Green Advertising and Environmentally Responsible Consumer Behavior: The Level of Awareness and Perception of Malaysian Youth

Abstract

The study determines to find the level of awareness and perception on green living amongst Malaysian youth through the use of advertising. The main objective is to explore awareness and perception of Malaysian youth towards green advertising promoted by the government. A survey was conducted to gather responses from online respondents using the social media website. Three hundred and twenty respondents have responded to the six month survey time, to a 20 questions questionnaire. The result indicates that, generally, the Malaysian youth have some awareness on what the term 'green living' denotes. However, those who practice green living are lower. They have been exposed to green advertising, but not all practice green living due to the lack of comprehensive understanding of the concept. The Malaysian youth exhibit positive perception towards green advertising. The finding concludes that there is a need for current and upcoming green advertising, especially ones that are done by the government to improve on their message delivery, creativity and information for the youth to respond in practice.

The awareness of environmentally friendly products: The impact of green advertising and green brand image

“…The impact of green advertising is very significant to consumer behavior who care for the environmentally friendly product (Rahmi et al, 2017). It is in line with recent research finding (Rahim et al, 2012) where it has been known that there is a correlation of improvement from green awareness of customer because of green advertising implementation (Fig. 2).…”

“…1 illustrates the research model for this study. Based on the theoretical review from the experts, it was discovered that there was a correlation between green advertising and green brand image with green awareness Rahim et al, 2012;Rahmi et al, 2017). Besides, it had been known that there was an impact of green awareness on the improvement of green purchase intention (Rizwan et al, 2014;Suki et al, 2016).…”

The Impact of Green Marketing Strategy on the Firm's Performance in Malaysia

“…It is also a tool used by the companies to share and inform the role that the companies also directly impact with the global issues, parallel with consciousness displayed by the societies. Besides that, the government also use the green advertising to promote the green environment concept to increase the level of awareness to protect the environment (Abd Rahim, Ahmad Zukni, Ahmad, & Lyndon, 2012). Ann, Zailani, & Abd Wahid (2006) recommended that the environmental labels should be aware and stay visible in order to influence purchase from the consumer.…”

Consumers’ Perceptions of Green Marketing in the Hotel Industry

“…Campaigns and promotions undertaken by the government have influenced the locals progressively towards the preservation of the ecosystem. It is basically undeniable that the government is taking initiatives to transform the existing situation in Malaysia into a better and "greener" one (Rahim, Zukni, Ahmad, & Lyndon, 2012). For example, as mentioned by one of the respondents regarding "No Plastic Bags on Saturdays", Singh (2011) mentions in his report that the campaign launched by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry to minimise the use of plastic bags in the country.…”

“…It is believed that perceptions of Malaysian consumers towards environmental factors differ by age group and that could possibly be a reason for a lack of interest among baby boomers. Several studies have also stated that consumers' environmental behaviours are influenced by age (Sinnappan & Rahman, 2011) where the younger generations seem to portray a favourable outcome related to environmental protection or green marketing than the older consumers (e.g., Memery, Megicks, & Williams, 2005;Ottman, Stafford, & Hartman, 2006;D'Souza, Taghian, Lamb, & Peretiatko, 2007;Rahim et al, 2012). Basically, most marketers know that baby boomers and senior citizens are one of the most powerful consumer groups.…”