This article presents an examination of pro-environmental purchasing behaviour (PPB) and how it is influenced by demographics, environmental knowledge (a factor rather neglected so far) and attitudes (environmental unconcern). PPB was found to be adopted at a rather low level; less than 20% of Greeks may be characterized as relatively frequent pro-environmental purchasers. The higher scores were obtained with reference to energy and water conservation, reduction of overall consumption and avoidance of products containing genetically modified organisms. The consumers also declared they very often choose the eco-friendly alternative of a product when there is no significant price difference. The results indicated that professionals, 35-55 years old, holding a graduate and/or a postgraduate degree and with an annual income of 25-30 thousand Euros are those who are more engaged in PPB in Greece. PPB was found to be correlated positively and moderately with environmental knowledge and negatively and moderately with environmental unconcern.

Δημοσιεύσεις μελών--ΣΔΟ--Τμήμα Εμπορίας και Διαφήμισης,2014Examination of Pro-Environmental Purchasing Behaviour (PPB) and its potential components. Investigation of the number and the size of relevant consumer segments. Determining the factors able to describe the segment of frequent pro-environmental purchasers. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Investigation of PPB as a total multi-item variable. Disclosure of the PPB components. Examination of the Purchase component and disclosure of its clusters. Focus on the cluster of frequent purchasers. Estimation of the demographic, attitudinal and psychographic variables able to describe and predict these consumers. Findings – Two components of PPB were found, namely Conservation (high consumer engagement in this) and Purchase (low consumer engagement in this). Inside the Purchase component of PPB three clusters were found, indicating, respectively, low, average and relatively high consumers’ involvement. Consumers in Cluster 3 (frequent pro-environmental purchasers) are fewer than in the past. They were found to be negatively influenced by environmental unconcern attitudes and Materialism, while they were positively affected by locus of control over politics and Universalism. Research limitations/implications – No demographic profile of frequent purchasers. Geographical area limited (a potential) generalisation of results. Social desirability effect. Future research with reference to evolutions in pro-environmental post-purchasing or non-purchasing behaviours during the years of economic crisis. Practical implications – Fewer consumers would buy ecological products if these were not comparable enough with the conventional products in terms of price and efficacy. Originality/value – First effort to explore the impact of the economic crisis on PPB in Greece. Encompassed new categories of ecological products. Revealed two components inside PPB (Purchase and Conservation) as well as number and size of consumer segments inside the Purchase component. Formulation of a partial profile of the frequent pro-environmental purchasers. Impact of Universalism on PPB was for the first time examined

PurposeAlthough boycotting campaigns have been increasing, a limited amount of academic research has been focussed on the antecedents of consumers’ participation in the retail field. This paper presents an examination of consumers’ intentions to boycott the “unethical” supermarket products by a Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) application. Materialism/Post-materialism was incorporated in the research as a moderating variable.Design/methodology/approachPersonal interviews were taken in a sample (420) selected by a probability sampling method. Structural equation modelling was performed to analyse the data.FindingsTPB was found powerful to explain boycotting intentions. Consumers, who more strongly intent to boycott, are affected more by social norms than by attitudes and perceived behavioural control. Those consumers believe more strongly that boycotting “unethical” retail products will generate valuable outcomes, will comply with their referents’ expectations and will not be obstructed by any barriers. Post-materialists were found to hold stronger intentions than materialists. Materialists are mostly influenced by their attitudes and their perceived control over participation in boycotting. On the contrary, post-materialists are solely influenced by their feelings regarding social pressure to boycott.Research limitations/implicationsControl for social desirability should be included in future research. National or multinational samples more effective for generalization. The ability of other psychographics or demographics to moderate TPB relationships could be further investigated.Practical implicationsRetailers, who try to avoid potential boycotts, should primarily aim to diminish the social influence towards boycotting. Secondarily, they should aim to decrease the consumers’ positive attitudes and perceived controllability over participation in boycotting. On the other side, consumers’ groups or associations when designing a boycott campaign should address their call targeting to post-materialist consumers. Messages for a boycotting call should enhance the important referents’ pressure towards a friendlier society in which people’s action is able to ethics in the market.Originality/valueIn this study, TPB was expanded by the incorporation of values, namely Materialism/Post-materialism, as a moderating factor.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine simultaneously all types of ecologically conscious consumer behaviour (ECCB) during the current economic crisis in Greece and investigate some of the factors able to affect it; to reveal the distances between the results of this study and those of previous studies in the same geographical area; and to present a detailed profile of the ecologically conscious consumers' (ECCs) market segment. Design/methodology/approach -An effort was made to examine simultaneously all types of ECCB, namely pro-environmental purchasing behaviour, recycling behaviour, pro-environmental post-purchasing behaviour and pro-environmental (non-purchasing) activities. A set of demographic, attitudinal and personality variables was added in the investigation. The relevant research objectives were set and they were accomplished by a quantitative survey of a large enough --for the urban area of Thessaloniki --probability sample. Findings -All ECCB types were found to be positively related to consumers' education, attitudes towards recycling and locus of control over politics; and to be related negatively to environmental unconcern. Strong inter-relationships among all the ECCB types were revealed. Cluster analysis indicated that the ECCs segment counts for 16 per cent, a size considerably smaller than a decade ago. Research limitations/implications -A remaining social desirability effect despite the effort to eliminate it. Limited understanding of the economic crisis's consequences. Incomplete profile of ECCs. Practical implications -Managers of ecological products, managers in charge of recycling programmes and executives working with the ecological organizations should all be aware that they share the same target group, that of ECCs. They should study carefully the characteristics of ECCs and choose the most appropriate communication strategies. Social implications -Environmental protection undoubtedly affects quality of life. Understanding better ecologically related consumer behaviour provides the necessary basis for corporate socially responsible strategies. Public policy makers in charge of environmental protection programmes need to increase people's locus of control and recycling attitudes while eliminating their unconcern towards environmental issues. Originality/value -The paper is an effort to overcome the usual fragmentary examination of ecological behaviours. All types of ECCB were examined under an integrated theoretical framework and they were found to be inter-related. This is the first study to examine the impact of the economic crisis in Greece on pro-environmental behaviours.

