Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

An analysis of consumer purchase intention for energy-efficient products

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Energy Efficiency Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the Indian electricity sector, demand-side management (DSM) of energy through end-use energy efficiency improvements has a crucial role in India’s climate mitigation plan. Using energy-efficient electric appliances in the backdrop of the growing prosperity and size of the household sector has enormous potential for reducing power shortages and affecting carbon emissions in the economy. However, end-users lack the outlook on adopting energy-efficient products, and literature also reports inconsistency in attitude-behaviour linkages. This study extends the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model and explores the ethical nature of purchasing energy-efficient products. The study examines ethical consciousness for determining motivations and barriers from the buyer’s perspective vis-à-vis energy-efficient appliances. The study uses the partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique with the help of SmartPLS3 software and finds that sustainable consumption choices like the purchase of energy-efficient products are ethical and more complex. The study also shows the moderation effect on the linkage between consumer intentions and potential purchase of energy-efficient products.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdelal, R. (2005). Nationalism and international political economy in Eurasia. In Economic Nationalism in a Globalising World, Eric Helleiner and Andreas Pickel. Ithaca (ed.), NY: Cornell University Press. 21–43.

  • Abhyankar, N., & Phadke, A. (2012). Impact of large-scale energy efficiency programs on utility finances and consumer tariff in India. Energy Policy, 43, 308–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aertsens, J., Mondelaers, K., Verbeke, W., Buysse, J., & Van-Huylenbroeck, G. (2011). The influence of subjective and objective knowledge on attitude, motivations and consumption of organic food. British Food Journal, 113(1), 1353–1378. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070701111179988

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agrawal, Shalu, Sunil Mani, Abhishek Jain, and Karthik Ganesan. 2020. State of electricity access in India: Insights from the India Residential Energy Survey (IRES) 2020. New Delhi: Council on Energy, Environment and Water.

  • Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behaviour. Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albayrak, T., & AksoyCaber, S. (2013). The effect of environmental concern and scepticism on green purchase behaviour. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 31(1), 27–39. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634501311292902

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arias, C., & Trujillo, C. A. (2020). Perceived consumer effectiveness as a trigger of behavioural spillover effects: A path towards recycling. Sustainability, 12, 4348. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bamberg, S., & Möser, G. (2007). Twenty years after Hines, Hungerford, and Tomera: A new meta-analysis of psycho-social determinants of pro-environmental behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27(1), 14–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belk, R., Devinney, T., & Eckhardt, G. (2005). Consumer ethics across cultures. Consumption Markets & Culture, 8(3), 275–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhutto, M. Y., Liu, X., Soomro, Y. A., Ertz, M., & Baeshen, Y. (2021). Adoption of energy-efficient home appliances: Extending the theory of planned behavior. Sustainability, 13, 250. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boardman, B. (2004). New directions for household energy efficiency: evidence from the UK. Energy Policy, 32(17), 1921–1933.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borin, N., & Cerf, D. C. (2011). Consumer effects of environmental impact in product labelling. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 28(1), 76–86. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761111101976

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bose, A., Ramji, A., Singh, J., & Dholakia, D. (2012). A case study for sustainable development action using financial gradients. Energy Policy, 47, 79–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braga Junior, S. S., Silva, D., Gabriel, M. L. D. S., & Braga, W. R. O. (2015). The effects of environmental concern on purchase of green products in retail. Procedia Social and Behavioural Sciences, 170, 99–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brucks, M. (1985). The effects of product class knowledge on information search behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 12(1), 1–16.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Cai, S., Long, X., Li, L., Liang, H., Wang, Q., & Ding, X. (2019). Determinants of intention and behavior of low carbon commuting through bicycle-sharing in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 212, 602–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrigan, M., & Attalla, A. (2001). The myth of the ethical consumer–do ethics matter in purchase behaviour?. Journal of consumer marketing.

  • Carrington, M. J., Neville, B. A., & Whitwell, G. J. (2014). Lost in translation: Exploring the ethical consumer intention–behaviour gap. Journal of Business Research, 67(2014), 2759–2767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.09.022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, R. Y. K. (1999). Environmental attitudes and behaviour of consumers in China: Survey findings and implications. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 11(4), 25–52. https://doi.org/10.1300/J046v11n04_03

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chatzidakis, A., Smith, A., & Hibbert, S. (2006). Ethically concerned, yet unethically behaved: Towards an updated understanding of consumer’s (un) ethical decision making. ACR North American Advances.

