Shippers’ ecological buying behaviour towards logistics services in France

Abstract

The research reported in this paper examines the buying behaviour of shippers in France in respect of their purchasing of logistics services, and in particular their attitudes towards purchasing more ecologically sound services. We have conducted empirical measurements of the gap between shippers' declared willingness to purchase ecologically sound services and their actual buying behaviour regarding offers of logistics services, and have proposed a research model to explain this gap. This research is a significant extension of earlier pilot study work in the French Picardy region, such that the study area now covers 4 regions, representing approximately 64% of the demand for logistics services in France. Based upon 172 valid survey responses received, the statistical testing of our explanatory research model has revealed three main antecedents of ecological buying behaviour: perceived compatibility between the quality levels of ecological logistics services available and traditional logistics services; the visibility of the shipper's individual ecological actions within the overall supply chain; and the shipper's overall basic ecological strategy anchored at the corporate level. According to the results of this survey, these company-specific antecedents are a more important influence on purchasing behaviour than relational aspects and regulatory constraints.

Environmental considerations and trade-offs in purchasing of transportation services

“…Philipp and Militaru (2011) showed that ecological buying behavior among shippers was more influenced by company-specific antecedents than relational aspects and regulatory constraints. One practice is to place environmental demands on transport suppliers such as having an ISO 14001 accreditation and/or demand specific technology of the vehicles in use (e.g.…”

Environmental Sustainability in Third-Party Logistics Service Providers: A Systematic Literature Review from 2000–2016

“…The evidence highlighted that the most influencing factors arise from the surrounding business environment of the company. Philipp and Militaru (2011) [103] found that the compatibility between traditional and ecological logistics services and the green brand image trigger the purchasing of green logistics services more than the relational aspects and regulatory constraints. Eng-Larsson and Kohn (2012) [104] investigated the contextual factors affecting the shift to intermodal road-rail transportation by six shippers in Sweden.…”

“…Shipper's green buying behavior (including the selection of third party reverse logistics providers) [98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109]. 20…”

Environmental practices as offerings and requirements on the logistics market

“…In those rare cases that environmental issues are pointed out in relation to the service offering or requirement, they are treated in very general terms (see for example [28,44,53,66]). The findings of Wolf and Seuring [66], for example, indicate that ''environmental aspects have entered the class of order qualifiers'' (p. 95) when logistics services are bought, but the authors never go into detail about what this aspect include.…”