Investigation into the Factors Affecting the Green Consumption Behavior of China Rural Residents in the Context of Dual Carbon

Abstract

The achievement of the dual-carbon objective and China’s green and sustainable development are both heavily reliant on green consumption. This research paper employs the Likert scale method to construct a questionnaire encompassing internal and external factors that influence green consumption behavior, as well as various types of consumption behavior. It then administers the questionnaire to 1004 rural residents residing in the eastern, central, western, and northeastern regions of China, with the objective of gathering pertinent data on green consumption behavior. Drawing from the aforementioned, structural equation modeling was employed to investigate the impact of three external factors—market incentives, social pressure, and information boost—and two internal factors—environmental awareness and psychological factors—on diverse forms of green consumption behavior. The objective was to identify the most influential factors of various green consumption behaviors to facilitate the effective promotion of green consumption. The research findings indicate that internal factors exert a more substantial influence on green consumption behaviors compared to external factors. Specifically, market incentives ranks highest among the external determinants of green consumption behavior, and environmental protection cognition rank highest among the internal determinants of green consumption behavior.