Toward sustainable consumption of green cosmetics and personal care products: The role of perceived value and ethical concern

Abstract

This study investigates consumer purchase intention of green cosmetics and personal care products in Thailand by extending the Perceived Value Theory with ethical concern as a green consumption determinant to determine their interrelationships. The results from PLS-SEM from the responses of 423 consumers show that the perceived functional value significantly impacts ethical concern and consumer purchase intention. The perceived emotional value is also positively correlated with ethical concern but showed no correlation with consumer purchase intention. However, the influence of the perceived social value on ethical concern and purchase intention was not supported. Meanwhile, the ethical concern is a strong predictor of green purchase intention which mediates a positive relationship between functional value and intention, as well as between emotional value and intention. However, no mediation effect was found between ethical concern and social value. These findings offer contributions toward extending the knowledge on how these multidimensional consumer values coincide and influence behavioral intention. This research makes a practical contribution to industry practitioners and policymakers to promote green product attributes by linking functional and emotional perceptions with ethical considerations such as fair trade, cruelty-free and green formulation, eco-labeling, and green packaging, which may in turn increase purchase intention toward green cosmetics and personal care products that could induce a more sustainable production and consumption pattern.