  • Chatzidakis, A., Hibbert, S., & Smith, A. P. (2007). Why people don’t take their concerns about fair trade to the supermarket: The role of neutralisation. Journal of Business Ethics, 74(1), 89–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conner, D. S. (2004). Expressing values in agricultural markets: An economic policy perspective. Agriculture and Human Values, 21(1), 27–25. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:AHUM.0000014024.02315.1b

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Culiberg, B., & Elgaaied-Gambier, L. (2016). Going green to fit in–understanding the impact of social norms on pro-environmental behaviour, a cross-cultural approach. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 40(2), 179–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Astous, A., & Legendre, A. (2009). Understanding consumers’ ethical justifications: A scale for appraising consumers’ reasons for not behaving ethically. Journal of Business Ethics, 87(2), 255–268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9883-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Pelsmacker, P., Driesen, L., & Rayp, G. (2005). Do consumers care about ethics? Willingness to pay for fair-trade coffee. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39(2), 363–385. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2005.00019.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doane, D. (2001). Taking flight: The rapid growth of ethical consumerism, the ethical purchasing index 2001. New Economics Foundation Report for Co-operative Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Souza, C., Taghian, M., & Khosla, R. (2007). Examination of environmental beliefs and its impact on the influence of price, quality and demographic characteristics with respect to green purchase intention. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 15, 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jt.5750039

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eckhardt, G. M., Belk, R., & Devinney, T. M. (2010). Why don’t consumer behave ethically? Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 9, 426–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ET Energy World (2020). Global energy demand to continue growth with shift to renewable energy: BP, September 15. https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/renewable/global-energy-demand-to-continue-growth-with-shift-to-renewable-energy-bp/78117367

  • Feick, L., Park, C. W., & Mothersbaugh, D. L. (1992). Knowledge and knowledge of knowledge: What we know, what we think we know, and why the difference makes a difference. ACR North American Advances.

  • Flannery, B. L., & May, D. R. (2000). Environmental ethical decision making in the US metal-finishing industry. Academy of Management Journal, 43(4), 642–662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, C. W., Nonis, S., & Hudson, G. (2005). A Cross-cultural comparison of value systems and consumer ethics. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 12, 36–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganda, Fortune & Ngwakwe, C.C. (2014). Role of energy efficiency on sustainable development. Environmental Economics, 5(1), 86–99. 0000-0002-6954-8897

  • Geisser, S. (1974). A predictive approach to the random effect model. Biometrika, 61(1), 101–107.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Gran, C., Wee, H.Y., Ozanne, L., & Kao, Tzu-Hui (2008). Consumers' purchasing behavior towards green products in New Zealand. Innovative Marketing, 4(1), 93–102. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5618-1651

  • Hair, J. F., Ortinau, D. J., & Harrison, D. E. (2010). Essentials of marketing research (Vol. 2). McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J. F., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2011). PLS-SEM: Indeed a silver bullet. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 19(2), 139–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair Jr, J. F., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Gudergan, S. P. (2017). Advanced issues in partial least squares structural equation modeling. Sage publications.

  • Hanss, D., & Doran, R. (2020). Perceived consumer effectiveness. In W., Leal Filho, A. M., Azul, L., Brandli, P.G., özuyar, & T., Wall (Eds.), Responsible consumption and production. Encyclopedia of the UN sustainable development goals (pp. 535–544). Springer.

  • He, X., & Zhan, W. (2018). How to activate moral norms to adopt electric vehicles in China? An empirical study based on extended norm activation theory. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 3546–3556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 115–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacopo, C., Francesco, T., & Francesco, R. (2018). The more I care, the less I will listen to you: How information, environmental concern and ethical production influence consumers’ attitudes and the purchasing of sustainable products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 175, 342–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jager, W. (2000). Modelling consumer behaviour. Universal Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeong, G., & Kim, Y. (2015). The effects of energy efficiency and environmental labels on appliance choice in South Korea. Energy Efficiency, 8, 559–576. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-014-9307-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, C. S. (1995). The Rokeach value survey: Underlying structure and multidimensional scaling. The Journal of Psychology, 129(5), 583–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1995.9914930

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalafatis, S. P., Pollard, M., East, R., & Tsogas, M. H. (1999). Green marketing and Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour: a cross‐market examination. Journal of consumer marketing.

