Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Predicting eco-conscious consumer behavior using theory of planned behavior in Pakistan

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sustainability of the environment has become pivotal in the modern world, and there have been enormous efforts by the world leaders and organizations to reduce the effects of hazardous production on the environment. This has led companies to implement pro-environment programs and work on sustainability to shift consumption from conventional products to green products. This study incorporates green trust, environmental concerns, and intrinsic religious orientation as a moderator into the theory of planned behavior. It aims to validate the theory of planned behavior and its extended form to predict Pakistani consumers’ eco-conscious behavior, and simultaneously assess the moderating effect of intrinsic religious orientation on consumers’ attitude towards green products. The data for the study was collected from 300 respondents through purposive sampling from Karachi, the metropolitan city of Pakistan. Structural equation model (SEM) was applied to test the proposed hypotheses. The results of SEM indicate that all paths in the model are significant, except the path from attitude towards green products to eco-conscious behavior. The results also indicate that intrinsic religious orientation has no moderating effect on the green trust and attitude towards green products. This study contributes to understand the effects of new constructs in the theory of planned behavior and their relationship with other variables in the model. It also provides theoretical and managerial implications to academics and marketing professionals for understanding and promoting eco-conscious consumer behavior.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agan Y, Acar MF, Borodin A (2013) Drivers of environmental processes and their impact on performance: a study of Turkish SMEs. J Clean Prod 51:23–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen I (1991) The theory of planned behavior. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 50:179–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen I, Fishbein M (1980) Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

  • Albayrak T, Aksoy S, Caber M (2013) The effect of environmental concern and scepticism on green purchase behaviour. Mark Intell Plan 31:27–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson L, Rosenthal S (2014) Signaling the green sell: the influence of eco-label source, argument specificity, and product involvement on consumer trust. J Advert 43:33–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey AA, Mishra A, Tiamiyu MF (2016) Green consumption values and Indian consumers’ response to marketing communications. J Consum Mark 33:562–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker EW, Al-Gahtani SS, Hubona GS (2007) The effects of gender and age on new technology implementation in a developing country: testing the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Inform Technol Peopl 20:352–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura A, Adams NE, Hardy AB, Howells GN (1980) Tests of the generality of self-efficacy theory. Cogn Ther Res 4:39–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bekin C, Carrigan M, Szmigin I (2006) Empowerment, waste and new consumption communities. Int J Sociol Soc Policy 26:32–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg C (2002) Influences on schoolchildren's dietary selection: focus on fat and fibre at breakfast. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Göteborg

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan ES-W (2014) Green marketing: hotel customers’ perspective. J Travel Tour Mark 31:915–936

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang H, Tsai H, Yeh S (2014) Evaluation of green hotel guests' behavioral intention. Advances in Hospitality and Leisure 10(10):75–89

  • Chekima et al (2016) Examining green consumerism motivational drivers: does premium price and demographics matter to green purchasing? J Clean Prod 112:3436–3450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen SY, Chang CH (2013) Greenwash and green trust: the mediation effects of green consumer confusion and green perceived risk. J Bus Ethics 114:489–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen YS, Chang CH (2012) Enhance green purchase intentions: the roles of green perceived value, green perceived risk, and green trust. Manag Decis 50:502–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen MF, Tung PJ (2014) Developing an extended theory of planned behavior model to predict consumers’ intention to visit green hotels. Int J Contemp Hosp Manag 36:221–230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Choi Y (2010) Religion, religiosity, and South Korean consumer switching behaviors. J Consum Behav 9:157–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conner M, Armitage CJ (1998) Extending the theory of planned behaviour: a review and avenues for further research. J Appl Soc Psychol 28:1429–1464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronin JJ, Smith JS, Gleim MR, Ramirez E, Martinez JD (2010) Green marketing strategies: an examination of stakeholders and the opportunities they present. J Acad Mark Sci 39:158–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies J, Foxall GR, Pallister J (2002) Beyond the intention-behavior mythology: an integrated model of recycling. Mark Theor 2:29–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dean M, Raats MM, Shepherd R (2012) The role of self-identity, past behavior, and their interaction in predicting intention to purchase fresh and processed organic food. J Appl Soc Psychol 42:669–688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Jong GF, Faulkner JE, Warland RH (1976) Dimensions of religiosity reconsidered; evidence from a cross-cultural study. Soc Forces 54:866–889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delener N (1994) Religious contrasts in consumer decision behaviour patterns: their dimensions and marketing implications. Eur J Mark 28:36–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dekhil F, Boulebech H, Bouslama N (2017) Effect of religiosity on luxury consumer behavior: the case of the Tunisian Muslim. J Islam Mark 8:74–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delmas MA, Lessem N (2017) Eco-premium or eco-penalty? Eco-labels and quality in the organic wine market. Bus Soc 56:318–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Distefan JM, Gilpin EA, Choi WS, Pierce JP (1998) Parental influences predict adolescent smoking in the United States 1989–1993. J Adolesc Health 22:466–474

