An exploration into gender differences in Chinese consumers’ green purchase intention
Abstract
With the expansion of green consumption across the whole world, this research seeks to explore the crucial determinants influencing individuals' green purchase intentions and the gender differences in the antecedents of consumers’ green purchase intention. An extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) serves as the theoretical framework for this study. The extension was implemented by introducing three new variables: environmental concern (EC), environmental knowledge (EK), and perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE). Data of the study was gathered through a questionnaire survey method and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings suggest that consumers' environmental attitudes, environmental concern, subjective norm, and perceived consumer effectiveness all positively influence their intention to purchase eco-friendly products and services. However, the impact of environmental knowledge on individuals' green purchase intention was surprisingly found to be negative. In terms of the gender differences in the determinants of green purchase intention, women usually show more positive environmental attitude than man while man tend to possess more environmental knowledge compared to women. No apparent gender differences were found in environmental concern, subjective norm and perceived consumer effectiveness. Based on the results, this paper suggests that companies must redouble their efforts in developing their sustainable marketing strategy to meet the needs of customers who increasingly prioritize sustainability today. With the expansion of green consumption across the whole world, this research seeks to explore the crucial determinants influencing individuals' green purchase intentions and the gender differences in the antecedents of consumers’ green purchase intention. An extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) serves as the theoretical framework for this study. The extension was implemented by introducing three new variables: environmental concern (EC), environmental knowledge (EK), and perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE). Data of the study was gathered through a questionnaire survey method and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings suggest that consumers' environmental attitudes, environmental concern, subjective norm, and perceived consumer effectiveness all positively influence their intention to purchase eco-friendly products and services. However, the impact of environmental knowledge on individuals' green purchase intention was surprisingly found to be negative. In terms of the gender differences in the determinants of green purchase intention, women usually show more positive environmental attitude than man while man tend to possess more environmental knowledge compared to women. No apparent gender differences were found in environmental concern, subjective norm and perceived consumer effectiveness. Based on the results, this paper suggests that companies must redouble their efforts in developing their sustainable marketing strategy to meet the needs of customers who increasingly prioritize sustainability today.