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Eco Labels and Eco Conscious Consumer Behavior: The Mediating Effect of Green Trust and Environmental Concern

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Abstract

This study explores the relationship between eco labels and eco conscious consumer behavior for green products. Mediation effect of consumer trust regarding green products and their concern for the sustainability of environment have also been analyzed. There are many researches regarding consumers’ evaluation of green products and consumer behavior, but no substantial research has been done on the effects of understanding eco labels on eco-conscious consumer behavior. Eco labels are the essential sources of information regarding products’ features and focus on providing information about less detrimental effects of green products on environment. Data of respondents have been collected through convenience sampling from the most populous city of Pakistan, i.e., Karachi. This research is an empirical study, structural equation modelling technique has been used to explore the relationship among the variables in the study. Furthermore, the mediation effects of green trust and environmental concern on consumer’ behavior have also been analyzed.The findings of research highlight the positive impact of eco labels on consumers’ eco conscious behavior. The results show full mediation effect of green trust on the relationship between eco labels and eco conscious consumer behavior. However, there was no mediation effect of environmental concern between eco labels and eco conscious consumer behavior. Hence, investing resources on eco labels design and providing awareness about the sustainability of environment are helpful in producing eco conscious consumer behavior.

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... To attract eco-aware customers, businesses are compelled to implement green marketing techniques like eco-labels and green advertising . Green advertising is realized through various media, including digital advertising, social media campaigns, and product packaging that reflects a commitment to the environment (Hameed and Waris, 2018). ...
... EA was positively influenced by EL. EL serves as a communication tool that offers clear information about a product's ecological impact, influencing consumer attitudes, and perceptions toward sustainable consumption (Hameed & Waris, 2018;Song et al., 2019;Nguyen & Le, 2020). The presence of eco-labels gives a positive signal to consumers regarding the company's commitment to sustainable business practices, strengthening consumer trust and awareness of the importance of choosing products with lower environmental impact (Panopoulos et al., 2023). ...
... Song et al. (2019) found an attitude-behavior gap in the form of a mismatch between a good view of the environment and real behavior about purchasing eco-friendly products. This gap is due to several factors, including the limited availability of eco-friendly goods, higher costs than traditional products, or a lack of confidence in producers' environmental claims (Hameed & Waris, 2018). ...
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Research aims: This study uses environmental attitude as a mediating factor to investigate how green advertising, eco labels, and environmental responsibility affect green purchase behavior. Design/Methodology/Approach: Data collection using the purposive sampling method, using 138 NPURE cosmetic consumers, with SmartPLS 4.0 statistics tool.Research findings: Green purchase behavior is not positively impacted by green advertising. Green purchase behavior is not positively impacted by eco labels. Green purchase behavior is positively impacted by environmental responsibility. Environmental attitudes are positively impacted by green advertising. Environmental attitudes are positively impacted by eco labels. Environmental attitude is positively impacted by environmental responsibility. Green purchase behavior is not positively impacted by environmental attitude. Additionally, it was discovered that the impact of green advertising on green purchase behavior was not mediated by environmental attitude. Green purchase behavior and eco labeling was not mediated by environmental attitude. Environmental responsibility and green purchase behavior was not mediated by environmental attitude.Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This study demonstrates a negative influence, underscoring the persistently high level of consumer skepticism, in contrast to other research that typically finds a positive association green advertising and green purchase behavior. The insignificant mediation role of environmental attitude provides a new perspective on how psychological factors and consumer behavior interact in the context of sustainability.Practitioners/Policy Implications: Companies need to adopt more transparent and credible communication strategies in implementing green advertising in order to overcome consumer skepticism.Research Limitations/Implications: This study used quantitative methods that may not capture the deeper psychological and emotional aspects related to green purchasing decisions. Therefore, future research should explore qualitative approaches to understand consumer motivations more deeply and integrate external factors that may influence green purchase behavior.
... In countries like Malaysia, consumers exhibit pro-environmental conduct by actively acquiring environmentally friendly items. On the other hand, there exists a dearth of consciousness of environmentalism in countries like Pakistan, necessitating attention and resolution [24]. ...
... Customers establish a lasting emotional connection with particular brands due to their strong brand attachment to those specific brands [17]. Thus, customers who are attached to a certain brand purchase more of that particular brand as compared to ones who do not possess such an attachment [24]. The reason behind this behavior is that the customers who are attached to that particular brand feel satisfaction by buying that specific brand. ...
... Companies have started developing strategies to enhance the brand attachment of their customers because such emotional attachment leads to higher loyalty and commitment to that particular brand [51]. An individual with a higher brand attachment will have a positive attitude and image of that specific brand and, therefore, will buy more of that brand [24]. People who are attached to a brand because of their environmental concerns will buy more products from brands with similar regard for the environment. ...
... Labelling is an essential source of information for consumers seeking information about the products they intend to buy (Hameed et al., 2015). Eco-label is an important source of information as they provide relevant information on production processes, product attributes, environmental effects, and provenance (Hameed & Waris, 2018). Ecolabelling has been used as a tactical instrument to communicate the products' environmental consciousness (Bougherara & Combris, 2009;Clemenz, 2010). ...
... Additionally, Taufique et al. (2017) noted that customers' trust in sustainable clothing has a favourable influence on their real purchasing behaviour. Likewise, people develop a sense of trust in businesses that implement certified eco-labels to advertise their green products (Hameed & Waris, 2018). Through eco-labelling, businesses can convey a clear and powerful message to customers about their commitment to environmental stability (Testa et al., 2015). ...
... This study argues that eco-labelling may significantly influence GPB without requiring an EA of consumers. This is consistent with prior studies (Hameed & Waris, 2018;Song et al., 2019) suggesting that ecolabel has a direct influence on consumers' purchase behaviour. Attitude has also been used as mediator between GRT and GPB (H7b) in this study. ...
Article
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Escalating awareness of consumers on environmental issues have not translated into demand for green products in emerging economies, resulting in a rising need for further research on green purchasing behaviour. Considering this gap, the current study investigates the association of eco‐label and environmental knowledge with green purchase behaviour, and explores the mediating impact of environmental attitude and green trust. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of perceived price in influencing such behaviour. The proposed research model is empirically tested with data collected from 600 customers in India. The results indicate that eco‐label, environmental knowledge, green trust, and environmental attitude are significantly associated with green purchase behaviour. Further, environmental attitude does not mediate the association between eco‐label and green purchasing behaviour, while this link is partially mediated by green trust. In comparison, environmental attitude plays a partial mediating role between green trust and green purchasing behaviour. Moreover, perceived price moderates the relationship between environmental attitude and green purchase behaviour positively, while negatively moderates the relationship of green purchase behaviour with green trust. The findings help to draw significant implications for environmental and green marketers, along with a better knowledge of the complicated consumer behaviour associated with the purchase of green products, which will ultimately help them to develop more viable green marketing strategies in India. Overall, this research will enhance the green marketing literature by providing insights into how marketers and businesses can trigger the green purchasing by consumers in emerging market.
... Extensive research across diverse product categories and geographical contexts provides compelling evidence for the critical role of ecolabel trust in driving sustainable purchasing behavior. As environmental certifications and labeling schemes proliferate, consumer trust emerges as a vital prerequisite for these ecolabels to effectively influence buying decisions and promote environmentally friendly choices [46]. ...
... Numerous studies have explored the interplay between ecolabel knowledge, trust in ecolabels (ecolabel trust), green trust, environmental concern, environmental attitude, and pro-environmental behavior. While ecolabel knowledge has been established as a positive predictor of eco-conscious consumer behavior, with green trust mediating this relationship (Hameed, 2018) [46], environmental concern emerges as a critical mediating factor. ...
... Numerous studies have explored the interplay between ecolabel knowledge, trust in ecolabels (ecolabel trust), green trust, environmental concern, environmental attitude, and pro-environmental behavior. While ecolabel knowledge has been established as a positive predictor of eco-conscious consumer behavior, with green trust mediating this relationship (Hameed, 2018) [46], environmental concern emerges as a critical mediating factor. ...
Article
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The EU Ecolabel, established in 1992, aims to promote sustainable consumption, yet a significant gap persists between consumers’ positive environmental attitudes and their actual purchasing behavior of ecolabeled products. This study examines the attitude–behavior gap in EU Ecolabel adoption across Europe, leveraging data from the 2023 Eurobarometer survey with 26,630 valid responses from all EU member states. Using mediation path analysis, the research investigates the factors mediating the relationship between environmental knowledge and purchasing behavior, including environmental attitude, ecolabel trust, and environmental concern. The study applies an integrated theoretical framework combining the Knowledge–Attitude–Behavior model and Attitude–Behavior–Context theory to explain the complexities of consumer behavior towards ecolabeled products. The findings reveal the interplay of direct and indirect effects among ecolabel knowledge, trust, environmental concern, attitude, and buying behavior, while also considering demographic factors’ influence such as age, gender, education level, and residential setting. The research provides a comprehensive cross-country analysis within the EU, offering insights into bridging the attitude–behavior gap and enhancing the adoption of eco-friendly products. The results have significant implications for policymakers, marketers, and researchers in promoting sustainable consumer behavior, improving environmental label effectiveness, and developing targeted interventions to increase ecolabel adoption rates.
... The Pakistani government has prioritized energy conservation to decrease pollution, especially haze, in alignment with UN SDGs aimed at mitigating environmental pollution. Some of these measures include labeling energy efficiency for electrical appliances and establishing minimum standards for their performance efficiency [11]. In 2014, Pakistan's Ministry of Energy launched an Energy Standard and Labeling System Scheme. ...
... The conceptual framework also includes psychographic and productrelated components to identify the main antecedents of EEA's purchasing intention. Green trust and environmental concerns influence purchasing intentions for eco-friendly products [11]. Thus, this study includes environmental concern as a person's awareness of environmental issues and effects. ...
... According to Lee [46], it is "one's conviction that another will act in accordance with one's expectations". Green trust gives consumers useful knowledge about environmental safety and concerns, and research demonstrates that green consumers prefer green products [11]. By focusing on green issues, this green trust enables the business to attract environmentally conscious customers, giving it a distinct edge based on its innovative product offering [47]. ...
... Contemporary studies have shown that informed consumer choices hinge on awareness of the environmental repercussions of their consumption. Hence, ECLs serve as primary information conduits about the ecological benefits of products [13,17,25,[49][50][51]. In this context, ECL has evolved into a significant value proposition that businesses extend to their clientele [52]. ...
... This substantiates that GAD effectively disseminates an ecological image of products and, through brand positioning, boosts consumer awareness [63,64]. It supports the notion that GAD heightens consumer consciousness and stimulates their environmental awareness, thus encouraging the purchase of organic products [48,50]. This finding is in line with other research that has established a positive relationship between GAD and EAW [37,38,55,56,65,66] and challenges those studies which assert that GAD does not enhance the EAW of organic product consumers [13,61]. ...
... In other words, GAD remains a pivotal marketing element that promotes the consumption of environmentally protective products [42]. This finding corroborates substantial evidence of the direct impact of this marketing strategy on environmentally conscious purchasing behavior [43,50,55,63] and supports the conclusions of other research highlighting the significant role of GAD in influencing GPB [40,44,48,56,64]. It also addresses the skepticism of researchers who continue to question the role of GAD within organic purchasing behavior [46][47][48]53]. ...
