Gender differences in Hong Kong adolescent consumers' green purchasing behavior

This paper aims to examine how gender differs in environmental attitude, environmental concern, perceived seriousness of environmental problems, perceived environmental responsibility, peer influence, self identity in environmental protection and green purchasing behavior in Hong Kong adolescent consumers.

A total of 6,010 (2,975 males and 3,035 females) adolescents in Hong Kong were recruited through multi‐staged random sampling. Surveys were distributed through 48 high schools in Hong Kong.

Female adolescents scored significantly higher in environmental attitude, environmental concern, perceived seriousness of environmental problems, perceived environmental responsibility, peer influence and green purchasing behavior than male adolescents in Hong Kong. In contrast, male adolescents' average score on self‐identity in environmental protection was significantly higher than that of the female adolescents.

A major limitation lies in the self‐reported nature of survey used in the study. Future study should include some objective assessments (such as observations or other‐reported survey) of the subjects' green purchasing and environmental behaviors.

This study should provide a useful source of information for international green marketers in Hong Kong. Hong Kong female adolescents constitute a potentially good market for green products. Marketing messages targeting this group should use emotional appeals, emphasize individual responsibility to protect the environment, and facilitate peer networking to spread good word‐of‐mouth.

This paper offers practical guidelines to international green marketers who are planning to target the Asian markets.