A Study On Factors That Influence Consumers’ Decision Process Towards Sustainable Products in A Retail Store Environment

Abstract

The study aims to assess the market gap between Indian consumers and brand managers in a retail store. India is one of the countries where awareness about carbon footprint per capita is very low and hence people often do not choose the eco-friendly brands over the polluting brands. For this reason, brands and brand managers also give very little importance to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by United Nations Development Programme. One of the places an individual can reduce their carbon footprint is by choosing sustainable brands over others. Consumers are often unaware of how environmentally damaging their favourite brand's products are unless it is brought up in the media and on social platforms. At the same time, they also have very little information about environmentally friendly brands; therefore, sales of sustainable, socially responsible products and services do not reflect the efforts invested in their development. The results of this study show the factors that influence the consumer decision-making process towards sustainable brands/products and the importance of the change in consumer behaviour.