Article
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This study examined the impact of green advertising and eco-labels on the attitudes and environmental awareness of millennials purchasing eco-friendly products in shopping centers across Ecuador. The research utilized a quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional methodology with 430 millennials participating. A 20-item survey was administered face-to-face at shopping centers in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador. The validity of the research model was established through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), employing SPSS 20 and AMOS 24 for statistical evaluations. Findings reveal that green advertising significantly shapes environmental attitudes (β: 0.245) and awareness (β: 0.110), as well as directly influences the purchasing behavior (β: 0.154) towards green products. While eco-labels do not exert a direct effect on purchasing behavior (β: 0.128), they significantly inform attitudes (β: 0.406) and ecological awareness (β: 0.277) of millennials who purchase organic products. This paper is among the pioneering research to delineate the correlation between green advertising elements and the purchasing patterns of green products among millennials in a developing nation. It concludes that marketing strategies centered on green advertising and eco-labels do affect millennials’ attitudes and environmental consciousness, but only advertising has a direct impact on purchasing behaviors, contrary to eco-labels. The research bears social significance as it affirms that millennials are attentive to environmental issues and are actively engaged in promoting sustainability.
... At the same time, there is evidence of a positive effect on the purchase intention of small pieces of sustainable product information such as eco-labels (Hameed & Waris, 2018;Sharma & Kushwaha, 2019). Hameed and Waris (2018) defined eco-label as an "imperative source of information about environmentally friendly products" (p. ...
... At the same time, there is evidence of a positive effect on the purchase intention of small pieces of sustainable product information such as eco-labels (Hameed & Waris, 2018;Sharma & Kushwaha, 2019). Hameed and Waris (2018) defined eco-label as an "imperative source of information about environmentally friendly products" (p. 98). ...
... Prior research shows that the role of eco-labels in the green buying process is controversial. Along with a wide discussion about the positive effect of green labels on purchase intentions (Hameed & Waris, 2018;Sharma & Kushwaha, 2019), the research also shows that the effect of eco-labels and environmental advertisements on actual purchase behavior is insufficient (Rahbar & Wahid, 2011). Tending to examine these controversial findings on the effect of eco-labels on purchase intention, we hypothesize: ...
Chapter
Sustainable consumption became an inalienable part of our life. Building on it, a large share of consumer behavior research is focused on green buying as a part of sustainable consumption. Most existing literature considers sustainable actions and green buying as conscious and planned processes. However, there is recent evidence that green buying may be at the same time impulsive. Although the interest of researchers in impulsive buying in sustainable settings grows dramatically nowadays, prior studies evaluate factors affecting impulsive buying of green products (i.e., buyer-seller personality similarity or corporate social responsibility practices) rather than the psychological mechanism behind it. Drawing on the Reflective-Impulsive Model, we address this gap and, using an experimental approach, investigate how the amount of product information shapes the impulsive and reflective decision-making process of green buying. The current paper is a research-in-progress, and it presents preliminary results of data collection and hypotheses testing.
... Recent research has determined that conscious consumption depends on consumers' knowledge of the environmental impact of consumption. As a result, ECLs are the main sources of information on the ecological characteristics offered by a product [13,17,25,[49][50][51]. Given this, an eco-label has become a value proposition that companies offer to consumers [52]. ...
... Corroborating in this way that the GAD fulfils the function of disseminating an ecological image of the products and through brand positioning, stimulates consumer awareness [64,65]. This supports the finding that the GAD raises consumer awareness and stimulates their environmental awareness to encourage them to purchase organic products [48,50]. This finding supports the results of other research that has identified a positive relationship between green advertising and environmental awareness [37, 38,55,56,66,67] and contradicts the positions of research that has determined that GAD does not stimulate the EAW of consumers who consume organic products [13,61]. ...
... That is, green advertising continues to be an element of marketing that encourages the consumption of products aligned with environmental protection [42]. This verifies the considerable evidence of the direct influence of this marketing strategy on environmentally aligned purchasing behavior [43,50,55,64], thus supporting the findings of other research that has determined the influential power of green advertising. on green purchasing behavior [40,44,48,56,65] and contradictory researchers who still question the role of GAD within organic purchasing behavior [46][47][48]53]. ...
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The present study identified the influence of green advertising and eco-labels on the attitude and environmental awareness of millennials who purchase ecological products in shopping centers in Ecuador. The research was quantitative, correlational and with a cross-sectional design. A total of 430 millennials participated in the study. A 20-question survey was applied in person outside the shopping centers of Quito and Guayaquil - Ecuador. The convergent and discriminant validity of the research model was verified using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Models (SEM). SPSS 20 and AMOS 24 programs were used for statistical analysis. The results show that green advertising influences environmental attitudes (β: 0,245) and awareness (β: 0,110) and specifically influences purchasing behaviour (β: 0,154) for green products. Although eco-labels do not directly influence purchasing behaviour (β: 0,128), they influence the attitudes (β: 0,406) and ecological awareness (β: 0,277) of millennials who buy organic products. This article is one of the first studies to identify the relationship between green advertising elements and green product purchasing behaviors among millennials in a developing country, concluding that marketing strategies based on green advertising and eco-labels have an impact on the attitude and environmental awareness of millennials, but only advertising directly affects purchasing behaviour while eco-labels do not. This research has social implications since it corroborates that millennials are concerned about environmental problems and are willing to contribute to sustainability.
... Personality, self-esteem, and lifestyle represent examples of psychological influences. The perception that all individuals possess about themselves in terms of their physical appearance, intellectual capacity, personality, and every other aspect that defines their identity as a social being is referred to as self-impression [34][35][36][37]. More specifically, in [38], environmental awareness and consciousness were demonstrated to positively influence consumer attitudes toward green products. ...
... Consumer environmental concern has a favorable relationship to both individual viewpoints and the willingness to actively participate in issues related to the environment [39]. Environmental concern broadens people's mental mechanisms, enabling them to seek alternative routines in their daily lives that could improve preservation of the environment both on an individual and social level [27,29,30,34,35]. Personal perspectives on this issue strengthen people's responsibilities, willingness, and conscientiousness for social change, whereas economic variables play a big role in the development of a consumer as an environmentalist [4,27,36]. ...
... While the vast majority perceive green marketing simply as advertising green products, it in fact encompasses a wide range of initiatives such as design, product improvements, production process changes, packaging changes, pricing, distribution, and altering advertising [1,2]. Companies should aim to create awareness and positive attitudes toward green advertisements and increase the demand for green products through environmentally friendly brands [13,27,35,56]. Advertising that simply conveys the values of green and ecofriendly principles, implying a pro-environmental mentality, is an effective strategy for appealing to consumers. ...
Article
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The protection of our natural environment and the rational use of our natural resources are topics that have gained enormous attention the last years, with thousands of people changing their buying behaviors and making more environmentally conscious purchase decisions. Green consumer behavior is concerned with environmental issues or societal considerations that are reflected in purchase decisions. In this article, we study the factors influencing the intention of consumers to buy green products by proposing and validating a research model depicting the dependencies of green purchase intention from the selected factors. More specifically, the aim of the exploratory study is to investigate the impact of positive and negative emotions on individuals’ perceptions of environmentally friendly products and services, as well as the influence of attitudes toward green ads and of consumers’ environmental concerns on green purchasing behavior. The study was conducted with 75 participants who were shown six ads promoting a specific ecofriendly product, with each ad featuring a different emotional appeal both through its visual imagery and its textual information; three of the ads elicited negative emotions (fear, guilt, and disgust) and three positive emotions (joy, interest/curiosity, and inspiration). Findings indicate that ads that elicit negative emotions demonstrate a significant positive effect on consumers’ attitudes toward the green ad and on their intention to buy the promoted green product, but this does not apply to ads that elicit positive emotions. The statistical analysis also revealed that the attitudes toward the green ad are not a significant predictor of consumers’ buying intention. Moreover, as expected, consumers with high environmental concern demonstrate stronger intention to buy the promoted green product compared to consumers with low environmental concern.
... Eco-labels (ECLs) are considered to be a promotional tool for giving information to consumers about products to lessen information deficit, now-a-days which is prevailing at business and communication levels (Ahmad et al., 2021) that are not hazardous to the ecology. Eco-labels build up consumers' competence to evaluate the probable effects of products on the environment at the time of purchase (Hameed & Waris, 2018). The adoption of products based on consumers' valuation of several traits of eco-labels is an essential marketing tactic that assists in minimizing information irregularities on ecological products (Waris & Hameed, 2020a). ...
... Trust is a belief, and a major determinant of the consumer's long-term behavior (Waris & Hameed, 2020a). 'Green trust' alludes to 'trust' in the environment, as well as the 'trust' in the firm that develops environment-friendly products (Hameed & Waris, 2018). Green trust is defined as "a willingness to depend on a product or service based on the belief or expectation resulting from its reliability, benevolence, and ability about ecological performance" (Chen, 2010). ...
... The result suggests that consumers are adaptable to eco-labels and inclined by the advantages connected with the products that steer the utilization of ecological products. The prerequisite and effective designing of eco-labeled products is to catch consumers' appeal that is directed towards green/ecological products and ultimately results in pro-environmental behavior (Hameed &Waris, 2018). Therefore, the government must make eco-labeling compulsory (Taufique et al., 2017) as it is stated that the eco-labels are a significant basis of information to buyers regarding green products and with EEEAs, consumers are inclined towards it and pay due concentration to its labeling. ...
Article
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Energy-efficient equipment appliances (EEEAs) offer great potential for domestic energy saving. This study aims to explore the direct influence of TPB constructs (i.e., attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control), eco labels, and green trust on the intention to buy EEEAs with green environmental concern as moderator. We employed quantitative methodology to test the relationship in the proposed model with an Indian sample of 321 respondents. Both Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling were used for data analysis with AMOS 22.0. The findings reveal that eco-labels and green trust fully mediate the relationship between attitude and PBC to intention to buy EEEAs. The results also suggest that eco-labels and green trust play a positive and vital role in leading to purchase sustainable appliances. Through this study, we contribute to literature encompassing energy-efficient product consumption, achieved through heightened eco-labels perceptions and green trust. The EEEAs purchases can be stimulated among the consumers with higher green environmental concern.
... Recent research has determined that conscious consumption depends on consumers' level of knowledge of the environmental impact generated by consumption. Consequently, ECL is the main source of information on the ecological characteristics of a product (Hameed and Waris, 2018;Song et al., 2019;Nguyen and Le, 2020;Sun et al., 2020;Riskos et al., 2021;Panopoulos et al., 2023). According to Fuerst and Shimizu (2016), ECL is perceived by consumers as a representation that a product within its production does not use materials harmful to the environment. ...
... This finding demonstrates that ECL plays a significant role in enhancing EAW by providing consumers with verifiable information regarding the ecological footprint of products (Song et al., 2019;Nguyen and Le, 2020;Riskos et al., 2021;Panopoulos et al., 2023). ECL acts as a signal of environmental stewardship, encouraging consumers to make informed choices that align with their personal values toward sustainability (Hameed and Waris, 2018;Sun et al., 2020). The presence of ECL can thus catalyze a shift in consumer perception, fostering a more conscious approach to purchasing decisions that prioritize environmental impact, ultimately promoting a culture of responsible consumption (Alamsyah et al., 2020). ...
Article
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Purpose This study aims to identify whether green advertising and eco-labels influence the purchasing behaviors of organic products or whether the influence of such behaviors is presented through the mediating effect of the attitude and environmental awareness of millennials. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative, correlational and cross-sectional design. A total of 430 millennials participated in the study. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions, distributed across five variables. It was applied to people outside shopping centers in the city of Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador. The results were subjected to statistical tests to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. The convergent and discriminant validity of the research model was verified through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. SPSS 20 and AMOS 24 were used for statistical analyses. Findings The study identified that attitude and environmental awareness mediate the relationship between green advertising and green purchasing behaviors, as well as the relationship between eco-labels and green purchasing behaviors. Furthermore, it has been proven that green advertising directly influences the green purchasing behaviors of organic products among millennials, whereas eco-labels do not. Originality/value This study is among the initial investigations to delineate the connection between elements of green marketing and the buying patterns of organic goods among millennials in an emerging economy. The study provides answers to earlier scholarly inquiries that proposed examining the correlation among the constituents of the theorized framework.
