Consumer Environmental Concern Research Articles

ECO-FRIENDLY CARS’ PURCHASES: THE ROLE OF CONSUMER ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN, MONETARY POLICY, AND VALUE PERCEPTIONS

In the automotive market environment of Indonesia, a more in-depth insight into the factors that influence the purchase intention of eco-friendly cars is essential. Environmentally friendly cars are increasingly gaining attention amidst global environmental and climate change concerns. The research method used was a survey with data collection through a questionnaire distributed to 300 respondents by using purposive sampling. The measurement scale in this study used a 7-point Likert scale. Most respondents are female, comprising 56 percent, compared to 44 percent of male respondents. Most respondents with entrepreneurial backgrounds and bachelor’s degrees fall within the productive age range of 35 to 45 years. Additionally, a significant portion of the respondents earns an annual income ranging from 5 to 10 million Indonesian Rupiah. The analysis of the variance-based SEM method, PLS-SEM, shows that consumer environmental concern, monetary incentive policy measures, and perceived value significantly contribute to consumer purchase intentions. This research aims to positively contribute to advancing the eco-friendly car industry, bolster sustainable government policies, and shape consumer perceptions favorably towards greener transportation solutions. The study contributes valuable insights to this field’s existing literature and research. The empirical basis and findings derived from this research can serve as a reference for future studies on eco-friendly cars, providing a foundation for further exploration and understanding sustainable mobility choices

Environmental Communication as a Mediator in the Relationship between Environmental Concern and Attitude Towards Green Services in a Sequential Mediation Model: Evidences from Restaurant Industry

Tourism is a major economic activity of a nation but also contributes to about 5% of global emissions. Hospitality industry, a major arm of tourism industry, has initiated several measures for green sustainable practices. This research aims to understand the linkages between an altruistic mindset, environmental concern, environmental communication, green service attitude, and behavioural intentions through a sequential moderation model in the restaurant industry.
 A literature review was done to understand the theoretical construct of the proposed model and extant research for last 30 years to develop the consumer behaviour model. A modified model of Theory of Planned Behaviour was chosen as the base theory and through a review of the extant literature, a hypothetical model was created. A covariance-based structural equation model (CB SEM) was created to test the strength of relationships across the variables. The findings indicate that consumer environmental concern do not directly lead to positive attitude towards green services until it is mediated by environmental communication. This finding will help the green restaurants to adequately design suitable communication strategies to increase consumer awareness, positive attitudes and pro-environmental behavioural intentions.

Consumer Willingness to Pay for Energy Efficient Refrigerators in Nairobi City County, Kenya

In Kenya, consumer choices regarding home energy appliances, such as refrigerators, are crucial for enhancing energy efficiency and environmental conservation efforts. This study examined the influence of the Kenya Energy Star Rating Label on consumer preferences for refrigerators. Using stratified random sampling, 330 respondents from five constituencies in Nairobi County, Kenya, were surveyed. The research employed a combination of conditional and mixed logit models to analyse the data. The results revealed a significant positive correlation (P = .05) between the Kenyan Energy Star Rating label and consumer preference for energy-efficient refrigerators across all models. Consumers demonstrated a willingness to pay an average premium of 28,708.5 Kenyan shillings for refrigerators displaying the Kenyan Energy Star Rating label, indicating their recognition of the label's value. There was no significant relationship between consumer environmental concern and their willingness to pay for energy labelled refrigerators. These findings have notable policy implications, emphasizing the importance of educating Kenyan consumers about the environmental advantages of energy-efficient appliances. Specifically, the results underscore the effectiveness of the Kenyan Energy Star Rating Label in guiding consumer choices toward more sustainable appliance options.

Product line design and low-carbon investment strategies with consumer environmental concern

As environmental consciousness among consumers grows, firms are recognizing the importance of adopting carbon abatement technology as a crucial strategy to meet the rising demand for low-carbon products. Our study specifically examines the influence of a low-carbon investment strategy on a firm’s product line design, aiming to better align with consumer needs. Considering the impact of low-carbon investments and consumer environmental concern on the product line design has not been adequately examined in previous research. To fill this gap in research, our study proposes a model of a firm that designs the product line while determining the price and quality of each product. Our findings indicate that the single-product strategy is strictly inferior to the product line strategy when considering the low-carbon investment. This implies that the conventional wisdom that either the single-product strategy or the product line strategy could be an equilibrium strategy does not hold. Intuitively, the firm’s low-carbon investment in a specific product segment solely impacts the corresponding segment’s product quality and pricing decisions. While this intuition holds for the low-carbon investment strategy solely targeting high-end products, it does not apply when the low-carbon investment strategy applies solely to low-end products. Furthermore, our results show that the firm adopts the low-carbon investment strategy and traditional (without low-carbon investment) strategy when consumer environmental concern is relatively high and low, respectively. Finally, our results show that any of the four strategies (the traditional strategy and the low-carbon investment strategies for only low-end products, only high-end products, and both segments) could be optimal, depending on certain conditions, in the product line scenario.

