Green product attributes and green purchase behavior: A theory of planned behavior perspective with implications for circular economy

Abstract

Purpose

Nowadays, understanding green consumers has become very critical given its implications for marketers to understand and communicate green purchase patterns on the one hand, and to design and strategize both product offerings and customer services on the other hand. The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction effect of product attributes on the degree of environment concern, the intention of green purchase and a series of green purchase proposed patterns. This paper is built on the theory of planned behavior, and expands it by replacing subjective norms and perceived behavioral control with respectively environmental knowledge and perceived consumer effectiveness, and also by extending purchase behavior to three types of purchase patterns, namely, unconditional purchase, conditional purchase and accidental purchase.

Design/methodology/approach

The interaction effect is analyzed through ANOVA, whereas path analysis is used to understand path strengths of proposed model, which is assessed through standardized regression weights and significance through p-value.

Findings

Overall, this study reveals the importance of product attributes in the decision-making process of green purchasers.

Research limitations/implications

This study deals with environmental behavior in general, and further research with a focus on specific behaviors is needed in this field investigating the rise of green consumption.

Practical implications

Product attributes play a role in the decision making of consumers willing to buy green products, and both communication and promotion of green products should integrate product attributes accordingly.

Originality/value

Worldwide, consumers are buying more and more green products, and this study leads to a better understanding of the decision-making process of consumers’ green products.

Citation

Sharma, A. and Foropon, C. (2019), "Green product attributes and green purchase behavior: A theory of planned behavior perspective with implications for circular economy", Management Decision, Vol. 57 No. 4, pp. 1018-1042. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-10-2018-1092