... This aligns with research suggesting that environmental knowledge is a key factor that enhances consumer awareness, enabling them to understand the impact of human activities on the environment due to unchecked consumption [27]. Furthermore, conscious consumption is often influenced by the extent of a consumer's knowledge about the environmental consequences of their consumption choices [7,[63][64][65]. ...
... Second, concerning intrinsic factors, the findings indicate that factors motivating Ecuadorian and Peruvian college millennials to consume organic products include health, habits, environmental awareness, and environmental knowledge. These findings are consistent with other researchers', who found that consumers purchase these products for health reasons [6,38,55,57], habits [6,56], awareness [19,[60][61][62], and knowledge [27,[63][64][65]. Additional research supports the other two intrinsic factors (attitudes and values), indicating that attitude is a significant predictor influencing organic purchasing behavior [7,17,36,42,46] and that consumer values increase the willingness to buy organic products [43,71,72]. ...
Article
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Citation: Ortiz-Regalado, O.; Llamo-Burga, M.; Carrión-Bósquez, N.; Chávez-Gutiérrez, H.; Guerra-Regalado, W.; Veas-González, I.; Ruiz-García, W.; Vidal-Silva, C.
... This aligns with research suggesting that environmental knowledge is a key factor that enhances consumer awareness, enabling them to understand the impact of human activities on the environment due to unchecked consumption [27]. Furthermore, conscious consumption is often influenced by the extent of a consumer's knowledge about the environmental consequences of their consumption choices [7,[63][64][65]. ...
... Second, concerning intrinsic factors, the findings indicate that factors motivating Ecuadorian and Peruvian college millennials to consume organic products include health, habits, environmental awareness, and environmental knowledge. These findings are consistent with other researchers', who found that consumers purchase these products for health reasons [6,38,55,57], habits [6,56], awareness [19,[60][61][62], and knowledge [27,[63][64][65]. Additional research supports the other two intrinsic factors (attitudes and values), indicating that attitude is a significant predictor influencing organic purchasing behavior [7,17,36,42,46] and that consumer values increase the willingness to buy organic products [43,71,72]. ...
Article
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In today’s society, the consumption of organic products presents both significant benefits and potential barriers, as evidenced by the intrinsic and extrinsic factors shaping consumer behavior among university-aged millennials. This study explores the motivators influencing consumer behavior toward organic product purchases and identifies barriers that may inhibit university-aged millennials from engaging in such consumption practices. Utilizing a qualitative research approach, data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with thirty-eight university students in Ecuador and Peru. The analysis employed Grounded Theory methods. The findings of this research indicate that intrinsic factors, including environmental awareness, eco-consciousness, habitual tendencies, health considerations, and personal values, in conjunction with extrinsic factors, such as familial and social influences and concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, are significant drivers of the adoption of organic goods. Conversely, challenges related to product availability, cost implications, and prevalent skepticism occasionally hinder the acquisition of these products. An innovative aspect of this study lies in its pioneering use of Grounded Theory in Ecuador and Peru. It sheds light on millennials’ perceptions of organic products and elucidates the factors influencing their purchasing decisions in the organic market.
... People need, thus, to recognize that differentiation, based on their environmental knowledge, is considered an ongoing process. This latter, despite its importance, is unable alone to guide consumers toward environmentally conscious choices especially since the relationship between green knowledge and green purchase is yet to be validated" [12] especially in the Tunisian context. In this sense of idea, [7] highlight that environmental concern in developing countries is "relatively low and consumers in these countries generally have less positive attitudes, intentions, and behaviors toward green products". ...
... This willingness is rooted in the belief that the product possesses credibility, benevolence, and the ability to perform well in terms of environmental impact. Eco-labels, transparent means of conveying information about environmentally less damaging products, have been linked to green trust in studies carried out by [12] serving as a reliable source for consumers to evaluate the environmental impact of products. ...
Conference Paper
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In an era where environmental concerns are on the rise, and societal awareness of humanity's impact on the Earth and its ecosystems is growing, this study aims to address a pivotal question: what are the mediating factors that play a significant role in the relationship between environmental knowledge and intention to purchase eco-friendly products in the Tunisian context? Employing a quantitative approach by surveying 218 respondents, the research utilizes SPSS for scale purification and AMOS for structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings underscore the significant influence of environmental knowledge, attitude towards green products, social impact, and green trust on consumers' intentions to purchase green products in Tunisia. Consequently, these insights guide marketers, policymakers, and businesses seeking to promote sustainable consumption practices in Tunisia.
... Trust in the green attributes of products induces a lower perceived risk, removes barriers to purchasing these products, and increases consumer brand loyalty, equity, or attachment [33]. Hameed and Warris (2018) [35] argue that eco-labels that provide information about green products increase green brand trust and, in turn, lead to more environmentally conscious behaviors. Consumer trust affects purchasing behaviors which makes trust an invaluable commodity for green brands. ...
... This second intervention strategy refers to the positive promotion of renewed trustworthiness through behaviors that actively demonstrate the commitment and integrity of the company. This intervention includes participating in green economic forums, climate summits, and social responsibility ratings that demonstrate a commitment to protect public welfare and support the building of green communities [35,60,61]. Hence, intervention is distinct from distrust regulation since it focuses on both symbolic and actual displays of positive trustworthiness, rather than on negative behaviors related to the cause of the failure [21,49]. ...
Article
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Greenwashing leads to consumer skepticism of all green products as well as doubts about company claims regarding sustainability. However, the understanding of how to regain green consumer trust after greenwashing is rather limited. The authors fill this gap by exploring the psychological process of green consumers following intervention strategies designed to reduce greenwashing. We collect and interpret quantitative data from two psychological experiments, the first experiment identified two types of intervention strategies that serve to counter the negative impact of greenwashing and based on our findings from the first studies, we proposed and tested the moderating effect of two factors—implicit beliefs of consumers and companies who implement intervention strategies after greenwashing. The results indicate that distrust regulation (quantifying a product’s green attributes) and trustworthiness demonstration (visualizing environmental behaviors) are effective intervention strategies that can enable consumers to re-evaluate the cost-benefit of green products, and which may serve as critical psychological factors for green consumers and contribute to the degree of trust. Validation and comparative study of the derived results show that distrust regulation, followed by trustworthiness demonstration, has the best effect on increasing green trust after intervention. If the sequence is reversed, the effect of the intervention strategy is worse than if only one strategy had been applied. The implicit beliefs of green consumers play a moderating role between intervention strategies and reconsideration of the cost-benefit of green products. The behavior of genuinely green companies and the incremental beliefs of consumers can promote the intervention effect after greenwashing. Alternatively, the behavior of greenwashing companies can easily counter these effects. These findings contribute to knowledge about which psychological factors can promote or hinder the effectiveness of an intervention.
... Green trust favorably affects the green claims (Hameed et al., 2018). The consumers' failure to develop an accurate understanding of the product's ecological features creates confusion. ...
... It has been identified that consumers' trust level in a product can be influenced by green perceived risk (Rahardjo, 2015). Green Trust (GT) of the consumer in connection to the environment means the reliability, trustworthiness and standard performance of the product (Hameed & Waris, 2018). Consumers would not trust the product or brand if they feel that there is a risk involved in using it. ...
Article
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Brand love is the ultimate commitment level of customers for a brand. The love for a brand developed through concerted efforts by the marketers. Attaining customer brand love increases market share and ensures business sustainability. This study assesses the antecedents and consequences of brand love in developing markets. Neo-luxury brands are highly purchased brands in Pakistan. Therefore, the study evaluated customers’behavioral loyalties toward Neo-luxury brands. A total of 315 valid questionnaires on neo-luxury brands were collected from a representative sample of Millennials. . The data were analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM) using SmartPLS software. The study results revealed that brand love could regulate the relationship of neo-luxury brands between the dimensions of brand image, purchase intention, word-of-mouth, brand loyalty, and brand commitment. The study also found that Mystery, Sensuality, and Intimacy impact brand love. The study contributes to neo luxury brands in relationship with brand love. This research results give valuable information for brand managers to consider when building brand love strategies and applying them in marketing activities. It provides marketers insights into building brand love and increasing market share.
... Green trust favorably affects the green claims (Hameed et al., 2018). The consumers' failure to develop an accurate understanding of the product's ecological features creates confusion. ...
... It has been identified that consumers' trust level in a product can be influenced by green perceived risk (Rahardjo, 2015). Green Trust (GT) of the consumer in connection to the environment means the reliability, trustworthiness and standard performance of the product (Hameed & Waris, 2018). Consumers would not trust the product or brand if they feel that there is a risk involved in using it. ...
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The usage of green products has increased dramatically in the recent decade. The compelling reason behind this behavioral change is the consumer understanding of climate change and its negative impact on the planet. However, firms’ engagement in greenwashing is causing a detrimental impact on this green cause, and it is leading customers to disbelieve the environmental claims of the firms. This study investigates the impact of firms’ greenwashing practices on consumer green trust and green brand attachment. Moreover, it examines the intermediation factors of green perceived risk, green perceived value, green confusion, and green brand image. This study follows a quantitative research design and deductive approach. Data was collected from the home appliances consumers through an online and in-person survey questionnaire. Respondents were contacted by using the non-probability sampling technique and a sample of 330 valid responses was used to analyze the data. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to test the reliability of the variables and Structural Equation Modeling to test the nine hypotheses that were proposed in this study. The findings suggest that Greenwashing negatively affects Green Perceived Value (GPV) and GPV positively affects Green Trust (GT). GT showed a positive impact on Green Brand Attachment (GBA). Hence, it is proved that greenwashing may reduce the trust and Brand Attachment of the consumers with the green product. Greenwashing has a positive impact on Green Confusion and a negative impact on Green Brand Image. These findings augment the existing knowledge on the relationship between greenwashing and green brand attachment. It is suggested that if organizations want to increase consumers` green trust and green brand attachment, they must refrain from greenwashing. Green brand trust is a significant driver of the relationship-building process and organizations should strive to build it by furnishing real green values to the consumers, thus it will result in increasing the market share of the companies.
... Sustainability-focused brands should not only increase visibility but also reinforce their messaging with evidence-based narratives on environmental impact, efficiency, and ethical responsibility. This finding echoes the work by Hameed and Waris [127], who argue that eco-conscious consumers seek transparency, data, and substantiated claims. Visual branding must be supported by educational storytelling and transparent disclosures, such as lifecycle analyses, carbon footprint metrics, and third-party certifications, to effectively shape perceptions and drive behavior. ...
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Generation Z is emerging as a powerful force in shaping global consumer behavior, particularly in the market of digital and technological products. This study examines how specific branding dimensions, such as online brand experience, engagement, image, trust, loyalty, awareness, behavioral intention, and brand knowledge, influence Gen Z’s purchase intention, emphasizing sustainable consumption. Sustainable consumption, in this context, refers to the preference for tech products that minimize the environmental impact through eco-friendly design, energy efficiency, and responsible sourcing. Using a quantitative approach, this cross-sectional research explores the effects of online brand experience, engagement, image, trust, loyalty, awareness, behavioral intention, and knowledge on purchasing newly launched technological products that align with sustainability. Data were collected from a Gen Z sample using a combination of convenience and systematic sampling, and multiple regression analysis identified the most significant predictors of purchase intention. The results indicate that online brand experience, brand image, brand trust, and brand loyalty play the most crucial roles, having a greater effects on Gen Z’s purchase intention, while brand awareness and knowledge also contribute. However, brand engagement and behavioral intention have weaker effects. These findings suggest that brands targeting Gen Z should prioritize building a strong, trustworthy, and engaging online presence while highlighting their sustainability efforts, and when Gen Z consumers have favorable digital interactions with a brand, perceive its image positively, trust it, and feel loyal to it, they are more likely to consider purchasing its sustainable offerings. This study enhances the understanding of Gen Z’s consumer behavior and offers insights for businesses seeking to foster sustainable consumption by highlighting the importance of developing marketing strategies that strengthen online brand experience, cultivate trust and loyalty, and clearly communicate sustainability values, such as through engaging digital content, transparent messaging, and eco-conscious branding, to effectively foster sustainable consumption among this environmentally conscious and digitally driven generation.