Analysing consumer behavioural intention on sustainable organic food products

Population growth and improved global incomes have driven a significant increase in the production and consumption of food. Food consumption is known to have significant impacts on public health, individualities, and the environment and most importantly, food consumption is linked to environmental challenges like heightened pollution, scarcity of water, and CO2 emissions always been faced with grave environmental concerns and a massive surge in food intake assumes great significance. Consumers have a responsibility to protect the environment by choosing environmentally friendly products similar to organic food. This study modifies the TPB to model the consumer behavioural intention for organic food, using environmental concern, perceived value, and consumer familiarity as determinants. In the following, we explain how these well-established concepts are related to the three original constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The results of this study show that environmental concern, consumer perceived value of the product, and consumer familiarity (direct experience) with the product have a positive and significant effect on consumer behavioural intention for sustainable organic foods. In particular, this study finds that consumer environmental concern is the strongest predictor of purchase intention. This suggests that, in a sustainable organic food context, high levels of consumers' environmental concern increased their intention to purchase organic foods. Therefore, if a consumer is more concerned about environmental issues, the consumer will show a stronger intention to purchase sustainable organic food compared to consumers with lower environmental concerns.

Investigating the antecedents of consumer behavioral intention for sustainable fashion products: Evidence from a large survey of Italian consumers

The heavy environmental effect of the fashion industry, along with the growing interest of consumers in sustainability issues, is driving this industry towards greater ecological integrity through the development of sustainable clothing. This study investigates which factors influence green consumer behavioral intention in the clothing industry, through a survey of 2.694 Italian consumers. We study the influence of consumer's environmental concern, perceived value of the product, and consumer familiarity with the product (both direct and indirect experiences) on purchase intention and willingness to pay a premium price for sustainable fashion products. Our results show that environmental concern and perceived value positively affect purchase intention and the willingness to pay a premium price regardless the type of eco-materials used for the products, whereas direct and indirect experiences have different effects based on the specific eco-material used. Further, green consumer behavior is strongly dependent on consumers’ socio-demographic characteristics. Based on these results, important implications for scholars, managers, and policymakers are provided that can foster consumers' adoption of sustainable clothing and a transition towards a more sustainable society. For instance, specific directions for marketing strategy and public communication campaigns are provided.

Values, Motives, and Organic Food Consumption in China: A Moderating Role of Perceived Uncertainty.

The present research attempts to understand the importance of altruistic and egoistic values in determining consumers’ motives and intention to purchase organic foods. Using the face-to-face survey approach, a total of 1,067 responses were collected from consumers in China. Data analysis was performed using a two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, i.e., measurement and structural models. The findings indicated that both values influence the intention to purchase organic foods through the mediation of motives. Specifically, the altruistic value influences the environmental concern (EC), and the egoistic value influences the health concern (HC). Moreover, the perceived uncertainty negatively moderates a relationship between consumer HC and organic purchase intention while positively moderating a relationship between consumer EC and organic purchase intention. Several implications and suggestions are also discussed.

Impact of Consumer Environmental Concern in the Post-corona Era on Purchase Intention of Environmentally Friendly Cosmetics with Awareness of Sustainability Management Activities from Cosmetics Companies as a Medium

