Implication of theory of planned behavior and marketing mix variables in assessing the mindset of consumers for solar products in India

Abstract

Purpose Researchers are of the point of view that solar products are important, concerning society, environment and sustainability and thus with a standpoint belief that the awareness, as well as the perception of consumers, should be changed. With this understanding, this study aims to access and know the mindset of Indian consumers regarding solar products. Design/methodology/approach The respondent for the study was chosen from the four different states of India, i.e. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and one union territory of India, i.e. Jammu and Kashmir. For the best results, 501 questionnaires were distributed among selected areas. The interview method with the questionnaire was used by the researcher in the urban and rural areas of the Maharashtra, Bihar and urban areas of Uttar Pradesh. The data were also collected based on the questionnaire from Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The researchers have used the convenience sample method, as it was more suitable for the study. The researchers have targeted rural and urban areas to know the awareness of solar product utility with reference to the social marketing aspect. Findings Attitude, subjective norm, price and promotion variables impact consumers’ purchase intention. Research limitations/implications This study is useful for academicians, social marketers, business practitioners and researchers to enhance their knowledge about the perception of Indian consumers toward solar products. Practical implications This paper will help the social marketers focus on their thinking and activities, which in turn will help policymakers, people and professionals concerned with the social marketing aspect. Social implications It is hoped that this research work will add value to the social marketing aspect and help social marketers, policymakers, practitioners and society. The paper has accomplished connecting people with solar products for the betterment of society. Originality/value The paper contains original ideas and a unique perspective on social marketing, which will be useful for social marketers and practitioners.

Factors affecting consumer purchase intention for buying solar energy products

“…An another study also confirmed the result of the present work, which concludes that purchase intention was having a significant relationship with attitude and perceived behavioral control in the adoption of sustainable energy (Srivastava and Mahendar, 2018). Incidentally, the result of the present study found similarities with the different countries' research studies (Mexico, USA, India, Malaysia, Pakistan and China) that had implemented the TPB with different solar energy variables (Abreu et al, 2019;Alam et al, 2021;Alam and Fathima, 2022;Irfan et al, 2020;Liu et al, 2020;Reyes-Mercado and Rajagopal, 2017;Yee et al, 2021;Zhu et al, 2020).…”

“…For example, if a customer has a high outlook on a sustainable environment, he or she may behave consistently in accordance with that attitude (Irfan et al, 2020;Yee et al, 2021). According to previous research, individual's attitude influence the purchase intention of efficient-energy items such as rooftop solar, solar water heaters, solar PV panels, as well as building-attached PV panels (Abreu et al, 2019;Aggarwal et al, 2019a;Akroush et al, 2019;Alam et al, 2021;Alam and Fathima, 2022;Kumar et al, 2020b;Tan et al, 2017;Tsaur and Lin, 2018). Environment-friendly product studies based in China on the adoption of battery electric vehicles and bicycle sharing, Liu et al (2020) and Zhu et al (2020) discovered that attitude was significant towards purchase intention and positively related to consumers' intentions to save energy.…”

“…As the world continues to expand at a rapid rate, energy consumption has also increased. The amount of solar light that reaches the earth’s surface in a single day is greater than the total amount of energy used in a year (Cosimo, 2018; International Energy Agency, 2013; Kumar et al , 2020a; Pavel and Rajagopal, 2017) therefore effective energy channeling and utilization are essential (Alam and Fathima, 2022). It has been noted from the past review of literature that most rural and urban areas in India are facing energy issues in terms of connectivity, supply and demand (Hossain et al , 2014; Urpelainen and Yoon, 2016).…”

A behavioral study on villagers’ adoption intention and carbon neutrality toward rooftop solar photovoltaic systems in India

“…Recently, environment-friendly technological innovative products have been largely adopted by customers in domestic as well international markets (Ahmed et al, 2022). Numerous studies reveal customer attitude in the framework of adoption intentions toward solar energy (Yazdanpanah et al, 2015;Sun et al, 2020;Alam and Fathima, 2022;Bekti et al, 2022;Ahmed et al, 2022;Fathima et al, 2022), subjective norms (Masrahi et al, 2021;Alam and Fathima, 2022) and perceived behavior control (Yazdanpanah et al, 2015;Masrahi et al, 2021;Fathima et al, 2022) have a positive and significant impact on their behavioral intention to adopt rooftop solar PV systems as the source of renewable energy. In the context of Zambia and Pakistan, Zulu et al (2021) and Waris et al (2022) revealed that households' attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control significantly impact their intention toward the adoption of solar energy at a small scale.…”

“…DOI theory, PMT and TPB have been used to examine the villagers’ behavioral intentions and carbon neutrality recognition toward adopting the RSPV systems. The extent of the literature reveals that the DOI theory (Gerdesics et al , 2013; Wolske et al , 2017; Kurdgelashvili et al , 2019; Mohandes et al , 2019; Busic-Sontic and Fuerst, 2018; Kowalska-Pyzalska, 2018; Bondio et al , 2018; Barrie and Cruickshank, 2017; Pathania et al , 2017; Simpson and Clifton, 2017; Wolske et al , 2017; Karakaya et al , 2015; Sriwannawita and Laestadiusb, 2015; Islam, 2014; Barnes et al , 2022; Karimzadeh and Salehi, 2021; Kumar and Kaushik, 2022; Ahmed et al , 2022), PMT (Kim et al , 2013; Bockarjova and Steg, 2014; Wolske et al , 2017; Rainear and Christensen, 2017; Wang et al , 2019; Kothe et al , 2019) and TPB (Wang et al , 2014; Li et al , 2013; Rai and Robinson, 2015; Korcaj et al , 2015; Yun and Lee, 2015; Joshi and Rahman, 2015; Yazdanpanah et al , 2015; Chen, 2016; Gao et al , 2017; Wolske et al , 2017; Shi et al , 2017; Wang et al , 2019; Abreu et al , 2019; Arroyo and Carrete, 2019; Zhang et al , 2019; Sun et al , 2020; Irfan et al , 2021; Masrahi et al , 2021; Zulu et al , 2021; Jayaratne et al , 2021; Cheam et al , 2021; Alam and Fathima, 2022; Waris et al , 2022; Bekti et al , 2022; Li et al , 2022b; Zhao et al , 2022) have been used widely in academic research to recognize the factors influencing customers’ attitude, pro-environment behavior and behavioral intentions toward renewable energy adoption, energy-saving and carbon reduction. DOI theory has explained five dimensions of innovations, i.e.…”