... Brands can take inspiration from other brands such as Apple and DHL, which have openly shared their sustainability roadmaps, demonstrating a commitment to sustainability and social responsibility (Apple Inc., 2020;DHL Group, 2021). As consumers become increasingly vigilant about sustainability claims, brands must anticipate greater scrutiny (Chen and Chang, 2013;Hameed and Waris, 2018). This study reveals that when greenwashing is perceived as less severe, consumers are more forgiving and tend to evaluate the brand more positively. ...
Article
Purpose Amidst growing concerns about environmental sustainability, brands face the challenge of upholding authenticity in their green marketing efforts. While existing research primarily focuses on understanding and preventing greenwashing, there is a critical need to explore its consequences and mitigation strategies. This study aims to investigate the effects of greenwashing across varying levels of severity on consumer forgiveness and brand attitude, with growth beliefs and apology sincerity serving as moderators. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted a between-subjects online experiment in two phases: Phase 1 examined the effects of greenwashing severity on brand attitude, mediated by consumer forgiveness and moderated by their growth beliefs, whereas Phase 2 tested the moderating role of apology sincerity. Findings This study identifies different types of greenwashing and reveals that higher perceived severity of active greenwashing worsens brand attitude through reduced consumer forgiveness. However, consumers with stronger growth beliefs show greater forgiveness, moderating the negative impact of greenwashing severity. Crucially, a sincere apology effectively mitigates the detrimental effects of greenwashing severity on brand attitude. Research limitations/implications This study offers actionable insights for brand managers, highlighting that fostering growth beliefs and offering sincere apologies can mitigate the negative impacts of greenwashing. Originality/value This study advances the greenwashing literature by highlighting the negative consequences of greenwashing on consumer forgiveness and brand attitude, and underscoring the role of growth beliefs and apology sincerity as effective mitigation strategies.
... Environmental concern was found to be a significant factor that influence consumer buying behaviour in this study with the OLS regression analysis, environmental concern was found to be significant. This is in support of the findings of Ogiemwonyi, et al. (2023), Hyder andAmir, (2023), Iqbal, et al. (2023) and, Hammed and Warris, (2018). They opined that environmental concerns have a positive significant relationship with consumer buying behaviour. ...
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Consumer attitude to purchasing green packaged products usually varies from one country to the other, despite the importance of green packaging. In order to further situate the role of green packaging in consumer buying behaviour in this era of sustainable development, this study investigates the linkage between green packaging, consumer attitude and consumer buying behaviour in developing countries, using Nigeria as a case in point. Survey research design was adopted with the aid of a structured questionnaire to collect data, out of which 360 valid responses were analysed using Jamovi Advanced Mediation Models (JAMM). Results revealed that the estimate of the independent variables i.e., environmental concern, ecolabelling and packaging material are-0.442, 0.789, and 0.275 respectively. The prediction model shows that ecolabelling, environmental concern and packaging material influence consumer buying behaviour, having their p values to be <0.001 and their t values greater than 1.96. While ecolabelling and packaging material have positive significant relationship, environmental concern has a negative significant relationship. This implies that environmental concern has no significant effect on consumer buying behaviour, although consumers take note of the packaging material and labels on the products in making their buying decisions. This study concludes that, although consumers currently lack environmental awareness, manufacturing firms should consider the impact of their activities on the environment, and prevent deliberate harm to the ecosystem. Firms can further improve on their packaging materials by making using of biodegradable packaging materials with ecolabels as it causes less harm to the environment and mitigates the consequences of environmental degradation.
... Eco-consciousness deeply impacts consumer behaviour, whether through direct purchase decisions, social media interactions, or lifestyle changes (Mishal et al. 2017). Broadly defined, eco-consciousness reflects an individual's awareness of and concern for environmental issues, which often translates into sustainable and environmentally responsible behaviours (Hameed and Waris 2018;Mishal et al. 2017). The concept draws on theories from environmental psychology, where eco-conscious individuals are described as having a high level of environmental concern, which in turn influences their consumer choices toward products and experiences that minimize environmental impact (Drosinou et al. 2023). ...
... The effects of climate change will be more severe for a developing country like Pakistan as it is the sixth-largest growing population , and the twelfth most vulnerable country in the world (Mohsin et al., 2019). Further, Pakistan tops the list of climate risks by country (Hameed and Waris, 2018;Shafique et al., 2016). For these reasons, it is very crucial to analyse the households e-wastes recycling intention in a highly vulnerable country. ...
... Second, regarding intrinsic factors, the findings determined that factors that motivate Ecuadorian and Peruvian university student millennials to consume organic products are health, habits, environmental awareness, and environmental knowledge. These findings are consistent with other researchers who determined that consumers purchase this type of products for health (Andrade & Ayaviri, 2018;García & Rondón, 2022;Petrescu et al., 2017;Wang et al., 2019), for habits (Bedard & Tormie, 2018;García & Rondón, 2022), for awareness (Aliman & Astina, 2019;Carducci et al., 2021;Hansman et al., 2020;Yuriev et al., 2020), and for knowledge (Ghazali et al., 2017;Gravelines et al., 2022;Hameed et al., 2018;Panopoulos et al., 2023;Song et al., 2019;Sun et al., 2019). Additional research supports the other two intrinsic factors (attitudes and values), sustaining that some authors determined that attitude is one of the predictors that most influences organic purchasing behaviour (Amalia et al., 2020;Carrión & Arias, 2022;Carrión et al., 2024;Hoyos et al., 2023;Kaur et al, 2023;Nguyen et al., 2019;Rodríguez et al., 2020;Taufique & Vaithiniathan, 2018), and that consumer values increase the willingness to buy organic products (Murali et al., 2019;Roh et al., 2022;Swetarupa et al., 2022;Woo & Gug, 2019). ...
Article
This paper identifies the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence consumers to purchase organic products, and also determines the barriers that sometimes prevent university student millennials from purchasing this type of product. The research had a qualitative approach and the information was collected through semi-structured interviews, thirty two university student millennials from Ecua-dor and Peru participated in the study and the data was coded using the Grounded Theory. The findings determined that intrinsic factors (environmen-tal knowledge, environmental awareness, habits, health and values) and extrinsic factors (family influence , social influence, fear of COVID-19 infection), are the main factors that motivate the consumption of organic products. The study also determined that factors such as availability, price, and skepticism are occasional barriers to the purchase of this type of product. Regarding the originality value, the main contributions of this study are to be one of the first studies in Ecuador and Peru using the Grounded Theory to determine the conceptualisation that millennials have about organic products, as well as learning the influential factors and the existing bar-Resumen Este artículo identifica los factores intrínsecos y extrínsecos que influyen en los consumidores para adquirir productos orgánicos, además determina las barreras que en ocasiones impiden que los millen-nials universitarios adquieran este tipo de produc-tos. La investigación tuvo un enfoque cualitativo y la información fue recolectada por medio de entre-vistas semiestructuradas; treinta y dos millennials universitarios de Ecuador y Perú participaron en el estudio y los datos fueron codificados utilizando la teoría fundamentada. Los hallazgos determinaron que los factores intrínsecos (conocimiento ambien-tal, conciencia ambiental, hábitos, salud y valores) y extrínsecos (influencia familiar, influencia social, miedo al contagio de COVID-19), son los principa-les factores que motivan el consumo de productos orgánicos. El estudio también determinó que fac-tores como la disponibilidad, el precio y el escep-ticismo son barreras ocasionales para la compra de este tipo de productos. En cuanto al valor de origi-nalidad, los principales aportes de este estudio son convertirse en una de las primeras investigaciones en Ecuador y Perú que utilizó la teoría fundamen-tada para determinar la conceptualización que tie
... Strategic green marketing practices, including eco-friendly product development, green branding, and sustainability-driven market positioning, have been shown to positively influence a firm's financial performance. Research by Hameed and Waris, (2018) highlights the significance of internal green marketing in shaping an eco-conscious organizational culture. Fostering green values among employees and promoting sustainability within the workplace can lead to improved sustainable performance. ...
Article
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In recent years, the hotel industry had faced increasing scrutiny over its environmental impact, prompting customers to seek eco-friendly accommodation options. This research aimed to assess the influence of green marketing and hotel environmental performance within Equatorial Guinea capital of Malabo. Guided by the natural resource base view theory, this study employed a quantitative approach and an explanatory design. The target population included all 197 hotels in Equatorial Guinea capital of Malabo, with a sample size of 132 hotels selected through simple random sampling. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 26.0 to conduct descriptive, correlational, and multiple regression. This research was significant as it contributed to understanding the link between green marketing orientation and sustainable performance in the hospitality industry. It provided insights for academics and industry stakeholders and informed policymakers about the need for environmentally focused policies. Given the rising importance of green marketing, the findings could guide decision-makers in promoting sustainability within the hotel sector.
... Encouragingly, ecolabels backed by independent, robust certification schemes that consumers trust have the potential to rebuild consumer trust in sustainable messaging [9,53]. Ecolabels endorsed by organisations consumers trust have greater effectiveness than those without [9,20,37]. Evidence indicates consumers trust environmental organisations and independent bodies ahead of government initiatives, while industry-led labels are least trusted [38,54]. ...
Article
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A gap exists between consumer adoption of sustainable purchasing habits and the behavioural changes required to significantly decrease planetary environmental impact. Current ecolabels do not enable purchasing based on environmental impact, and an effective labelling scheme is required to change purchasing priorities. Using focus groups, ecolabels with components varying in the depth of environmental information conveyed, visual features employed, as well as product comparability and scalability of design, were evaluated by consumers with differing levels of environmental awareness. Independent, credible information accessible to consumers of varying environmental awareness was a participant priority. In-depth data communicated through a bar or pie chart with an interpretable holistic message across all environmental factors was preferred. Colour-coded components offering product comparisons and scalable to the size of the packaging, product value, and lifetime were most likely to empower environmentally motivated purchasing. Insights can inform the development of an effective ecolabelling scheme that equips consumers to adopt more sustainable purchasing habits.
... Second, regarding intrinsic factors, the findings determined that factors that motivate Ecuadorian and Peruvian university student millennials to consume organic products are health, habits, environmental awareness, and environmental knowledge. These findings are consistent with other researchers who determined that consumers purchase this type of products for health (Andrade & Ayaviri, 2018;García & Rondón, 2022;Petrescu et al., 2017;Wang et al., 2019), for habits (Bedard & Tormie, 2018;García & Rondón, 2022), for awareness (Aliman & Astina, 2019;Carducci et al., 2021;Hansman et al., 2020;Yuriev et al., 2020), and for knowledge (Ghazali et al., 2017;Gravelines et al., 2022;Hameed et al., 2018;Panopoulos et al., 2023;Song et al., 2019;Sun et al., 2019). Additional research supports the other two intrinsic factors (attitudes and values), sustaining that some authors determined that attitude is one of the predictors that most influences organic purchasing behaviour (Amalia et al., 2020;Carrión & Arias, 2022;Carrión et al., 2024;Hoyos et al., 2023;Kaur et al, 2023;Nguyen et al., 2019;Rodríguez et al., 2020;Taufique & Vaithiniathan, 2018), and that consumer values increase the willingness to buy organic products (Murali et al., 2019;Roh et al., 2022;Swetarupa et al., 2022;Woo & Gug, 2019). ...