ëª©ì  본 연구에서는 포스트 코로나 시대의 소비자들의 환경의식이 화장품 ê¸°ì— ì˜ 지속가능경영 활동 인식과 친환경 화장품 구매의도에 영향을 주는 êµ¬ì¡°ì  관계를 íŒŒì• í•˜ê³ ìž 한다. 방법 설문조사는 2021ë „ 2월 21-27일 화장품을 사용하는 성인을 대상으로 시행되었다. 371개의 샘플 중 ìœ íš¨í•œ 334개의 데이터로 분석하였다. 본 연구의 자료는 SPSS 18.0 프로그램을 사용하여 빈도분석을 í•˜ì˜€ê³ , Cronbach's α를 통해 ì‹ ë¢°ì„±ê³¼ 타당성을 검증하였다. ê²°ê³¼ 소비자의 환경의식은 친환경 화장품 구매의도와 화장품 ê¸°ì— ì˜ 지속가능경영활동 인식에 ìœ ì˜ë¯¸í•œ 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 지속가능경영활동 인식은 친환경화장품 구매의도에 ìœ ì˜ë¯¸í•œ 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 소비자의 환경의식이 화장품 구매의도에 미치는 영향관계에서 ê¸°ì— ì˜ 지속가능 경영활동인식이 매개효과가 ìœ ì˜í•œ 것으로 확인되었다. ì „ì²´ì ìœ¼ë¡œ ì—°ë ¹ëŒ€ê°€ 높을수록 환경에 대한 의식과 화장품 ê¸°ì— ì˜ 지속가능 경영활동 인식 및 구매의도가 모두 높게 나타났다. ê¸°ì— ì˜ 지속가능경영활동 인식의 ê°„ì ‘íš¨ê³¼ 분석결과 20대-60대 이상 ëª¨ë“ ì—°ë ¹ëŒ€ì—ì„œ ê°„ì ‘íš¨ê³¼ê°€ 있는 것으로 나타났다. ê²°ë¡ í¬ìŠ¤íŠ¸ 코로나 시대의 소비자의 환경의식이 화장품 ê¸°ì— ì˜ 지속가능경영활동 인식과 친환경화장품 êµ¬ìž ì— 영향을 주었다. 이를 대비하여 화장품 ê¸°ì— ì€ ê¸°ì— ê³¼ 소비자가 모두 ë§Œì¡±í• ìˆ˜ 있는 지속가능경영 ì „ëžµì„ ëª¨ìƒ‰í•˜ê³ ì‹¤ì²œí•´ì•¼ 한다. 핵심용어: 포스트 코로나, 환경의식, 지속가능경영, 친환경 화장품, 구매의도

Impact of regulatory intervention and consumer environmental concern on product introduction

To meet consumer expectations for greener and better quality products and to ensure effective compliance with emissions regulations, firms have begun investing in improving the quality and greenness (low carbon level) of existing products. Emissions regulations currently restrict carbon emissions from product manufacturing rather than the emissions from the use of sold products. However, a large amount of carbon may be emitted from the use of products. Motivated by these issues, we analytically investigate the impact of environmental concern and the policies of regulators, and consumer environmental concern on product introduction. Our results show that (i) whether emissions trading regulations benefit firms depends on the quality improvement capability, and the interaction between emissions price and allowed emissions cap; (ii) the environmental concern of consumers helps firms obtain higher profits when quality improvement capability is relatively high, and always benefits environmental performance; and (iii) relatively low environmental concern set by regulators is detrimental to the maximization of social welfare, whereas high regulator environmental concern helps to maximize social welfare but at the expense of reducing firms’ profits.

Reklam İçeriğinin Satın Alma Niyetine Etkisi: Davranışa Yönelik Tutumun Aracı ve Çevresel Endişenin Düzenleyici Rolü

In this research, the effect of advertising content on purchase intention through the consumers' attitudes towards behavior depend on their environmental concern have questioned. For this purpose, two experiments were carried out using manipulated printed advertising banners. Three basic findings have been reached. First, results were support for the moderator role of environmental concern between advertising content and attitude toward behavior. Second, consumers' attitudes toward behavior were determined to have a mediating role between advertising content and intent to purchase. The third finding is that the relationship between ad content and purchase intention, through the consumers' attitude toward behavior were affected by the level of environmental concern. The research is based on the Planned Behavior Theory, which has a widespread use rate in consumer behavior studies. The research carried out in this framework has two important contributions. The first is that, within the conceptual model proposed, it has been determined when the consumer's environmental concern affects green consumption behavior. Secondly, the research is carried out through the experimental design method through advertisements.

