Ecological consumer behaviour: an empirical analysis

Abstract

Increasingly, consumers choose ecological products when they do the shopping, not only because it is a healthier option but also because it helps to sustain the environment for future generations. They are prepared to switch products for ecological reasons and stop buying products from companies that cause pollution. Firms and other economic institutions are aware of the importance of reflecting these attitudes towards the environment in developing their products. This paper is focused on environmental attitudes as meaningful predictor of ecological behaviour. A three-dimensional approach to this variable has been developed, which addresses its emotional, cognitive and conative components. A random sample survey of 573 individuals was used to verify the conceptual model and framework. This model was assessed initially by principal factor analysis and subsequently, by structural equation modelling. Findings of this study showed that environmental attitudes have a significant effect on ecological behaviour. This research improves our understanding of how consumers feel and what attitudes best define their way of behaving in relation to environmental problems.

Inclusion of Life Cycle Thinking in a Sustainability-Oriented Consumer’s Typology: A Proposed Methodology and an Assessment Tool

“…The findings of the studies of Roubanis [33], Isaka [27] and Fogarty's [74] support the hypothesis that a high level of VSL is very rare in college-age students. In an investigation comparing environmentally-responsible consumerism (ERC) and the voluntary simplicity lifestyle (VSL), between Meredith College students in the USA [33] and Japanese female college students in Osaka Shoin Women's University (Osaka, Japan) [32], it was shown that both groups of respondents were striving to meet their needs of self-esteem and efficacy through their consumption behaviors.…”

“…Compared to other studies in this area, the results differ according to age, level of education and material status. As a whole, VS are identified as middle-aged people, well educated (more highly educated than the general population) and financially secure (household income over the national average), inter alia [23,27,33,35].…”

“…On the micro-scale, numerous initiatives are being developed for small and medium enterprises [5]: to evaluate the consciousness of consumers regarding sustainable consumption taking into account the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability [6]; to study the sustainability of supply networks in small and medium-sized enterprises [7]; to evaluate companies' commitments in the area of sustainability [8,9]; to promote collaboration between industry and academia within the context of sustainability science [10]; as well as implementing new bachelor's degrees in environmental and engineering sciences to spread Environmentally-responsible consumers are greatly concerned with the environment-related attributes of purchased goods. There is a positive relationship between a consumer's environmental attitudes and the likelihood of assuming environmentally-friendly behavior [27]. Sustainability and mindfulness of the natural environment are of the utmost importance to such consumers [28,29].…”

Green competence framework: evidence from China

“…They found that personality variables were better predictors than the socioeconomic variables. Other scholars found individual personal attitudes and beliefs to be significant in predicting green behavior (in term of their purchases) (Gan et al 2008;Fraj and Martinez 2007a;Chan, 2001). Other than environmental knowledge, attitudes and values of individuals have been found to be major factors that influence green competencies (Ramayah, Lee, and Mohamad, 2010;Zho et al, 2014).…”

“…This explains why, for example, consumers who express concerns for the environment may not engage in the actual green purchase behavior (Laroche et al 2002;Fraj and Martinez 2007a;Tan and Lau 2010;Tan and Lau 2011). As a result, we divide green attitudes into general (i.e., green purchase intention (GPI) and specific, (i.e., green purchase attitude (GPA)), and explore their relationships with green competencies respectively.…”