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Donahue MJ (1985) Intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness: the empirical research. J Sci Study Relig 24:418–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • do Paço AM, Reis R (2012) Factors affecting skepticism toward green advertising. J Advert 41:147–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D'Souza C, Taghian M, Sullivan-Mort G, Gilmore A (2015) An evaluation of the role of green marketing and a firm’s internal practices for environmental sustainability. J Strat Market 23:600–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engelland BT (2014) Religion, humanism, marketing, and the consumption of socially responsible products, services, and ideas: introduction to a special topic section. J Bus Res 67:1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrag DA, Hassan M (2015) The influence of religiosity on egyptian muslim youths’ attitude towards fashion. J Islam Mark 6:95–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Felix R, Braunsberger K (2016) I believe therefore I care the relationship between religiosity, environmental attitudes, and green product purchase in Mexico. Int Mark Rev 33:137–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornell C, Larcker DF (1981) Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: algebra and statistics. J Mark Res 18:382–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gefen D, Straub DW, Boudreau MC (2000) Structural equation modelling and regression: guidelines for research practice. Communications of the Association for Information Systems 4(7):1–78

  • Gordon R, Carrigan M, Hastings G (2011) A framework for sustainable marketing. Mark Theor 11:143–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green T, Peloza J (2014) Finding the right shade of green: the effect of advertising appeal type on environmentally friendly consumption. J Advert 43:128–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimmer M, Bingham T (2013) Company environmental performance and consumer purchase intentions. J Bus Res 66:1945–1953

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair JF, Anderson R, Tatham R, Black W (1998) Multivariate data analysis, 5th edn. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA

  • Hair JF, Sarstedt M, Ringle CM, Mena JA (2012) An assessment of the use of partial least squares structural equation modelling in marketing research. J Acad Mark Sci 40:414–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hameed I, Siddiqui SJ, Husain J (2015) Disparagement as a processing stimulus for humor in advertising. IBT J Bus Stud 11:82–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Han H, Kim Y (2010) An investigation of green hotel customers' decision formation: developing an extended model of the theory of planned behavior. Int J Hosp Manag 29:659–668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Han H, Yoon HJ (2015) Hotel customers’ environmentally responsible behavioral intention: impact of key constructs on decision in green consumerism. Int J Contemp Hosp Manag 45:22–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Han S, Lone MA, Schneiter R, Chang A (2010) Orm1 and Orm2 are conserved endoplasmic reticulum membrane proteins regulating lipid homeostasis and protein quality control. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:5851–5856