Article
Full-text available
This paper identifies the intrinsic and extrinsic fac-tors that influence consumers to purchase organic products, and also determines the barriers that sometimes prevent university student millennials from purchasing this type of product. The research had a qualitative approach and the information was collected through semi-structured interviews, thir-ty-two university student millennials from Ecua-dor and Peru participated in the study and the data was coded using the Grounded Theory. The find-ings determined that intrinsic factors (environmen-tal knowledge, environmental awareness, habits, health and values) and extrinsic factors (family influ-ence, social influence, fear of COVID-19 infection), are the main factors that motivate the consumption of organic products. The study also determined that factors such as availability, price, and skepticism are occasional barriers to the purchase of this type of product. Regarding the originality value, the main contributions of this study are to be one of the first studies in Ecuador and Peru using the Grounded Theory to determine the conceptualisation that millennials have about organic products, as well as learning the influential factors and the existing barriers in the purchase behaviour of organic products in Ecuador and Peru.
... Thus, it is very important for businesses to be trustworthy in the eyes of consumers. This research is supported by (Hameed & Waris, 2018;Irfany et al., 2023) which state that eco label significantly influences halal green perception. ...
Article
Full-text available
The growth of the cosmetics industry in the world has increased rapidly in recent decades. Cosmetics manufacturers face intense competitive pressure, both from halal cosmetics products and regular cosmetics products. The existence of this intense competition requires companies to be responsive to consumer needs, so companies must ensure that their product offerings are aligned with consumer demand, to encourage consumer adoption. As explanatory quantitative research, the purpose of this research is to figure out the characteristics of muslim women Generasion Z and determine the effect of Religiosity, Halal Label, Eco Label and Halal Green Perception on Customer Loyalty, both directly and indirectly. The object of this research is a Muslim women Generation Z who uses halal green cosmetics in Malang City with a total sampel of 200 respondents.The technique of collecting data using a closed questionnaire and analyzed with SmartPLS 3.0. As a result, religiosity has no significantly influence on customer loyalty, but Halal Label and Eco Label significantly affect customer loyalty. Furthermore, religiosity, halal label and eco label have a directly positive impact on halal green perceptions. It is worth noting that Halal Green Perception also indirectly plays a role by mediating between religiosity, halal label and eco label on customer loyalty. Although religiosity does not play a direct role in influencing Customer Loyalty, it does not mean that these products cannot attract Generation Z's interest. It should be noted that although the level of Religiosity of Generation Z varies, this generation can still choose halal green cosmetics based on considerations of product quality assurance such as halal label and eco label.
... We know from research that perceived environmental selfeffi cacy is related to people's environmental concern (Clayton et al., 2017), as well as that preconceptions influence the generation of positive emotions (Ibanez & Roussel, 2021). The level of environmental concern also has a strong direct influence on the intention to behave in an environmentally conscious manner (Hameed & Waris, 2018;Mainieri et al., 1997;Poortinga et al., 2004). Similar personal characteristics such as closeness to nature also determine how environmen tally friendly people act (Nisbet et al., 2009). ...
Article
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Social media influencers have become increasingly important in persuading people to become environmentally sensitive. As “greenfluencers” have been studied primarily in the context of advertising, it is crucial to investigate the mechanisms and effects of their non-product–related environmental messages. In two studies, we tested different message frames, a well-known persuasion strategy, in the context of Instagram reels (short audiovisual videos), where user-added background music is a prominent feature. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects online experiment ( N = 240), we manipulated the message frame (gain vs. loss) and the background music (positive vs. negative emotional valence) and found that loss frames reduced behavioral intention via negative emotions. A second 2 × 2 between-subjects online experiment ( N = 207) replicated these findings with an older sample and provided additional evidence that gain frames should be used in environmental communication. Contrary to our assumptions, we found no effect of the emotional valence of music in either study.
... This finding was in line with Hameed and Waris (2018). These findings confirm that buyers are resilient to eco-labels and are motivated by the value of goods contributing to green product buying. ...
Article
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Purpose: This research attempts to explore the determinants of eco-labeled product buying behavior by extending the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Theoretical framework: To build a comprehensive predicting model, environmental knowledge, perceived value, environmental concern, product knowledge, self-efficacy, consumer guilt, and eco-labeling are added to the traditional TPB. Method: The proposed conceptual model was tested by conducting a questionnaire survey on consumers in an emerging economy. The partial least square-based structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Results and conclusion: The results showed that product knowledge moderates the relationship between subjective norms and eco-labeled product buying intention. The results also reveal that attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm mediate the association between environmental concern and eco-labeled product buying intention. In addition to TPB constructs, consumer guilt, eco-labeling, perceived value, self-efficacy, and environmental knowledge significantly affect buying intention. Originality/value: The current research addresses the research gap by empirically examining the in-depth effects, and the underlying mechanism of eco-label informed green purchase and its acceptance in Malaysian perspectives.
... 10-11). The high importance of ecolabels and ecocertificates on product packaging for consumer decisions was also confirmed by subsequent research (Kabaja et al., 2022;Panopoulos et al., 2023;Hameed, Waris, 2018). This is particularly noticeable in relation to food products, the labels of which influence the final decision to purchase them and are influenced by gender, age, eating habits and place of residence. ...
Article
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Objectives The research is intended to determine the preferences of Internet users regarding the purchase of different groups of organic products in traditional shops and online. The research also aims to verify whether consumers' demographic and social characteristics influence their decision to purchase these products. Material and methods To obtain research data, an online survey (diagnostic survey method) was conducted among 1,000 Polish Internet users over the age of 18. Statistical methods - Pearson's Chi square and M L test - were used to analyse the relationship between the respondent groups. Results The research showed that Internet users are more likely to purchase organic products in physical stores than online. Statistical analysis revealed relationships between consumer behaviour and their gender, age, education and income. Conclusions The research results in recommendations for business enterprises for preparing organic product offerings that consider the characteristics of the target group. For businesses, their importance is practical. It is advisable to continue research to verify the stability of Internet users' attitudes even after the Covid 19 pandemic is over and possibly to identify trends in purchasing decisions for different groups of organic products.
... Bickart & Ruth, 2012;Sun et al., 2021). Using eco-labels is a key aspect of the marketing approach taken by manufacturers in creating a corporate image of a company which truly contributes to environment protection(Shahrin et al., 2017;Hameed & Waris, 2018).There is a growing empirical evidence that using eco-labels influences consumers' purchasing intentions(Nguyen-Viet, 2022; Cai, Xie & Aguilar, 2017; Chi, 2021; De Canio, Martinelli & Endrighi, 2021; Song, Quin & Yuan, 2019; Feuß, Fischer-Kreer, Majer, Kemper & Brettel, 2022). For consumers, eco-labels comprise important informative role, representing an obvious sign to buy green products and giving them reliable guidance for evaluating similar products of different manufacturers (Suki, Suki & Azman, 2016; Shahrin et al., 2017; Song, Qin & Qin, 2020; Sun et al., 2021; Marini et al., 2021; Alamsyah, Othman, Bakri, Udjaja & Aryanto, 2021). ...
Article
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Due to increasing degradation of natural environment, the importance of environmentally responsible production and consumption, as well as green marketing and sustainable labeling has been growing. The aim of this research is to examine the influence of consumers' perception of green advertising and eco-labels on their intentions to purchase eco-labeled products. A research was carried out by using an online survey method on a convenient sample of 172 consumers in the Republic of Serbia. The results showed that, in spite of respondents reporting their environmental awareness and concern, respondents mostly did not consider the impact of their own purchasing habits on the environment. Obtained results showed the existence of a strong relationship between the respondents' pro-environmental behavior and their current purchase, green advertising receptivity, attitude towards green advertising, perception of eco-labels and purchasing intentions. Also, it was found that respondents who were more responsive to green advertising and had better attitudes towards green advertising were more likely to purchase products which are eco-labeled. On the other hand, respondents' perception of eco-labels did not strongly influence purchasing intentions towards eco-labeled products, which is a consequence of insufficient familiarity of respondents with environmental product labeling. These research findings have valuable implications for companies defining strategies to include environmental appeals in their marketing communication, as well as for public institutions in Serbia for the further planning of activities related to encouragement of environmentally friendly production and consumption.
... An aspect that is clearly of interest for a rhetorical study of green marketing is how ecolabels work as signs, and arguments. Ecolabels have been called "essential sources of information regarding products' features" (Hameed and Waris 2018). This is however somewhat misleading, as what is signified is often only indirectly about the product as such. ...
Chapter
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This chapter is the most extensive chapter in the book. It uses the presented framework of virtue critique to examine the role of environmental labels in green marketing and explore how green rhetoric is used in the marketing of clothes, as well as within the Energy Sector. Themes developed include standardized forms for sustainability communication, communicative efficacy, moral legitimacy, temporality, transparency, and the value of rhetorical spaces for prudent corporate communication on complex matters.
... Furthermore, pro-environmental behavior is associated with eco-certification programs [21,102]. General consumer research suggests that environmental knowledge, either general [83,85,103] or context-specific, such as eco-labeling [21,104], influences pro-environmental behavior. However, results obtained in [90] did not confirm the link between environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior but did confirm that other variables mediate this relationship. ...
Article
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Due to increasing concern about climate change and its impact on the tourism sector, it is vital to understand tourists’ decision-making process in relation to staying in green accommodations. Many factors influence tourists’ decision-making process; however, little research has been conducted on examining the antecedents of travel intention in relation to the hotel industry. Accordingly, the aim of the paper was to test the relationship among three antecedents of travel intention and tourists’ intention to stay in hotels with eco-labels. This was performed on a sample of tourists staying in hotels in Adriatic Croatia from July through August 2021. A self-complete questionnaire was used for data collection. Data processing included univariate statistics, multivariate analysis, and structural equation modeling. This research provided evidence that tourists’ eco-labeling perception and pro-environmental behavior influence their travel intention, that general environmental knowledge was positively related to tourists’ pro-environmental behavior and tourists’ eco-labeling perception, and that eco-labeling influences pro-environmental behavior. By examining indirect effects, it was determined that pro-environmental behavior mediates the relationship between environmental knowledge and travel intention and that eco-labeling perception mediates the relationship between environmental knowledge and travel intention and the relationship between environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior. The findings suggest that tourists’ pro-environmental behavior includes different consumer cost-effective behavior-related aspects.
... Growing consumption still implies an increase in absolute global emissions, as there is no observable regulation or other enforcement mechanisms requiring low-carbon or low-resource standards for the production or consumption of goods and services implemented on a large scale. Sustainability or ecological labels on food or household appliances provide limited incentives for less carbon-intensive consumption patterns (Hameed and Waris, 2018;Yokessa and Marette, 2019), while strong incentives to increase overall consumption remain. Accordingly, we conclude that it is plausible that sustainability and ecological labels foster consumption of new products (green consumerism), suggesting that the constraining conditions for low-carbon consumption patterns are likely to remain unaddressed and thus undermining systemic changes and shifts towards sustainable consumption patterns (cf. ...
Book
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The purpose of this second Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook is to systematically analyze and assess the plausibility of certain well-defined climate futures based on present knowledge of social drivers and physical processes. In particular, we assess the plausibility of those climate futures that are envisioned by the 2015 Paris Agreement, namely holding global warming to well below 2°C and, if possible, to 1.5°C, relative to pre-industrial levels (UNFCCC 2015, Article 2 paragraph 1a). The world will have to reach a state of deep decarbonization by 2050 to be compliant with the 1.5°C goal. We therefore work with a climate future scenario that combines emissions and temperature goals.
... Various researchers [15,[40][41][42] have recently proposed that environmentally conscious consumption is at least partially reliant on suitable knowledge gleaned from different origins such as advertising, packaging of products (eco-labelling), and different types of programs focused on raising environmental awareness. Moreover, if consumers perceive this information to be trustworthy, they become more reliant on it [43][44][45][46]. ...
