, and performance risks emerged as the second, third, and fourth most influential risk facets, respectively, which affect the perceived overall risk. Surprisingly, social risk did not emerge as an influential facet when it comes to affecting perceived overall risk. Further, psychological and financial risks appeared to have a positive medium-level influence on the perceived overall risk, whereas physical and performance risks appeared to have a positive weak influence on the perceived overall risks. The influence of financial risk on the perceived overall risk was found to be partially mediated by performance risk.Originality/valueThe study is unique in the sense that it reflects the risk perception of potential consumers in one of the largest emerging markets of the world, when it comes to purchase of green products.