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann P, Ibáñez VA (2012) Consumer attitude and purchase intention toward green energy brands: the roles of psychological benefits and environmental concern. J Bus Res 65:1254–1263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassan SH (2014) The role of Islamic values on green purchase intention. J Islam Mark 5:379–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haws KL, Winterich KP, Naylor RW (2014) Seeing the world through GREEN-tinted glasses: green consumption values and responses to environmentally friendly products. J Consum Psychol 24:336–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honkanen P, Young JA (2015) What determines British consumers’ motivation to buy sustainable seafood? Br Food J 117:1289–1302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jianfeng L, Hongping L, Lanying D (2009) The effect of religiosity on shopping behavior: an exploratory study during the transitional period in China. 2009 International Conference on Information Management, Innovation Management and Industrial Engineering 2:31–34

  • Johnson BR, Jang SJ, Larson DB, De Li S (2001) Does adolescent religious commitment matter? A reexamination of the effects of religiosity on delinquency. J Res Crime Delinq 38:22–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalafatis SP, Pollard M, East R, Tsogas MH (1999) Green marketing and Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour: a cross-market examination. J Consum Mark 16:441–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan SAR, Qianli D (2017) Impact of green supply chain management practices on firms’ performance: an empirical study from the perspective of Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:16829–16844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khare A (2015) Antecedents to green buying behaviour: a study on consumers in an emerging economy. Mark Intell Plan 33:309–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotchen MJ, Reiling SD (2000) Environmental attitudes, motivations, and contingent valuation of nonuse values: a case study involving endangered species. Ecol Econ 32:93–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonidou CN, Katsikeas CS, Morgan NA (2013) Greening the marketing mix: do firms do it and does it pay off? J Acad Mark Sci 41:151–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis MA, Neighbors C (2006) Social norms approaches using descriptive drinking norms education: a review of the research on personalized normative feedback. J Am Coll Heal 54:213–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martens MP, Page JC, Mowry ES, Damann KM, Taylor KK, Cimini MD (2006) Differences between actual and perceived student norms: an examination of alcohol use, drug use, and sexual behavior. J Am Coll Heal 54:295–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez P (2015) Customer loyalty: exploring its antecedents from a green marketing perspective. Int J Contemp Hosp Manag 27:896–917

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthes J, Wonneberger A (2014) The skeptical green consumer revisited: testing the relationship between green consumerism and skepticism toward advertising. J Advert 43:115–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mokhlis S (2006) The effect of religiosity on shopping orientation: an exploratory study in Malaysia. J Am Acad Bus 9:64–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Moser AK (2015) Thinking green, buying green? Drivers of pro-environmental purchasing behavior. J Consum Mark 32:167–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mostafa MM (2007) A hierarchical analysis of the green consciousness of the Egyptian consumer. Psychol Mark 24:445–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mowen J, Minor M (1997) Consumer behavior. 5th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc

  • Muhamad N, Mizerski D (2010) The constructs mediating religions' influence on buyers and consumers. J Islam Mark 1:124–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagaraju DB, Thejaswini HD (2014) Consumers' perception analysis-market awareness towards ecofriendly fmcg products-a case study of Mysore district. J Bus Manag 16:64–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Njoh AJ, Akiwumi FA (2012) The impact of religion on women empowerment as a millennium development goal in Africa. Soc Indic Res 107:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Numally JC (1978) Psychometric theory. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Oh H, Hsu CHC (2001) Volitional degrees of gambling behaviors. Ann Tour Res 28:618–637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul J, Modi A, Patel J (2016) Predicting green product consumption using theory of planned behavior and reasoned action. Soc Indic Res 29:123–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Perugini M, Bagozzi R (2001) The role of desires and anticipated emotions in goal-directed behaviours: broadening and deepening the theory of planned behaviour. Br J Soc Psychol 40:79–98

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Polonsky MJ (2011) Transformative green marketing: impediments and opportunities. J Bus Res 64:1311–1319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polonsky MJ, Vocino A, Grimmer M, Miles MP (2014) The interrelationship between temporal and environmental orientation and pro-environmental consumer behaviour. Int J Consum Stud 38:612–619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahnama H, Rajabpour S (2016) Identifying effective factors on consumers’ choice behavior toward green products: the case of Tehran, the capital of Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:911–925