  • Kang, J., Liu, C., & Kim, S.-H. (2013). Environmentally sustainable textile and apparel consumption: The role of consumer knowledge, perceived consumer effectiveness and perceived personal relevance. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 37(4), 442–452. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz and Barbash (1982). Environmental ethics and consumer choice: a conceptual case study. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 9 (Spring/Summer), 143–159.

  • Kim, Y., & Choi, S. M. (2005). Antecedents of green purchase behavior: An examination of collectivism, environmental concern, and PCE. in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32, eds. Geeta Menon and Akshay R. Rao, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, 592–599.

  • Kletzan, D., Koppl, A., Kratena, K., Schleicher, S., & Wuger, M. (2006). Toward sustainable consumption: Economic modeling of mobility and heating for Austria. Ecological Economics, 57, 608–626.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotler, P. (2011). Reinventing marketing to manage the environmental imperatives. Journal of Marketing, 75, 132–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, B. (2012). Theory of planned behaviour approach to understand the purchasing behaviour for environmentally sustainable products. http://hdl.handle.net/11718/11429

  • Law, C. (2005). Development and nationalism: An analytical model of economic growth to social preference and party system. Nebula, 2(1), 46–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leeuw, A., Valois, P., Ajzen, I., & Schmidt, P. (2015). Using the theory of planned behaviour to identify key beliefs underlying pro-environmental behaviour in high-school students Implications for educational interventions. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42(2015), 128–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.03.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liao, X., Shen, S. V., & Shi, X. (2019). The effects of behavioral intention on the choice to purchase energy-saving appliances in China: The role of environmental attitude, concern, and perceived psychological benefits in shaping intention. Energy Efficiency, 13, 33–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-019-09828-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loureiro, M. L., & Lotade, J. (2005). Do Fair Trade and Eco-labelling in Coffee Wake Up the Consumer Conscience? Ecological Economics, 53(1), 129–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNeil, M. A., Iyer, M., Meyers, S., Letschert, V. E., & McMahon, J. E. (2008). Potential benefits from improved energy efficiency of key electrical products: The case of India. Energy Policy, 36(9), 3467–3476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munerah, Siti & Kian Yeik, Koay & Thambiah, Seethaletchumy (2021). Factors influencing non-green consumers' purchase intention: A partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach, Journal of Cleaner Production. 280.

  • Öberseder, M., Schlegelmilch, B. B., & Gruber, V. (2011). “Why don’t consumers care about CSR?”: A qualitative study exploring the role of CSR in consumption decisions. Journal of Business Ethics, 104(4), 449–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papaoikonomou, E., Ryan, G., & Ginieis, M. (2011). Towards a holistic approach of the attitude behaviour gap in ethical consumer behaviours: Empirical evidence from Spain. International Advances in Economic Research, 17(1), 77–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rashid, N. A. (2009). Awareness of Eco-label in Malaysia’s Green Marketing Initiative. International Journal of Business and Management, 4(8), 132–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringle, C. M., Wende, S., & Will, A. (2015). SmartPLS 3 [Computer software]. Retrieved from http://www.smartpls.com

  • Roberts, J. A. (1996). Green Consumers in the 1990s: Profile and Implications for Advertising. Journal of Business Research, 36, 217–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saba, A., & Messina, F. (2003). Attitudes towards organic foods and risk/benefit perception associated with pesticides. Food Quality and Preference, 14(8), 637–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanfilippo, D. (2007). Catalytic industrial processes. CATALYSIS, Castalytic Industrial Process, Encyclopedia of life Support System (EOLSS), Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sapci, O., & Considine, T. (2014). The link between environmental attitudes and energy consumption behavior. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 52, 29–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schahn, J., & Holzer, E. Ž. (1990). Studies of individual environmental concern. The role of knowledge, gender, and background variables. Environment and Behaviour, 22, 767–786.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An Overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1116.

