The investigation of green purchasing behavior in China: A conceptual model based on the theory of planned behavior and self-determination theory

Abstract

Consumers have become more and more concerned with environmental deterioration's adverse impact on human beings and their purchasing preferences have gradually shifted from normal products to green products featuring resource conservation, low pollution and high safety. As an attempt to boost consumers' green purchasing behavior, this study establishes a conceptual model to examine the antecedents of green purchasing behavior through incorporating the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the self-determination theory (SDT) founded on prior studies on consumer psychology and green marketing. By virtue of an offline survey, 426 valid questionnaires were collected in total. Grounded on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), this study reveals that green purchasing intention, which is positively affected by intrinsic motivation and environmental attitude, positively affects green purchasing behavior. Meanwhile, the fulfillment of consumers' three basic psychological needs, i.e. autonomy, competence and relatedness, positively affects their environmental attitude and intrinsic motivation, while subjective norms moderate the conversion of environmental attitude into green purchasing intention. Academic and managerial implications of our study are drawn to bolster green purchasing behavior from the viewpoints of consumers and companies.