Article
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The purpose of the study is to investigate how environmental concern, eco-labelling, influencers and user-generated content affect Generation Z’s green purchase intention. The objective of this study is to contribute with a new scope that combines influencers and user-generated content on digital platforms with environmental concern for Generation Z. The study also aims to add new value in predicting Generation Z’s green purchase intention and results that can be implemented in future marketing strategies. To test the framework, a quantitative research approach, with an online survey, was applied to collect data from Generation Z. The sample size consisted of 393 individuals from Generation Z. Structural Equation Modelling was applied to test the hypothesized framework. All hypotheses were accepted, and hence, this research has identified key variables to predict Generation Z’s green purchase intention. Additionally, this paper found that environmental concern has a significant positive impact on Generation Z’s user-generated content and eco-labelling, and influencers positively affect Generation Z’s user-generated content. This study can aid companies that employ an influencer marketing approach to comprehend how they can motivate customers to buy sustainable products more frequently. This study provides crucial and valuable insights into further understanding how the sustainable consumption behavior of Generation Z can be impacted by the utilization of influencer marketing and their concern for the environment. It also provides a deeper understanding of how influencers and their perceived concerns for the environment can be combined with user-generated content and eco-labelling, as well as subsequent effects on the green purchase intention of members of Generation Z.
... Given the rapid growth of sustainable consumption (Hameed et al., 2019), and the dynamic consumer decision-making process (Popescu & Ciurlău, 2019), it is imperative to identify the important personal and motivational factors affecting consumer behavior that may help promote the right behavior to achieve the sustainable consumption (Waris & Hameed, 2020a) and organic food targets by the policymakers, governments and marketing practitioners. Numerous studies have investigated consumer motivations to buy organic food (Aertsens et al., 2009;Hameed & Waris, 2018). However, this research has based itself on the Goal-Framing Theory (GFT; Lindenberg & Steg, 2007). ...
Article
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The household spending of Pakistani consumers on sustainable food consumption has continued to remain low. Hence, the present study used the goal-framing theory to explore the consumer’s motivational factors that derive sustainable consumption of organic food. Drawing on survey data of 488 respondents, the findings show that gain and hedonic motivations significantly affect purchase intentions; however, normative has an indirect role. In addition, the knowledge and perceived price significantly moderate the motivational factors. The study provides invaluable insights for policymakers and practitioners in identifying the motivational factors, and the means of guiding the right behaviors for sustainable consumption.
... For every second respondent, the measure of such reliability is a label confirming the award of an ecological certificate. Ecological labels are an important source of consumer trust as they inform consumers about ecological products and the role of these products, i.e., they are environmentally friendly, they are beneficial to health, they motivate the consumer to make purchases, and they shape their conscious awareness [40,74]. ...
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... Increased global demand for seafood has led to more production and technological developments in processing, handling and transport which, in turn, has translated into increased energy and water demands (Tlusty et al., 2019;Tyedmers, 2004). Recent consumer awareness of the link between climate change and energy use and the fragility of global water systems has resulted in demands for 'green' products and accounting systems that make choices more transparent (Hameed and Waris, 2018). Clearly, accounting and highlighting the energy and water consumption along the seafood supply chain will not only provide consumers the information with which to make informed decisions, but potentially help the industry to increase efficiencies along the value chain (Tlusty et al., 2019). ...
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This study examines the Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) of consumers and the determinants of eco-labeling for the organic cocoa powder produced in the Dong Nai UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (DNBR), Southern Vietnam. Eco-labels are designed according to Tiers of eco-labeling for biosphere reserves (BR) introduced by UNESCO include BR Destination (Tier 1), BR Quality Label (Tier 2), and Professional Certification Label (Tier 3). Questionnaires are delivered to 203 customers in the DNBR and nearby places, such as Dong Nai and HCMC. This study employs a hybrid approach using descriptive statistics, ANOVA test, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that gender and educational level have a positive effect on consumers' preferences. Customers are willing to pay more for cocoa powder with an eco-label than one with an organic label. Perceived food safety and product knowledge lower customers’ WTP, whereas agricultural environment and pricing concerns increase it. Tier 2 is suggested for labeling cocoa powder in the DNBR. The DNBR Management Board, together with the federal and provincial governments, should all follow a similar certification process. Increased eco-label awareness is crucial for the future of environmentally responsible shopping and responsible business practices.
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The Use of Eco-Friendly Products in Indonesia: A Survey on Consumers Motivation. The use of products labeled as environmentally friendly is now on the rise in Indonesia. The use of products labeled as environmentally friendly is now on the rise in Indonesia. However, while the increasing sales of environmentally friendly products happen, public awareness of environmental sustainability has not yet improved. This paper aims to determine the factors that influence the rise of a trend, namely the use of environmentally friendly products, which has recently been rife in Indonesia. Thus, this study begins the investigation by distributing a questionnaire that uses quantitative methods and a Likert scale in data collection, with results coming from 63 Indonesian from various backgrounds. From the data, it can be concluded that of the three variables used, which are Environmental Awareness, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), and Affordability, there is only one variable, FOMO that significantly influences the buyers’ motivation for eco-friendly products. Hence, FOMO should be considered an important aspect regarding marketing or campaign.
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To cash in on consumers’ willingness to pay higher prices for green products, several companies are promoting conventional products as green by highlighting a few green attributes. Through a theoretical lens, the authors investigate how consumers perceive such attempts. This research illustrates that not so green products make consumers sensitive to the monetary sacrifice associated with the purchase of such products. The current research shows that consumers have a negative attitude toward such products and they become concerned about the ethicality of the company when they encounter such products. Both implicit and explicit measures suggest that consumers notice the company's motive behind such practices which, in turn, impacts their price perceptions.
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This research compares consumer response to traditional green advertising appeals to that of less conventional, “green demarketing” (GD) appeals—messages by for-profit companies encouraging reduced category consumption for the sake of the environment. Rather than encouraging greener consumption, modern environmentalism calls for decreased consumption overall, a trend reflected in recent advertising campaigns (e.g., Patagonia's “Don't Buy This Jacket”). Despite its potential impact and unconventionality, research on GD in general is sparse, and no empirical research has examined consumer response to GD appeals relative to traditional green appeals. In three experiments, we find that, in the context of product advertising, consumers' attitudes for green ads are more favorable than those for GD ads, mediated by greater inferences of genuine environmental concern. However, we find the reverse pattern in the context of institutional ads. Further, an “anti-consumption amplifier” message embedded in the ad—espousing the potential harm of overconsumption—further boosts favorable consumer attitudes for the GD institutional ad relative to its traditional green counterpart. Importantly, we assess all effects while controlling for consumers' individual levels of green consumerism, such that implications may be applied more generally rather than to a specific segment of green consumers.
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For the circular economy to be tenable, consumers need to not only return products after use, but also purchase products that are remanufactured. However, research finds that consumers have a poor opinion of remanufactured products and are typically not prepared to adopt them. Thus, development of the circular economy is dependent upon deeper understanding of consumers’ attitudes and behaviors. Research typically considers either micro-level or macro-level factors when assessing consumer perceptions of remanufactured products. The current research incorporates macro-level factors of price, government incentives, and environmental benefits with the moderating influence of micro-level consumer attitudes to examine consumers’ intention to switch from purchasing new products to remanufactured products. The findings suggest that a consumer’s attitude toward remanufactured products is an important moderating factor predicting consumer switching behavior to remanufactured products.
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Advertisement through SMS is a commonly used medium in the era of technology. Companies are utilizing this medium of advertisement quite frequently. Rapid increase of the usage of mobile phones has developed an innovative way of utilizing this marketing tool. Due to the exponential growth in telecommunication industry after introduction of SMS and MMS, this study has been conducted to investigate the consumer attitude towards SMS advertisement and its relationship with behavior. Entertainment, irritation, product involvement and appeal were used in order to investigate the attitude of the consumer. A questionnaire was used to examine the relationships among variables of the study. Overall 350 usable responses were gathered. SEM was used to obtain the results of the overall model. Results of the study indicate that (1) product involvement, appeal and entertainment have a positive impact on attitude towards advertisement. Only irritation was found to be negatively insignificant. (2) Relationship between consumer attitude towards SMS advertising and attitude was positively significant. (3) Positive and direct relationship between attitude and consumer behavior was also found. (4) Permission appeared to be significant on consumer attitude towards mobile advertisement, which confirmed that prior permission is required to gain the positive response of the consumer. (5) Consumers are attracted by rewards therefore monetary benefits was also found to be a significant factor.
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Purpose The purpose of the study is to investigate how religiosity affects these relationships in Turkey where consumption is de-stigmatized among a new economic elite with strong ties to Islamism. The literature commonly associates religion and ideology with anti-capitalism and anti-consumption. Although consumer researchers have studied both topics, examination of whether materialistic values translate into status consumption and whether religiosity has an effect on the relationship between status consumption and consumer attitude to debt remains scant. Design/methodology/approach This paper investigates the relationship of materialism to status consumption and the mediating role of Islamic religiosity on the relationship between status consumption and attitude to debt. Structural equations modeling was used on a judgmental sample of 267. Findings The results showed that the materialistic values positively affect status consumption for the Islamists. This paper concludes that Islamic religiosity, not only does not reject consumption but also augments the relationship between status consumption and consumer attitude to debt. Originality/value The findings have shown that previous studies that identify Islam as a threat to consumerism have overseen the class struggles and the role of status consumption. This paper successfully provided empirical evidence that the religiosity not only does not reject consuming but intensifies the relationship between status consumption and attitude to debt for those with Islamist dispositions.
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The management of a firm's green operations is increasingly important for marketing strategists. The purpose of this study is to investigate the cross-influences of green marketing strategy and the key internal green functional areas in a firm. We use the antecedents of marketing strategy and identify relationships between green marketing strategy and key supporting internal environmental operations of firms with respect to (1) green suppliers, (2) environmental resource management, (3) green research and development, and (4) environmental manufacturing processes and procedures. The statistical techniques of parallel analysis, factor analysis and multiple regressions are used to analyze data collected from 332 firms. The results identify that among the four functional areas of firms adopting green marketing strategy. Two are more likely to influence green marketing strategy - supplier selection and research and development. Implications are discussed. The findings contribute to the theory of green marketing strategy. Future research is recommended.
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Consumers cannot verify green attributes directly and must rely on such signals as eco-labels to authenticate claims. Using signaling theory, this study explored which aspects of eco-label design yield more positive effects. The study uses a 2 (argument specificity: specific versus general) x 2 (label source: government versus corporate) x 2 (product involvement: low versus high) experimental design (n = 233). Specific arguments consistently yield greater eco-label trust and positive attitudes toward the product and label source, but only with low-involvement products is source important, with corporate labels yielding more positive attitudes. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and managerial implications.
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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of religious values (RGV) on green purchase intention (GPI) among middle-class Muslims in Malaysia. The demand for environmentally green products is growing to facilitate the changing consumption pattern due to the substantial interest in ethical consumerism. Despite the potential impact of RGV on ethical consumption, it is difficult to find studies that embark on linking RGV towards this type of consumption, especially in a developing Muslim country such as Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire survey that was distributed using the purposive sampling method. The final useful sample consists of 140 middle-class Muslim participants. The partial least squares (PLS) structural equation was used to develop the model showing the relationship between RGV and intention to purchase green products for middle-class Muslims in Malaysia. Findings – The results suggest that there is an indirect association between RGV towards attitude and GPI. RGV directly influence natural environmental orientation and environmental concern. In turn, consumer attitude towards green purchase directly affects the respondents’ GPI via the mediator role of nature orientation, green concern and knowledge. The results, besides indicating the suitability of the PLS in statistical analysis, also contribute to a better understanding of how RGV influence GPI among the Muslim middle class. Research limitations/implications – The model developed is specific to the Muslim population in Malaysia. Therefore, the model might only be able to be generalized to nations that have a similar culture to the Muslims in Malaysia or Muslim middle class in other developing countries. Practical implications – RGV are important in influencing green consumption behaviour. The environmental problem cannot just be solved with knowledge and technology but must be backed with moral and ethical imperatives. The ethical awareness and consciousness, backed up by legislation and prohibition, can encourage green behaviour not only from the individuals but also at the social group level. The enforcement of the law and the government play an important role in the implementation of green policies for the protection and conservation of mother Earth. Originality/value – This paper confirmed that behaviour is influenced by individual-level attributes, as well as by the conditions under which people live.
