Investigating factors influencing consumer decision making while choosing green products
Abstract There are multiple indicators known to researchers influencing consumer's knowledge, commitment, and general awareness of consumers regarding green products. However, there is lack of structural constructs defining how these indicators interact with different dimensions of consumers' green consciousness while choosing green products. This research investigates the influence of consumers' knowledge, commitment, and general awareness related to green products on their green consciousness while making decisions for buying green products. Consumers visiting four shopping malls in the city of Athens have been sampled based on their choice of green food products and requested to fill a self assessment card. A structural construct is presented in this research using data collected from 253 respondents visiting four shopping malls in Athens. The techniques used are Principal Component Analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. The outcome of the research is a construct showing the influence of 15 indicators reflecting consumers' knowledge, commitment, and general awareness of consumers about green products on four domains of their green consciousness: environmental benefits, economic benefits, green reliability, and green appearance. The construct divides the indicators into general awareness, knowledge, and commitment of consumers and presents their interactions with the four consciousness domains. The model presents how consumers make use of their general awareness of, knowledge of, and commitment to green products in shaping their overall consciousness about environmental benefits, economic benefits, green reliability, and green appearance such that they can make a decision for purchasing a green product. This research value adds to the limited empirical knowledge base on structural constructs showing interactions among key variables in influencing consumers' green consciousness and decision making for purchasing products with green attributes. The model also clarifies how consumers weigh environmental and economical benefits while choosing green products. The structural construct is a useful addition to the existing constructs helpful for green labelers and marketers in their strategies for promoting green products. The only limitation of the research is that the construct has been formed based on data collected from consumers in one city (Athens) However, the consumers sampled are general consumers of household consumables that purchase a few green products among their regular purchases.