Is Green the New Black? : Identifying factors that influence green purchase behaviourin a cross-country comparison study

Abstract

Promoting green consumer behaviour among societies can decrease the negative traits hu-mans leave on this earth. Through green consumer behaviour, policy-makers can minimize the negative impact of consumption on the environment. The research related to green consumption behaviour in European countries including younger generations is rare. Therefore, the researcher conducted this study to identify factors that influence green purchase behaviour in a cross-comparison study. It will enhance the understanding of green purchase decisions. This study explores personal factors through the theory of planned behaviour and cultural factors with an adaption of the six Hofstede dimensions. The research is quantitative and follows a deductive approach. Moreover, the purpose of this research is of exploratory and descriptive nature. First, a theoretical framework was developed by an in-depth analysis of recent literature. Data collection was executed through a web-based survey in Germany and Finland. The survey was spread in different Facebook groups, on the campus and around WhatsApp groups. Analyzed was the data through SPSS and AMOS 26.0 software. A sample of 176 useable respondents answered 43 questions, through the statistical instrument structural equation modeling (SEM) the strength between constructs was measured. The findings of this study suggest that the constructs of the theory of planned behaviour are partly applicable. Two constructs exerted a high influence on the green purchase intention, namely attitude about green products and knowledge of green products. Confirming that if a consumer has more knowledge or a positive attitude about green products the intention to buy green products is higher, which in turn impacts the green consumer behaviour positively. Adding to this, a positive green purchase intention has a positive impact on green consumer behaviour, targeting this intention through the before mentioned constructs can be an effective way of increasing green consumption. Moreover, the findings showed that all cultural dimensions did not have a significant influence on the green purchase intention. However, interesting new outlooks can be determined when comparing the tendencies resulting from this questionnaire and the original Hofstede questionnaire. It adds to the existing literature in researching the younger generation Y and Z which will be the next generation of possible green consumers. Furthermore, it enhances the understanding of cross-cultural consumer behaviour research. This study used theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and further attempted to include important constructs such as knowledge and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in the TPB model for understanding consumer behaviour towards green products.