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Purpose At present, environmental issues attract the attention of academics and professionals around the world. In the hospitality industry, this interest is even greater because of the considerable quantities of water and energy consumed by hotel companies, and because of the environmental degradation that this industry can cause with unmanaged growth and development. For this reason, several authors have proposed incorporating the green loyalty construct as a key variable in tourism theory and practice. This study proposes a hierarchy of effects model to study three antecedents of green loyalty ‒ green trust, green satisfaction and green overall image ‒ and to examine the relationships between these variables. Design/methodology/approach To test the proposed model empirically, personal surveys of hotel customers were conducted in Spain using a structured questionnaire. A structural equations model was developed to test the research hypothesis. Findings The findings show that green overall image has positive direct effects on green trust, green satisfaction and green loyalty. At the same time, they reveal that both green trust and green satisfaction have positive effects on green loyalty. In addition, green trust has a positive influence on green satisfaction. Research limitations/implications This research deals with the relationship between the variables of interest, without considering other antecedents and consequences. Thus, there is still a need to explore other mediating variables (e.g., willingness to pay more to stay in a green room, or commitment regarding environmental issues), since the explanatory power of our model could still be improved. In addition, given the role of green trust and green satisfaction as mediating variables of green overall image and green loyalty, this study recognizes the need for in-depth research into the enhancement of green trust and green satisfaction. Practical implications From a practical point of view, hoteliers and marketers working for a green hotel should develop a positive green overall image and enhance customers’ perceptions of green trust and green satisfaction. In particular, they should emphasize the importance of environmental issues to customers by promoting green campaigns. At the same time, hoteliers in a green context should create effective strategies to improve their hotel’s image. Originality/value Although existing research has investigated relevant aspects of customer trust, satisfaction, overall image and loyalty, these issues have not been discussed from a green marketing perspective. Apart from that, the main contribution of this paper is its exploration of the influence of green trust, green satisfaction and green overall image on green loyalty in a hospitality setting, following the framework of the hierarchy of effects model. By complementing previous studies on customer loyalty in the environmental context and exploring the relationships among these constructs, this study offers an assessment of how green marketing strategies in the hospitality industry increase green loyalty.
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This empirical article contributes to the sustainable development debate by examining consumer responses to carbon labels within a real world context. Given the limitations of methodologies that use self-reported or intended measures of purchasing behaviour, we use the loyalty card data of the largest supermarket retailer in the UK to measure the impact of carbon labels on sales by different consumer segments. The data show that the trial of carbon labels on supermarket own brand products has had no discernible impact on shifting demand to lower carbon products. In order to explore possible reasons for lack of impact, nine focus groups were held using purposive sampling by retailer consumer segments to allow an exploration of awareness, understanding and use of carbon labels. The findings from the focus groups identified possible reasons for this lack of impact: lack of awareness and understanding of carbon labelling; constraining or facilitating social and cultural influences; and the heterogeneous nature of consumers. As a result, a number of implications for stakeholders are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
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This paper presents a critique of the multi-attribute models of Fishbein and Ajzen and the social–psychological model of altruistic behaviour proposed by Schwartz. The purpose is to understand better the capacity of these theories of behavioural response to predict and explain observed consumer behaviour. The authors argue that the evaluation of such models cannot proceed in abstract contexts. The development, implementation and maintenance of a kerbside recycling programme by the Cotswold District Council in the UK provided an opportunity to examine the cognition–behaviour links proposed by these theories. Unlike mostother tests of these models, the authors’ research employs independent measures of behaviour as well as behavioural intention and other alleged cognitive precursors of behaviour. The results indicate that cognitive variables, notably intention, fail topredict actual behaviour and that a more elaborate integrated model of recycling is required in order to accomplish this. The research suggests that, at least in the context in which the investigation was undertaken, the intention–behaviour hypothesis, which lies at the heart of so much psychological and marketing theorizing, must be abandoned.
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This chapter summarizes the history, drivers, advances, and challenges leading to the "greening" of consumer cleaning products. It addresses the common attributes of environmentally preferable cleaning products and the functional chemical class utilized in the formulation of these products. Major eco-labeling programs help consumer product manufacturers communicate the environmental and safety benefits of their products and are an important piece of companies' stewardship or sustainability initiatives. The eco-labeling and green-cleaning criteria based on verifiable, data-driven claims allowed companies to provide consumers with purchasing confidence when choosing a more sustainable cleaning products. Common cleaning products ingredients of a cleaning formulation include surfactants, solvents, builders, thickening agents, preservatives, colorants or dyes, and fragrances. Developing new methods and processes to evaluate materials and products, improving communication between industry segments, educating a new generation of green-focused scientists and engineers, and embracing life-cycle views will all push the envelope toward a truly green, sustainable future.
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Purpose This study aims to focus on people’s pro-environmental behavior and investigates its dimensions and determinants. As environmental sustainability attracts increased scrutiny, understanding end consumers’ pro-environmental behavior becomes imperative for various stakeholders in our highly networked marketplace – e.g. policymakers, businesses, consumers, the public and society at large. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the general public in the USA, the hypothesized relationships are tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings The results indicate that if people find enjoyment in nature, believe in achieving a balance between “mankind” and nature, and believe that the benefits of conservation activities are going to accrue in the near term (present), they are more likely to engage in pro-environmental behavior at all levels – supportive, active and lifestyle. Research limitations/implications Although only one aspect of environmental sustainability – environmental conservation – is analyzed, these findings support assertions set forth in the theory of environmentally significant behavior (Stern, 1999), the norm-activation theory of altruism (Schwartz, 1973), the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein, 1979) and the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985). Practical implications Messages about sustainability, environmental conservation and pro-environmental behavior should be framed using people’s fondness for and enjoyment of nature; should focus on present benefits of conservation; and should be targeted and differentiated for men, women and older people to encourage conservation behaviors among these differing demographic groups. Originality/value This study identifies three different levels of intensity of pro-environmental behavior – supportive, active and lifestyle – and empirically examines the relationships between these behavior types and the attitudinal antecedents revolving around time when the benefits of environmental conservation accrue, nature and human–nature interaction.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the effects of religiosity on attitude and personal orientation toward luxury brands and on purchase and repurchase intentions. Determining the effects of religiosity on the consumers’ behavior toward luxury has proved to be a crucial matter. As far as the authors know, academic research on this topic is almost non-existent. This is an exploratory study at the level of the direct effects of religiosity. Following a literature review, a model was constructed to represent the various interrelationships between the variables investigated in this research. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative study was conducted among 227 individuals having varying levels of religiosity. The authors verified, before, that those interviewed have purchased a luxury brand. Findings The findings show that religiosity does not hinder the consumption of luxury brands. Indeed, the authors detected a positive relationship between attitude and personal orientation toward luxury brands and the level of religiosity. The effect of religiosity on attitude and personal orientation is stronger for persons having higher incomes. Moreover, this effect is slight more marked among women. Research limitations/implications Just as for all other research work, it is important to identify the limitations of this study. The authors need only to acknowledge its exploratory nature for these relationships to be identified as preliminary ones and as the first elements of proof rather than as a conclusive demonstration. This research suffers from certain other limitations, especially concerning its convenience sampling and the fact that it covered only a limited geographical area, namely, the capital, Tunis, and its adjacent suburbs. Practical implications This research has shown that whatever the level of religiosity, its effect is stronger among persons having a high income. Therefore, Muslims, whatever their religiosity, can be a target for marketers and luxury brand. Social implications Islam is not against luxury brand but against ostentation. Originality/value It is the first research, as the authors know, that study the relationship between religiosity and consumer luxury behavior, especially among Muslims.
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Green consumption involves comprehensive concerns that address the broad scope of sustainability, ecosystem balance, profit-generation and people. Identifying the factors that influence consumers' purchase behavior enables manufacturers to understand consumers' decision-making processes and can help them develop more environmentally beneficial products. However, scholars have recently found that a gap exists between environmental concern and consumers' actual purchase behavior. The purpose of this paper is to use cognitive behavior theory to investigate the drivers of green consumption behavior and the missing link in the concern–behavior gap. After collecting 375 valid questionnaires, this study validated the proposed conceptual model using structural equation modeling. The revised model indicates that environmental involvement, informational utility, green advertising skepticism and green trust are antecedent variables of consumer attitudes toward green products. Additionally, this study also provides a possible explanation of and remedies for the concern–behavior gap. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
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Purpose This paper aims to report on a study that assessed Indian consumers’ response to green marketing communications, based on their GREEN consumption values. GREEN (Haws et al., 2014) refers to consumers’ tendency to express their environmental concern through their consumption behaviors. This study applies this construct in a marketing communications context. Design/methodology/approach Two conceptual models involving GREEN were developed, and data to test the models were collected in a survey conducted among a convenience sample of 284 Indian consumers. Findings The results show that GREEN can enhance understanding of consumers’ green attitudes and intentions. GREEN consumption values have an impact on how Indian consumers respond to advertising and public relations stimuli, as GREEN influences perceptions of green brand trust, attitudes toward green marketing communications and green brand support and purchase intentions. Research limitations/implications The research adds to the growing literature on green marketing in emerging economies and extends the application of the GREEN construct from the domain of consumer behavior to that of green marketing communications. Practical implications The results suggest that marketers should focus on developing green marketing communications strategy, rather than just green advertising strategies, and they can position their green products to appeal to consumers based on GREEN consumption values. Originality/value The study is the first to apply the GREEN construct in assessing consumer response to a brand’s green marketing communications; it also explores this issue in an emerging economy.
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This research explores the macro-level influences of religion on the marketplace by showing how religion influences beliefs of dominion and stewardship, which subsequently influence marketplace attitudes and sustainable behavior. A survey of 1,101 adults was conducted, with results showing religious individuals express greater beliefs of dominion while non-religious individuals express greater beliefs of stewardship. Stewardship beliefs in turn positively influence one’s tendency to engage in sustainable behavior, while dominion does not. These beliefs also mediate the relationship between religiosity and behavior, though the effects of dominion are negative and weaker than those of stewardship. We also provide insight into whom consumers hold responsible for solving sustainability issues, with the non-religious placing responsibility on consumers and the religious placing responsibility on producers. We build off value-belief-norm and attribution theories to discuss how our findings contribute to sustainability in marketing systems and provide greater understanding of the intersection between religion and sustainability.