  • Selnes, F. & Gronhaug, K. (1986). "Subjective and Objective Measures of Product Knowledge Contrasted," in R. Lutz (ed.), Advances in Consumer Research, 13, Provo, Utah: ACR, 67–71.

  • Sharma, K., & Bansal, M. (2013). Environmental consciousness, its antecedents and behavioural outcomes. Journal of Indian Business Research, 5(3), 198–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, S., Durand, R. M., & Gur-Arie, O. (1981). Identification and analysis of moderator variables. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(3), 291–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, D., & Clarke, I. (1999). Belief formation in ethical consumer groups: an exploratory study. Marketing intelligence & planning.

  • Shaw, D., & Shiu, E. (2003). Ethics in consumer choice: A multivariate modelling approach. European Journal of Marketing, 37(10), 1485–1498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard, B. H., Hartwick, J., & Warshaw, P. R. (1988). The theory of reasoned action: A meta-analysis of past research with recommendations for modifications and future research. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(3), 325–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sidiquea, S., Lupi, F., & Joshi, S. V. (2010). The effects of behaviour and attitudes on drop-off recycling activities. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 54(2010), 163–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2009.07.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sparks, P., & Shepherd, R. (1992). Self-identity and the theory of planned behavior: Assesing the role of identification with" green consumerism". Social psychology quarterly, 388–399.

  • Srivastava, L., & Rehman, I. H. (2006). Energy for sustainable development in India: Linkages and strategic direction. Energy Policy, 34, 643–654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, M. (1974). Cross-validatory choice and assessment of statistical predictions. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B (Methodological), 36(2), 111–147.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Swaim, J. A., Maloni, M. J., Henley, A., & Campbell, S. (2016). Motivational influences on supply manager environmental sustainability behavior. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal.

  • Szmigin, I., Carrigan, M., & McEachern, M. G. (2009). The Conscious Consumer: Taking a Flexible Approach to Ethical Behaviour. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33, 224–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tarkiainen, A., & Sundqvist, S. (2005). Subjective norms, attitudes and intentions of Finnish consumers in buying organic food. British Food Journal, 107(11), 808–822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S., & Todd, P. (1995). Decomposition and crossover effects in the theory of planned behavior: A study of consumer adoption intentions. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 12(2), 137–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsen, Chyong-Huey, Phang, G., Hasan, H., & Buncha, M. R. (2006). Going green: A study of consumers' willingness to pay for green products in Kota Kinabalu. International Journal of Business and Society, 7(2), 40–54. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/going-green-study-consumers-willingness-pay/docview/275111447/se2?Accountid=10461

  • van Ruijven, B. J., Van Vuuren, D. P., De Vries, B. J., Isaac, M., Van Der Sluijs, J. P., Lucas, P. L., & Balachandra, P. (2011). Model projections for household energy use in India. Energy Policy, 39(12), 7747–7761.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermeir, I., & Verbeke, W. (2006). Sustainable food consumption: Exploring the consumer attitude-behavioural intention gap. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 19(2), 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waris, I., & Hameed, I. (2020). Promoting environmentally sustainable consumption behaviour: An empirical evaluation of purchase intention of energy-efficient appliances. Energy Efficiency, 13, 1653–1664. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-020-09901-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei, C. F., Chiang, C. T., Kou, T. C., & Lee, B. C. (2017). Toward sustainable livelihoods: Investigating the drivers of purchase behaviour for green products. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26(5), 626–639.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie, C., Bagozzi, R. P., & Grønhaug, K. (2015). The role of moral emotions and individual differences in consumer responses to corporate green and non-green actions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(3), 333–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zainudin, N. (2013). Attitudes Towards Energy Efficient Products: The Influence of Eco- Literacy And Social Influence. Wcik E-Journal of Integration Knowledge, 117–124.

Download references

Funding

This research was supported by University of Delhi.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kavita Sharma.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declares no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sharma, K. An analysis of consumer purchase intention for energy-efficient products. Energy Efficiency 15, 64 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-022-10072-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-022-10072-7

Keywords

Navigation