Effects of functional green advertising on self and others

AbstractThis study examines the effects of a functional green advertising promoting the environmental advantages of a product. It presents the results of three experiments designed to (a) explore consumers’ perceptions of a functional green ad's effects on themselves and others, (b) determine how those perceptions are influenced by consumer environmental concern, and (c) examine how individualism–collectivism relates to self–other effect perceptions. Findings indicate that (a) consumers believe that functional green advertising exerts a stronger influence on others’ purchase decisions than on their own purchase decisions; (b) the self–other difference is more salient among consumers with high environmental concern; (c) in the individualistic culture, the perceived effectiveness on self, not on others, predicts consumers’ support for the regulation of functional green ads, while this effect is reversed when consumers are in collectivistic cultures. The study's findings extend several lines of research, including the literature on green advertising and the third‐person effect.

Green logistics decision support system for blood distribution in time window

During previous years, the role of green logistics in the distribution management has seen a tremendous increase due to increased focus on environmental protection, consumer environmental concern, green legislation and sustainability. This has led to an increase in recycling, reuse and emission control to reduce economic and environmental costs. In this research, a genetic algorithm-based decision support system for the route generation and comparison of the routes based on various economic and environmental cost factors. A mixed integer linear programming formulation of four vehicle routing problems with simultaneous delivery and pickup (full and partial) and time window (hard and soft) is provided and solved by genetic algorithm. The real-life data of blood distribution is used for comparing VRPSDPTW variants on the basis of their economic and environmental value. The computational results indicate that total cost is lower in the case of a full pickup with the soft time windows. The logistic organisations can use the proposed system in decision making to select an appropriate transportation scheme with lower economic and environmental costs.

Consumer environmental concern: the imbalance between values, attitudes and behaviour - a survey in Central Brazil

The purpose of this paper is to assess the environmental concern felt by Brazilian citizens who live in a region where economic success has environmental consequences. This evaluation takes into consideration the most frequent environmental issues as identified in the literature, including environmental degradation, waste and recycling, environmental preservation responsibilities, consumer tradeoffs, pro-environmental behaviour and product usage. Based on a proposed framework, the main hypothesis tested is related to the gap between values and attitudes towards actual pro-environmental behaviour. A non-probabilistic sample was collected from the city of Goiania in Central Brazil and data was analysed through structural equation modelling and exploratory factorial analysis. Results confirmed the findings of previous studies undertaken in other locations. Although respondents are concerned about the environment in terms of their attitudes and values, this concern did not translate into corresponding pro-environmental action.

Consumer environmental concern: the imbalance between values, attitudes and behaviour - a survey in Central Brazil

The purpose of this paper is to assess the environmental concern felt by Brazilian citizens who live in a region where economic success has environmental consequences. This evaluation takes into consideration the most frequent environmental issues as identified in the literature, including environmental degradation, waste and recycling, environmental preservation responsibilities, consumer tradeoffs, pro-environmental behaviour and product usage. Based on a proposed framework, the main hypothesis tested is related to the gap between values and attitudes towards actual pro-environmental behaviour. A non-probabilistic sample was collected from the city of Goiania in Central Brazil and data was analysed through structural equation modelling and exploratory factorial analysis. Results confirmed the findings of previous studies undertaken in other locations. Although respondents are concerned about the environment in terms of their attitudes and values, this concern did not translate into corresponding pro-environmental action.

Demographic and psychographic antecedents of ecologically conscious consumer behaviour: an empirical investigation

Researchers have continued to study green consumers' characteristics, habits, and lifestyle, which significantly influence their buying behaviour. In the same vein, the present study aims to measure the role of consumer demographics, i.e., age, gender, education, income, and marital status and psychographic characteristics such as perceived consumer effectiveness, environmental concern, altruism and liberalism in predicting ecological conscious buying behaviour. The research employed a survey-based method to test at theoretically grounded set of hypotheses. A structured questionnaire of 32 items was administered on 306 respondents to collect the data. Three statistical models were tested using regression analyses to test the hypotheses. All three models were found significant. The results witnessed that psychographic characteristics of consumers are more important to predict ecologically conscious behaviour. The environmental concern is seen to be the most important variable followed by perceived consumer effectiveness and altruism. The implications of the findings and need for future research are discussed.