Purpose -To examine the use of library resources, focusing on e-sources, by the members of the faculty of a higher educational institute in Thessaloniki, Greece; to reveal the factors which influence the effective use of sources for academic duties; and to provide reliable information to both the administration and the library of the institute, with the aim of the improvement of library services. Design/methodology/approach -A census survey, using a structured questionnaire, among the faculty of the Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki was conducted to examine the frequency of use of resources, mainly e-sources, and to reveal the impact of demographic or academic situational characteristics, the assumed positive influence of academic productivity, perceived usefulness of resources and access to e-sources on the use of e-sources as well as the assumed negative influence of barriers and computer anxiety on the use of e-sources. Findings -The great majority of the faculty of TEI uses printed sources more than e-sources, but they also use e-sources quite frequently. Use is mostly of books, websites and printed journals. It was also found that the use of e-sources is higher in the School of Business Administration and Economics among those who hold a PhD degree and among younger members of the faculty. Also, the results indicated that the use of e-sources is positively influenced by the respondents' perceived usefulness of resources, the convenience of access to the sources and their academic productivity. The examination of the computer anxiety rating scale (CARS) provided evidence that the less anxious the faculty feel about PCs, the more frequent users they become. Research limitations/implications -Further research is needed to measure how faculty interact with information, what kind of electronic sources they prefer, what search strategies they use, as well as whether their information needs are satisfied. This research needs to be duplicated to other universities in Greece to determine whether the results can be generalized for Greek academic faculty. Practical implications -University administrations need to improve library facilities, to include more workstations for access to electronic sources, as well as to improve the marketing and communication of these e-sources. Originality/value -This research tries to fill a gap in the literature, which has underemphasized so far the need for assessing and measuring the use of library resources in Greek academic libraries and the examination of the factors that influence this use.

This article presents an examination of non-purchasing ecological behaviors and their influential factors. The results indicate that consumers who engage in recycling, proenvironmental post-purchasing behavior and pro-environmental activities are highly educated people. Among them, those who are mostly involved in recycling and the non-energetic, rather traditional, activities are mostly influenced by their positive attitudes towards recycling, as well as by their social responsibility. Those who adopt more energetic, more active, behaviors are mostly influenced by their beliefs that they hold power over politicians and politics. It was also found that those who are engaged in one type of non-purchasing pro-environmental behavior are more likely to engage in another type as well.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the three types of ethical consumption (positive, negative and discursive) simultaneously in three different geographical areas, namely, Hebron (PL), Sofia (BG) and Thessaloniki (GR). Design/methodology/approach Personal interviews were conducted in the three cities during autumn 2016 with the use of a structured questionnaire. Large enough samples were selected with the one-stage area sampling. The sampling unit was one adult person of all households in each randomly selected city block. Findings The consumers of all cities were not found frequently engaged in any ethical consumption type. Demographic analysis revealed extensive differences across each one of the behaviours in each one of the cities. Attitudinal and psychographic analyses indicated that consumers, who are less ethically disinterested and more generous, were found to be more frequently engaged in ethical purchase in all the three cities. Evidence was found that less ethically disinterested and more generous consumers are more likely to get engaged in boycotting calls, in Hebron and in Thessaloniki. Less ethically disinterested consumers were also found more active in discursive activities in Sofia and Thessaloniki. Research limitations/implications Certain amendments of the behavioural and attitudinal scales could be essential to ensure the same level of measurement accuracy in different geographical areas. Larger and more representative of the overall population samples are needed to facilitate the generalisation of the results. Examination of cultural and political perspectives might add to the understanding of consumers’ ethical consumption in different contexts. Practical implications Firms interested in adopting ethical strategies or consumer groups that would like to call a boycotting or a consumer activism campaign should address their communication strategies towards targets that are described by the results in regard to each geographical area. Originality/value This study added to the limited so far relevant knowledge about the simultaneous examination of the three types of the overall ethical consumption in three different cities; interesting differences and similarities were revealed.