What triggers people to buy green products?: Empirical evidence from an emerging market

Abstract

Escalating awareness of consumers on environmental issues have not translated into demand for green products in emerging economies, resulting in a rising need for further research on green purchasing behaviour. Considering this gap, the current study investigates the association of eco-label and environmental knowledge with green purchase behaviour, and explores the mediating impact of environmental attitude and green trust. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of perceived price in influencing such behaviour. The proposed research model is empirically tested with data collected from 600 customers in India. The results indicate that eco-label, environmental knowledge, green trust, and environmental attitude are significantly associated with green purchase behaviour. Further, environmental attitude does not mediate the association between eco-label and green purchasing behaviour, while this link is partially mediated by green trust. In comparison, environmental attitude plays a partial mediating role between green trust and green purchasing behaviour. Moreover, perceived price moderates the relationship between environmental attitude and green purchase behaviour positively, while negatively moderates the relationship of green purchase behaviour with green trust. The findings help to draw significant implications for environmental and green marketers, along with a better knowledge of the complicated consumer behaviour associated with the purchase of green products, which will ultimately help them to develop more viable green marketing strategies in India. Overall, this research will enhance the green marketing literature by providing insights into how marketers and businesses can trigger the green purchasing by consumers in emerging market.