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Environmental deterioration caused by consumers' non-sustainable consumption pattern is putting a strain on the environment and is hindering sustainable development. In order to impede this effect and promote a more sustainable economy, one solution is to reduce or shift consumption from conventional products to green products. The unfortunate reality indicates that inadequate information on how to promote consumers' green behavioral intention is slowing the growth of green markets; such inadequacy appears as a prevailing obstacle facing firms while developing segments and communicating strategies for effectively promoting green products. The mentioned impact is more prevailing and most experienced in countries like Malaysia. Hence, consumers' behavioral intentions must be better understood in order to strengthen knowledge about fostering green purchases. This study aims to determine the motivational factors that influence green purchasing intention and simultaneously assess the moderator roles of the premium price and demographic characteristics – given that consumers' degree of greenness varies. A survey was administered and a total of 405 usable questionnaires were obtained. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the hypotheses. Results indicate that environmental attitude, eco-label and cultural value (man–nature orientation) significantly influence the green purchase intention. The result also indicates that the premium price has no moderating effect, denying its role as one of the main barriers for consumers to walk their talk as it has previously been reported by studies and opinion polls. In addition, the findings revealed that education level and gender have a significant positive moderation effect. This suggests that green purchase intentions' motivational factors are greater among highly educated individuals especially with female consumers in particular. This study contributes to the understanding of the main factors that motivate consumers' intention to purchase green products in Malaysia. It also offers insights and discusses implementations for manufacturers, marketers and policy makers concerned with the drivers that motivate consumers' green purchasing intentions which require different marketing plan and strategy than conventional products.
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Understanding the motivations that stimulate green consumption can promote environmental thinking to increase demand, especially because the current estimated market share for green products is less than 4% worldwide. In this scenario, emerging countries have contributed to the increasing levels of consumption and environmental effects. Culture and socio-economic status play a significant role in environmental impacts and influences the consumption of green products. The current body of literature lacks studies focused on the attitude of Brazilian consumers in relation to these products. This research evaluates the elements that motivate the consumption of green product. A survey targeting individuals who have consumed these products was performed in the largest city in Southern Brazil. Data were analyzed using a factorial analysis, and a causal structural equation model was created to evaluate the drivers that promote green consumption. The elements of Information and Knowledge, Environmental Attitude, Social Context and Environmental Consciousness were strongly correlated with green consumption. However, the Quality and Price of green products has shown a weaker relationship with consumption. These elements indicated that the individuals in the survey recognize and seek information covering environmental issues, are concerned with the health effects associated with the consumption of the goods, and reject a brand or company that might have demonstrated inappropriate environmental behaviours. Also indicate that the relation price versus quality does not play a central role in the decision of consuming green products. Finally, information about these products and their point-of-sale availability were highlighted as enhancing green consumption. This outcome suggests that education might increase green consumption. This research contributed to understand the main drivers that support the decision about the green products option made for the surveyed sample. From a managerial standpoint, improvements in ethical transactions, the promotion of socially responsible actions, the distribution of appropriate information about green products, and the structure of the green supply chain could create new businesses focused on sustainable production and consumption. The findings of this research could support future policies and actions focused on providing information and knowledge about environmental and health contribution of the green products to the consumers, producers, companies, and society.
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Green marketing should appeal to the needs and desires of environmentally concerned customers. The aim of this study was to investigate hotel customers' perceptions of hotels' green marketing strategies. A questionnaire containing 30 statements was used to gauge respondents' perceptions of different hotel green marketing strategies. Using exploratory factor analysis to identify interpretable orthogonal factors, five factors were identified and interpreted: (1) Green Partnership; (2) Development of Green Products and Services; (3) Genuine Green Products and Services; (4) Higher Price for Green Products and Services; and (5) Credibility of Green Promotion. Independent t-tests and one-way analysis of variance were conducted to examine significant differences between hotel customers' ratings of the importance of the identified factors according to demographic variables. This is one of the first research studies to examine green marketing in the hotel industry. The discussion of the findings includes some practical implications to help hotel marketers implement more effective green marketing strategies.
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This article examines how sustainable marketing could be achieved through the contribution of three existing marketing sub-disciplines; green marketing, social marketing and critical marketing. Green marketing facilitates the development and marketing of more sustainable products and services while introducing sustainability efforts into the core of the marketing process and business practice. Social marketing involves using the power of marketing to encourage sustainable behaviour among individuals, businesses and decision makers while also assessing the impact of current commercial marketing on sustainability. This links into the critical marketing paradigm which entails analyses of marketing theory, principles and techniques using a critical theory based approach. This analysis can help to guide regulation and control, development of marketing theory and practice, and to challenge the dominant institutions associated with marketing and the capitalist system, encouraging a marketing system in which sustainability is a key goal. The article concludes by offering a framework for sustainable marketing and a way forward for how this might be achieved.
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Concern over the effect of industries on the natural environment is growing on a multitude of levels. This study examines the effects of how perceptions of (a) environmental values, (b) green image and (c) perceived value of industrial customers influence their loyalty towards suppliers in existing relationships, and how the length of B2B relationships may moderate these linkages. A conceptual framework is developed and data are collected from a global sample (N =121) of B2B customers. We find that both green image and perceived value have a direct positive link with customer loyalty and that environmental values are positively linked to the green image of the supplier. Moreover, the effect of green image on loyalty is mediated by perceived value, with environmental values only indirectly linked with perceived value of the supplier. As the length of relationship increases, on one hand the positive relationship between green image and customer loyalty is strengthened, while on the other the positive relationship between environmental value and green image is weakened. Regardless of how environmentally aware the customer is, green image is a strong predictor of both perceived value and loyalty. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
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It is proposed that consumers fail to make environmentally conscious choices because they do not consider the long-term impact of their actions. This research examines the role of consumers' temporal orientation (past and future) in regard to their environmental orientation and pro-environmental consumer behaviour (PECB), using a representative sample of 2566 Australian respondents. The results identify that both future and past orientations are related to environmental orientation, with future orientation leading to increased levels of PECB and past orientation leading to reduced levels of PECB. Further, environmental orientation mediates the relationship between temporal orientation and PECB, suppressing the negative impact of high levels of past orientation.
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We investigate the mediating role of moral emotions and their contingency on individual characteristics in consumer responses to corporate green and non-green actions. Two between subjects experiments were conducted to test our hypotheses on samples of adult consumers. The results show that, for corporate non-green actions, various individual difference characteristics (social justice values, empathy, moral identity, self-concept) moderate the elicitation of negative moral emotions (contempt, anger, disgust), which, in turn, lead to consumer negative responses (negative word of mouth, complaint behaviors, boycotting). Moreover, for corporate green actions, empathy moderates elicitation of positive emotions on gratitude, which, in turn, influences consumer positive responses (positive word of mouth, resistance to negative information, identification with the company, investment). This study adds to extant research by examining understudied “hot” moral emotional processes underlying consumer reactions toward corporate environmental responsibility and irresponsibility. Implications for marketing communication and segmentation decisions are considered.
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Evidence for the impact of CSR, and more specifically environmental, initiatives on consumer behavior is both contradictory and equivocal. This quasi-experimental study examines the relationship between the perceived environmental performance of a company (PEP) and consumers' purchase intentions, and then determines whether this relationship is moderated by the degree of consumers' environmental involvement (El) and by the relative price of company products. Surveys were posted to a random sample of residents in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, Australia. Responses (n = 698) show that participants report higher purchase intention for products from high versus low PEP companies, and that participants' El and product price moderate this relationship. Those with high El report greater purchase intention for high PEP companies and the reverse for low PEP companies, indicating that participants with high El are more positively influenced by their perceptions of a company's environmental performance. However, participants are more likely to favor a high PEP company when the relative price of a product is low versus high, irrespective of their level of El. The strong relationship between companies' PEP and consumers' purchase intentions affirms that developing and managing an environmental brand image may deliver significant benefits, as long as it is appropriately communicated to consumers, and as long as consumers see the added value of making such purchases.
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As ecological concerns evolve and diffuse throughout society, advertisers are interested in developing green (i.e., environmental) messages and are interested in targeting green customer segments. Unfortunately for advertisers, many green consumers have negative attitudes about business, and they often have negative impressions of the advertising industry. Here, this dilemma is examined from a variety of perspectives.
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Despite the growth of green marketing, there is a shortage of studies on green communication. Thus, this research aims to understand whether consumers who are concerned about the environment conserve resources and have environmentally friendly buying habits and whether they are skeptical about the green communications conveyed by companies. Using a proposal of a model about skepticism toward green advertising, several hypotheses are tested. The results indicate that the more environmentally concerned an individual is, the more skepticism he or she will be toward green claims exhibited on packages or featured in ads. In addition, results indicated no significant differences between men and women regarding this skepticism.
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An emerging topic in environmental management studies is the role of eco-labels in guiding consumers in their purchasing choices. In order to contribute to the current debate on this topic, this research paper aims to assess, through a quantitative analysis, whether the knowledge, awareness and information that consumers gather on the environmental impact of a product through an eco-label can stimulate an eco-friendly behavior. Moreover, we assess whether general attitudes in purchasing behaviors determine a personal attitude toward ecological consumption. The findings from this study, which is based on a large dataset of Italian consumers, highlight a significant role of eco-labels in increasing the consumer's perceived behavioral control, unlike loyalty in brand and in store, which do not exert a significant influence. Practical implications for green business strategies emerge. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Article
The primary goal of this research is to conceptualize and develop a scale of green consumption values, which we define as the tendency to express the value of environmental protection through one’s purchases and consumption behaviors. Across six studies, we demonstrate that the six-item measure we develop (i.e., the GREEN scale) can be used to capture green consumption values in a reliable, valid, and parsimonious manner. We further theorize and empirically demonstrate that green consumption values are part of a larger nomological network associated with conservation of not just environmental resources but also personal financial and physical resources. Finally, we demonstrate that the GREEN scale predicts consumer preference for environmentally friendly products. In doing so, we demonstrate that stronger green consumption values increase preference for environmentally friendly products through more favorable evaluations of the non-environmental attributes of these products. These results have important implications for consumer responses to the growing number of environmentally friendly products.
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The paper explores the influence of greenwash on green trust and discusses the mediation roles of green consumer confusion and green perceived risk. The research object of this study focuses on Taiwanese consumers who have the purchase experience of information and electronics products in Taiwan. This research employs an empirical study by means of the structural equation modeling. The results show that greenwash is negatively related to green trust. Therefore, this study suggests that companies must reduce their greenwash behaviors to enhance their consumers’ green trust. In addition, this study finds out that green consumer confusion and green perceived risk mediate the negative relationship between greenwash and green trust. The results also demonstrate that greenwash is positively associated with green consumer confusion and green perceived risk which would negatively affect green trust. It means that greenwash does not only negatively affect green trust directly but also negatively influence it via green consumer confusion and green perceived risk indirectly. Hence, if companies would like to reduce the negative relationship between greenwash and green trust, they need to decrease their consumers’ green consumer confusion and green perceived risk.
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This paper suggests advertising campaigns directed at increasing consumer demand for green energy should emphasize not only environmental concern and utilitarian benefits, but also psychological brand benefits. The theoretical framework proposes three distinct psychological benefit categories potentially enhancing consumer attitudes toward green energy brands and increasing purchase intentions: warm glow, self-expressive benefits, and nature experiences. A sample of 726 consumers was exposed to experimental advertisements for a fictitious green energy brand. Findings confirm most predicted effects and underline the overall significance of psychological brand benefits. Only self-expressive benefits do neither affect participants’ attitudes toward the experimental brand nor their purchase intentions. Nature experience has the strongest influence on brand attitude. Multi-group structural analysis shows that the nature experiences level evoked by the advertisements moderates the effects of the behavioral antecedents studied on brand attitude and purchase intention. The findings provide keys to improving green energy branding and advertising strategy.
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In 2005 a survey was used to investigate social norms and attitudes of Viennese high school students (14–20 years, n = 340) toward organic products. Young people, who already participate in household decisions and consume organic products, have not yet been recognized sufficiently in research. The Theory of Reasoned Action and discriminant analysis are used to explore relations of a number of variables and the complex field of factors influencing Viennese high school students’ shopping behavior when shopping for organic products. Key findings include the importance of primary socialization in forming social norms and shaping behavior. Surprisingly, knowledge of organic products does not explain students’ self-reported shopping behavior when shopping for organic products. Cultural patterns seem to be far more useful to predict behavior and attitudes toward organic products.