“Don’t buy this jacket”

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of anti-consumption advertisement on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions (PIs) of an apparel product. Design/methodology/approach An experiment was conducted with a sample of college students (n=1,300) who were randomly assigned to view either a traditional advertisement for a Patagonia jacket or an anti-consumption advertisement of the same jacket. After that, consumer attitudes toward buying the jacket and PIs were measured employing online survey. In addition, consumer environmental concern (EC), perceived intrinsic brand motivation and extrinsic brand motivation (PIBM and PEBM) were measured to test a proposed research model. Findings Participants exposed to the anti-consumption advertisement reported less positive attitudes toward and lower PIs to buy the jacket than participants who viewed the traditional advertisement. Participants’ EC, PIBMs and PEBMs were found to be important predictors of the attitude and PI. Research limitations/implications This study provides a foundation for future research on consumer attitudes and PIs in the context of anti-consumption behavior and the effects of anti-consumption advertisement. Limitations of the present study include convenience sampling. Practical implications Anti-consumption advertising might be used effectively to raise consumers’ awareness on their spending habits on clothing and reduce the clutter of consuming culture. Originality/value The research findings contribute to the corporate social responsibility literature in the apparel context, specifically socially responsible marketing, by focusing on the nascent topic of anti-consumption. This was the first study that examined how anti-consumption advertisement might affect consumer attitudes toward buying products displayed in this advertisement.

Consumer environmental concern and green product purchase in Malaysia: structural effects of consumption values

This study examines the effects of consumption values (i.e. functional value, social value, emotional value, conditional value, and epistemic value) on Malaysian consumers' environmental concern as expressed in their purchase of green products. It also investigates the differences between three usage groups (light, average, and heavy users) and the significant factors that promote those differences. The study applies a quantitative method in which a structured self-administered questionnaire is used. Data is analysed using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique via the Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) computer programme version 21, and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer programme version 21. Empirical results confirm that social value has the paramount impact on consumers' environmental concern as expressed by their purchase of green products, and that epistemic value, and functional value quality rank behind. Functional value price, emotional value, and conditional value have no significant effects. Statistically significant differences were observed when comparing the light users with average users, and with heavy users (p < 0.05). The findings of this study introduce a new momentum for the preceding discoveries on consumer environmental concern as shown in the purchase of green products, which is inadequately covered in the Malaysian context. They also provide important information for companies, and encourage them to place more emphasis on social value, epistemic value, and functional value quality in their manufacturing, in order both to boost environmental concern among consumers in their purchasing decision-making, and to produce green goods that will be readily liked by consumers.

Consumption values and consumer environmental concern regarding green products

This study applied the partial least squares (PLS) approach using the SmartPLS computer program to examine the impact of consumption values (i.e. functional value, social value, emotional value, conditional value and epistemic value) on consumer environmental concern about green products. The views of individuals from the general public in the Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia, were gathered through the use of a self-administered questionnaire. This was completed by 200 respondents who adopted a green lifestyle and were committed to buying green products such as organic vegetables at least once a week. The empirical results obtained via the PLS approach revealed that social value had the most significant effect on consumer environmental concerns regarding green products. This finding showed the significant influence of peer opinion on individuals’ acceptance of green products and their impressions when purchasing such products. The next important factor is the epistemic value related to the purchasing of green products. The results of this study provided novel insights into consumer environmental concern regarding green products within the Malaysian context. In addition, the study provides important information for companies in encouraging them to emphasize the social and epistemic value of their products in order to boost consumer environmental concern related to green products and sustainable development. The results from this study could be used to assist manufacturers in producing green products that will be attractive to consumers.

Message framing in green advertising: the effect of construal level and consumer environmental concern

Many firms adopt green advertising and put great emphasis on the value of green marketing strategies. However, little research has examined the effectiveness of green appeal in advertisements. Building on message framing and construal level theory, this study examines the moderating role of temporal distance in effects of gain or loss framed messages on consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions towards advertised brand. The findings demonstrate that a congruency between loss frame and low level construal, as well as the match between gain frame and high level construal, leads to more positive outcomes in consumers' attitudes and purchase intention. Furthermore, this research reveals that salience of the congruency effect varies in line with the level of consumer environmental concern, which has important theoretical and practical implications.

Consumer response to green advertising: the influence of product involvement

This paper examines the differential effects of green appeals for low involvement and high involvement products. Through a controlled experiment conducted in China, our study demonstrates that for low involvement products, an ad with a green appeal, compared to a similar one without a green appeal, elicits a more favorable consumer attitude toward the ad and the brand. This is true regardless of the level of consumer environmental concern. This study also shows that for high involvement products, there is no interaction effect between green appeals and product involvement. In addition, for consumers with high levels of environmental concern, an ad with a green appeal yields greater purchase intention than a similar one without a green appeal for low involving products. Such an effect is absent for consumers with low levels of environmental concern. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed.