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Int. J. Mgmt Res. & Bus. Strat. 2014 Collins Marfo Agyeman, 2014
CONSUMERS' BUYING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS
GREEN PRODUCTS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
Collins Marfo Agyeman1*
Over the past few years, the demand for green products in Indian has been growing significantlydue to the increased interest in the environment. Consumers today are increasingly “thinkinggreen” and are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products. The increasing numbersof consumers who prefer and are willing to buy these products are subjected to the buyingprocess. Consumers have different buying behaviours and these behaviours are constantlychanging as a result of the availability of best alternatives to choose from. Products are chosenfor numerous reasons. Overall, the buying process is extremely fast-paced today. Hence, thepresent study is conducted to explore the extent of the impact of consumers’ buying behaviourtowards the marketing of green products in Kancheepuram District. The study investigates therelationship between variables that affect consumers’ buying behaviour for green products andidentifies the price levels consumers prefer to pay for green products in the district. An attempthas also been made to examine the factors that affect the green products’ buying behaviours ofthe consumers. Convenience sampling method was used to select 200 respondents living inthe district and who make purchases for the products. The primary data was collected from therespondents with the help of pre-tested structured opened and closed-ended questionnaires. Inpursuance of the study’s stated objectives, the formulated hypotheses were subjected toregression and chi-square analyzes. The findings of the study reveal that there is significantrelationship between the variables which affects consumers’ buying behaviour for green products.Similarly, the factors affecting the consumers’ buying behaviour have major implications onpurchasing decisions.Green marketers can therefore understand, identify and design marketingmix strategies to appeal to the preferences of the market segments for green products.
Keywords: Consumers' buying behavior, Green marketing, Environmentally friendly products,Green products
*Corresponding Author: Collins Marfo Agyeman � sircollins28@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
Due to the increased importance of green
marketing to market success, firms continue to
1 Faculty of Management, SRM University, Nelson Mandela Hostel (NRI Block) Room 1004, Kattankulathur, Kancheepuram District, 603203,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Int. J. Mgmt Res. & Bus. Strat. 2014
ISSN 2319-345X www.ijmrbs.com
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launch various forms of green packaging
programs through the introduction of recyclable
and reusable packages. Green marketing is
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considered as one of the major trends in modern
businesses (Kassaye, 2001). Today,
environmental or green marketing, a strategic
marketing approach, is a recent focus in business
endeavours (Ottman, 1998). Consumers are
therefore, becoming more sensitive in their
environmental attitudes, preferences, and
purchases (Sarigöllü, 2009). The desire of
consumers to purchase eco-friendly products
and services is rising. Many are more aware of
environmental issues and consequently choose
products that do not damage the environment over
less environmentally friendly products, even if
they cost more. Firms today are faced with
consumers who are environmentally conscious
when making a purchase.
Environmentally preferable products are
sometimes more expensive to purchase than
other alternative products. Green consumers
have been shown to be willing to pay a higher
price for environmentally friendly products
(Laroche et al, 2001; Peattie, 2001), which is a
huge opportunity for companies as well as
governments looking to make eco-friendly policy
changes. Thus, the increasing number of
consumers who prefer and are willing to buy eco-
friendly products are creating opportunity for
businesses that are using “eco-friendly” or
“environmentally friendly” as a component of their
value proposition. Businesses that offer products
which are manufactured and designed with an
environmental marketing mix have a long term
competitive advantage. A better understanding of
consumers’ buying behavior will allow businesses
to acquire more market-applicable approach to
sustain in the competitive market.
Behavior has a strong influence in terms of
consumer purchases. They are the main triggers
in the consumer purchasing process and also
influence the perception of a product. This
complicated process enables businesses to
attract new consumers and adapt their products
or services according to their needs and wants
or change consumers’ behavior towards their
products or services. Consumers tend to reduce
their impact on the environment by their
purchasing decisions.
There are various factors that affect the
buying-decision process of consumers. A number
of Researchers have identified many factors as
influencing this process including; environmental
knowledge (Mostafa, 2006), perceived product
price and quality (D’Souza et al., 2007),
company’s environmental reputation (Schwepker
and Cornwell, 1991), environmental concerns
(Phau and Ong, 2007) and credibility of
environmental advertising (Thøgersen J, 2000).
It has become very essential to know the
factors that create the desire of consumers to
purchase a product. Hence, the present study
contributes to the field by investigating and
exploring the extent of the impact of consumers’
buying behavior towards the marketing of green
products.
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Mostafa (2007), green purchase
behavior refers to the consumption of products
that are benevolent or beneficial to the
environment, recyclable or conservable and
sensitive or responsive to ecological concerns.
Clem (2008) reveals that going green reflects a
social consciousness around saving and
advancing the Earth’s natural resources,
preserving and protecting them for the sake of
civilization. Consumers are becoming more and
more aware of environmental issues and this has
increased the demand for ecological products. If
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Int. J. Mgmt Res. & Bus. Strat. 2014 Collins Marfo Agyeman, 2014
consumers have a favourable attitude towardgreening environment, they are more inclined topurchase green products. The continuousawareness of environmental problems may inturn change consumers’ attitudes and purchaseintentions as well.
Consumer purchase intention has been animportant concept in marketing literature.Previous studies have exposed that consumerwith intention to buy products exhibit higher actualbuying rates than those customers whodemonstrate that they have no intention of buying(Brown, 2003). Blackwell et al. (2001) alsosupport this by indicating that purchase intentionsrepresent what consumers think they will buy.Furthermore, behavior towards a particular objectis approximated by an intention to perform thatbehavior (Malhotra and Mccort 2001). Thus,purchase intention positively affects the probabilityof a customer decision that he will buy greenproducts.
Environmental concerns play an important roleon consumers’ intention to purchase greenproducts. Thus, environmental concerns are notthe only factor for the consumers to purchaseenvironmentally friendly products. There are otherfactors that lead to the purchases.
Green consumers have been shown to bewilling to pay a higher price for environmentallyfriendly products (Laroche et al, 2001; Peattie,2001). A high price of green product is an indicatorof environmental performance, because lesspolluting products are more costly to produce(Mahenc, 2008). A study conducted by D’Souzaet al., (2006) contrary reported that generally,perception of green products is negativelyassociated with customer’s intention to purchasethem if they are of higher prices and low quality in
comparison to traditional products.
Green product’s quality is also a concerned
factor for most consumers. Green consumers
generally trust on these brand and are not ready
to compromise on quality. As there is an
expectation on the part of customers that all
products offered should be environmentally safe
without a need to sacrifice quality, businesses
must enhance green product quality as well as
focus on environmental benefits of a product, and
share these aspects with customers in order to
achieve the recognition in the market (D’Souza
et al, 2006). Hence, these reveal that traditional
product characteristics such as brand name, its
price and quality are still the most important ones
that consumers considered when making
purchasing decision (Gan et al, 2008).
Other studies have indicated that many
consumers are unwilling to forgo essential
product benefits during their purchase decision.
So therefore, green products must also perform
competitively not only according to environmental
aspects, but also on the basis of other important
product characteristics for instance convenience
or durability (Diamantopoulos et al, 2003).
Consumers’ choice for green products can be
heavily influenced by the packaging too.
Packaging attributes can persuade consumers
to purchase the product. According to Dantas et
al., (2004), packages and labels have only a few
seconds to make an impact on the consumer’s
mind; during that time, it must catch the
consumer’s eye, and convince the shopper that
it is the optimum option on the shelf (Rowan,
2000).
Based on the review of literature, the following
factors have been chosen for this study as factors
that affect consumers’ buying behaviors for green
products;
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Int. J. Mgmt Res. & Bus. Strat. 2014 Collins Marfo Agyeman, 2014
• Price
• Environmental concerns
• Quality
• Brandname
• Convenience
• Durability
• Packaging
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The research objectives addressed in the present
study are;
• To investigate the relationship between the
variables that affect consumers’ buying
behaviors for green products.
• To examine the factors that affect consumers’
buying behaviors for green products.
• To identify the price levels consumers prefer
to pay for green productsin the district.
HYPOTHESIS FOR THE
STUDY
In exploring the relationship between consumers’
buying behavior and green products, the study
addressed the following hypotheses;
H0:Consumers’ buying behavior has no
relationship with purchase decisions of green
products.
H1:Consumers’ buying behavior has a
relationship with purchase decisions of green
products.
METHODOLOGY
The present study utilizes the exploratory
research methodology to explore the extent of the
impact and establish relationship between
consumers’ buying behavior towards the
marketing of green products in Kancheepuram
District. The population for this study was all
consumers of the market who make the
purchases of green products. Convenience
sampling method was adopted to select the total
sample size of 200 respondentsconsisting of 73
males and 127 females living in the district. Both
the primary and secondary data collection
methods were considered. However, primary
data was collected from the respondents with the
help of pre-tested structured opened and closed-
ended questionnaires. Primary data was
complemented with secondary data sources
such as publications on the topic from journals,
magazines, and internet. The responses of the
measurement were scored using a 5- point Likert
scale. The measurement items of the variables
were created based on the literature review.
Regression and chi-square analyzes were used
to establish the relationships that exist between
the hypotheses. Analyses of data and testing of
hypotheses were performed using SPSS version
17. The analyses have been in conformity with
the objectives and the hypotheses of the study.
The data collection period for the study was
undertaken from September 2013 to December
2013.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The Table 1 shows majority of the respondents
(63.5%) being Females and can be found in the
Age category of 42-49 years (32.0%). Further,
most of them (41.0%) are Degree (First /Masters/
PhD) holders in terms of Educational Qualification
and are Government Employees (27.5%). Lastly,
in terms of Monthly income, (38.0%) they earn
above Rs. 20,000 per Month, which is the highest
earning category.
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The Relationship Between VariablesAffecting Consumers’ Buying Behaviorsfor Green Products
The Regression coefficient ‘R’ = .973 or 97.3%
means that correlation between dependent
variable and independent variables is positive.
The coefficient of determination ‘R2’ = .946
indicating that 94.6% of variation in dependent
variable is explained by independent variables.
The F-test value of 482.509 is significant because
the significance level is = .000 which is less than
0.05. This also implies that the correlationbetween dependent variable and independentvariables is statistical significant and theregression model is valid.
As shown in the above stepwise regressionsummary table, it is clear that among all theseven factors affecting consumers’ buyingbehavior, they are positively related with thepurchase of green products. Hence, theresearcher rejects the null hypothesis andconcludes that there is sufficient evidence, at the
Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents
Demographic Factors Labels n=200 %
1. Gender a. Male 73 36.5
b. Female 127 63.5
2. Age a. 18-25 years 22 11
b. 26-33 years 36 18
c. 34-41 years 51 25.5
d. 42-49 years 64 32
e. 50-57 years 19 9.5
f. 58 years and above 8 4
3. Educational Qualification a. None 8 4
b. Secondary 56 28
c. Diploma 54 27
d. Degree (First / Masters / PhD) 82 41
4. Occupation a. Student 33 16.5
b. Private Employee 62 31
c. Government Employee 55 27.5
d. Professional 50 25
5. Monthly Income a. Below Rs. 5,000 7 3.5
b. Rs. 5,000 - 9,000 19 9.5
c. Rs. 10,000 – 14,000 48 24
d. Rs. 15,000 – 19,000 50 25
e. Rs. 20,000 and above 76 38
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Table 2: Model Summary of Consumers’ Buying Behaviour Vs. Green Products
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
1.973a .946 .944 .25357
Note: a. Predictors: (Constant), Packaging, Environmental concerns, Brandname, Quality, Convenience, Durability, Price
ANOVAb
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 217.175 7 31.025 482.509 .000a
Residual 12.345 192 .064
Total 229.520 199
Note: a. Predictors: (Constant), Packaging, Environmental concerns, Brandname, Quality, Convenience, Durability, Price; b. Dependent
Variable: Purchase of Green Products
Coefficientsa
Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients
Model
B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
1 (Constant) .137 .051 2.705 .007
Price .600 .042 .725 14.244 .000
Environmental concerns .320 .051 .313 6.218 .000
Quality -.048 .024 -.054 -2.007 .046
Brandname -.065 .023 -.063 -2.859 .005
Convenience .068 .021 .077 3.179 .002
Durability -.077 .025 -.086 -3.096 .002
Packaging .064 .018 .061 3.496 .001
Note: a. Dependent Variable: Purchase of Green Products
5% level of significance, that there is a strong
positive relationship between consumers’ buying
behavior and purchase of green products.
From the Table 3, the results of Chi-square
tests for all the hypotheses are in significant level.
The chi-square values are greater than 0.05
significant levels. Therefore, the null hypothesis
is rejected and alternative hypothesis is accepted
at 5% significant level. This shows a positive
association between consumers’ buying behavior
and purchase of green products.