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rettie R, Burchell K, Riley D (2012) Normalising green behaviours: a new approach to sustainibility marketing. J Mark Manag 28:420–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringle CM, Wende S, Will A (2005) Smart PLS 2.0 M3. University of Hamburg, Hamburg

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritter AM, Borchardt M, Vaccaro GL, Pereira GM, Almeida F (2015) Motivations for promoting the consumption of green products in an emerging country: exploring attitudes of Brazilian consumers. J Clean Prod 106:507–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Routhe AS, Robert J, David F (2005) Using theory to understand public support for collective actions that impact the environment: alleviating water supply problems in a nonarid biome. Soc Sci Q 86:874–897

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider H, Krieger J, Bayraktar A (2011) The impact of intrinsic religiosity on consumers’ ethical beliefs: does it depend on the type of religion? A comparison of Christian and Moslem consumers in Germany and Turkey. J Bus Res 102:319–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheth JN, Sethia NK, Srinivas S (2011) Mindful consumption: a customer-centric approach to sustainability. J Acad Mark Sci 39:21–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sood J, Nasu Y (1995) Religiosity and nationality: an exploratory study of their effect on consumer behavior in Japan and the United States. J Bus Res 34:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suki NM, Suki NM (2015) Does religion influence consumers’ green food consumption? Some insights from Malaysia. J Consum Mark 32:551–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suki NM (2016) Green product purchase intention: impact of green brands, attitude, and knowledge. Brit Food J 118:2893–2910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tarkiainen A, Sundqvist S (2005) Subjective norms, attitudes and intentions of Finnish consumers in buying organic food. Brit Food J 107:808–822

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor S, Todd PA (1995) Understanding information technology usage: a test of competing models. Inf Syst Res 6:144–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Testa F, Iraldo F, Vaccari A, Ferrari E (2015) Why eco-labels can be effective marketing tools: evidence from a study on Italian consumers. Bus Strateg Environ 24:252–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thogersen J, Haugaard P, Olesen A (2010) Consumer responses to ecolabels. Eur J Mark 44:1787–1810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urbach N, Ahlemann F (2010) Structural equation modeling in information systems research using partial least squares. J Inf Technol Theory Appl 11:5–40

    Google Scholar 

  • van Birgelen M, Semeijn J, Keicher M (2009) Packaging and proenvironmental consumption behavior: investigating purchase and disposal decisions for beverages. Environment and Behavior 41(1):125–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916507311140

  • Wei CF, Chiang CT, Kou TC, Lee BC (2017) Toward sustainable livelihoods: investigating the drivers of purchase behavior for green products. Bus Strateg Environ 26:626–639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie C, Bagozzi RP, Grønhaug K (2015) The role of moral emotions and individual differences in consumer responses to corporate green and non-green actions. J Acad Mark Sci 43:333–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yadav R, Dokania AK, Pathak GS (2016) The influence of green marketing functions in building corporate image: evidences from hospitality industry in a developing nation. Int J Contemp Hosp Manag 28:2178–2196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeniaras V (2016) Unpacking the relationship between materialism, status consumption and attitude to debt: the role of Islamic religiosity. J Islam Mark 7:232–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Y, Thogersen J, Ruan Y, Huang G (2013) The moderating role of human values in planned behavior: the case of Chinese consumers' intention to buy organic food. J Consum Mark 30:335–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zinkhan GM, Carlson L (1995) Green advertising and the reluctant consumer. J Advert 24:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, Iqra University, Karachi, Pakistan

    Irfan Hameed & Mirza Amin ul Haq

  2. Management Sciences University of Turbat, Turbat, Pakistan

    Idrees Waris

Authors
  1. Irfan Hameed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Idrees Waris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mirza Amin ul Haq
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Irfan Hameed.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Muhammad Shahbaz

Publisher’s note

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

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hameed, I., Waris, I. & Amin ul Haq, M. Predicting eco-conscious consumer behavior using theory of planned behavior in Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 15535–15547 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04967-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04967-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation