Green Purchase Behavior of University Students in Hungary: An Empirical Study

Abstract

In this modern age of digitalization, consumers have access to an ample amount of information regarding a product’s quality and benefits, which makes consumers more conscious of their consumption patterns and their impact on social and environmental development. Likewise, marketing strategies have also taken a dramatic leap forward and started focusing on social responsibility, ethics, and environmental protection. The notion of environmental sustainability has created a market niche over several decades and has captured the market of pro-environmental consumers. However, there are still many latent factors that are obstacles to shifting the behavior of consumers towards buying green products. The present study was conducted to recognize factors that affect the consumers’ behavior when purchasing eco-friendly products. They were collected from 1185 university students in Hungary. To analyze the data, multiple regression and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were used. The results showed that willingness to pay (WTP) and green purchase intention (GPI) are the chief factors that affect the green purchase behavior (GPB) of these students. Environmental knowledge (EK) also has an important and positive impact on the green purchase behavior (GPB) of consumers, although regarding demographic variables, no such influence was noted. To conclude, the study showed that there was no bias in terms of age, gender, or qualification in the behavior of young students, as they have sufficient knowledge of environmental problems and are very willing to pay for environmentally friendly products. This study will create self-awareness among young consumers about their environmentally friendly purchasing behavior. This research will further benefit policymakers and marketers of the EU and Hungary to enhance their marketing strategies to promote their green products and their benefits. Future research can be developed on this theoretical framework and will help academicians to further reduce the research gap by using different constructs and methodologies.

Food Innovation Adoption and Organic Food Consumerism—A Cross National Study between Malaysia and Hungary

“…Previous studies have shown that consumers were motivated to purchase organic food due to health and environmental concerns [20,22,23]. Studies also found that consumers' health consciousness predicted their consumption of organic food [24][25][26]. Subjective norms including the influence of family and friends, compounded with lifestyle trends, also show a significant influence on the intention to purchase organic food [27,28].…”

“…As regards the domestic consumption of organic food, studies found that European consumers were driven by health consciousness, environmental concern, quality of life, and technological development [24,37]. Although environmental and health consequences can influence organic consumerism, the affordability of organic food was significant in determining consumers' food choices, particularly those in Italy and Hungary [25].…”

50 Shades of Green: Insights into Personal Values and Worldviews as Drivers of Green Purchasing Intention, Behaviour, and Experience

“…Consumers who endorse biospheric values are concerned about the impact of their own consumption pattern, for example, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions [46]. Furthermore, environmental awareness of consumers is related to pro-environmental consumption choices, such as choosing products that are made of recycled constituents and reduce waste [21].…”

“…Consumers are believed to be more aware than ever before about how their consumption patterns may threaten the quality of the environment and sustainable development [21,47,48]. They are increasingly conscious about the potential devastating impact humanity has on the biosphere.…”

“…Consumers nowadays are more aware of environmental issues than ever before. They have a positive attitude towards environmental protection [10,21] and expect companies to engage in pro-environmental conduct (e.g., [21]). This pro-environmental awareness could also affect their (daily) consumption patterns [4].…”