Factors Affecting Consumers’ BuyingBehaviors for Green Products
From the review of literature, some major factors
affecting consumers’ buying behaviors for green
products were selected and respondents were
asked to indicate those factors which affect them
most. The following shows their responses:
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It can be seen from the Figure 1 and Table 4
that according to 36.5% of consumers, Price is
the major factor that affects their buying
behaviors. This is followed by Quality (17%),
Environmental concerns (16.5%), Packaging
(12.5%), Brandname (8%), Convenience (6%)
and lastly, Durability (3.5%). From the above, it is
found that when it comes to purchase of green
products, price, quality, and environmental
Table 3: Chi-square Test Results of Consumers’ Buying Behaviour Vs. Green Products
Research Hypotheses Chi-Square Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Results
Price 458.185a 16 .000 Supported
Environmental concerns 524.286a 16 .000 Supported
Quality 110.015a 16 .000 Supported
Brandname 81.707a 16 .000 Supported
Convenience 82.739a 16 .000 Supported
Durability 123.213a 16 .000 Supported
Packaging 57.258a 16 .000 Supported
Table 4: Consumers Buying Behaviors
Frequency Percent
Valid Price 73 36.5
Environmental concerns 33 16.5
Quality 34 17.0
Brandname 16 8.0
Convenience 12 6.0
Durability 7 3.5
Packaging 25 12.5
Total 200 100.0
Figure 1: Factors Effecting Consumers'Buying Behaviors for Green Products
Figure 2: The Price Consumers Preferto Pay Green Products
Table 5: Preferences of Consumersto Pay for Green Products
Frequency Percent
Valid Very Costly 8 4.0
Costly 21 10.5
Moderate 42 21.0
Cheap 64 32.0
Very Cheap 65 32.5
Total 200 100.0
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concerns are still the key factors influencing their
purchase decisions.
The Price Levels Consumers Prefer to Payfor Green Products
The respondents were asked to indicate their
preference for the price of green products for
which they are ready to pay for. The results are
represented below:
From the Figure 2 and the Table 5 above,
32.5% of the respondents hold that the prices of
green products should be very cheap and also
32% prefer cheap green products. Thus, they are
willing to pay more for those products which are
neither costly nor very costly.
CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
This study was conducted to investigate the
relationship between the variables that affect
consumers’ buying behaviors for green products,
to examine the factors that affect consumers’
buying behaviors for green products, to identify
the price levels consumers prefer to pay for green
products in the district and in summary, toexplore
the impact of consumers’ buying behavior towards
the marketing of green products in
Kancheepuram District. The collected data was
subjected to regression and chi-square analyzes.
The results suggest that a large number of
consumers in the selected areas value the
environment and have a typical buying behavior.
The consumers prefer green products and expect
to pay a lower price for them. Consumers are
willing to buy eco-friendly products, but not to pay
higher prices. This indicates green product
awareness among consumers. As consumers
are aware and concerned about the green
products, it creates an opportunity for developing
green marketing focusing on more consumers.
Overall, this study clearly identified a positive
relationship between the variables or factors
which affect consumers’ buying behavior for green
products.Consumers’ buying behavior acts as a
predictor and have a direct influence on the
decision process when purchasing a green
product. The results provide reasonable support
to all the hypothesized relationships.
It was also identified that while consumers
have positive behavior towards purchasing green
products, when it comes to actual purchase,
price, environmental concerns and quality are still
the key factors influencing their purchase
decisions.
After having undertaken this research, based
on the findings of the study, the following
recommendations are given;
The researcher noted that more in-depth
follow-up investigations would be necessary to
further advance understanding of the consumer.
Further research in this area needs to address
what influences consumers’ attitudes towards
green purchases as this would provide the true
decision-making criteria for manufacturers,
businesses and marketers.
Green marketers can therefore understand,
identify and design marketing mix strategies to
appeal to the preferences of the market segments
for green products at suitable price levels and
also consider environmental and quality aspects
in order to attract more consumers. Hence, green
products must perform competitively as there is
a scope for eco-friendly marketers to capture this
market for long term growth.
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Manufacturers who want to offer environmentally
friendly products to consumers may benefit from
the findings of this research as well. Consumers
want eco-friendly products from those
manufacturers which have positioned themselves
as eco-friendly manufacturers and it is important
that manufacturers aiming at developing new
eco-friendly products ensure that those products
perform competitively.
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