Sustainable consumption: green consumer behaviour when purchasing products

Sustainable Development - Tập 18 Số 1 - Trang 20-31 - 2010
William Young1, Kumju Hwang2, Seonaidh McDonald3, Caroline Oates4
1Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, UK
2Department of Business Administration, College of Business Administration, Chonnam National University, South Korea
3Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, UK
4Management School, University of Sheffield, UK

Tóm tắt

AbstractThe ‘attitude–behaviour gap’ or ‘values–action gap’ is where 30% of consumers report that they are very concerned about environmental issues but they are struggling to translate this into purchases. For example, the market share for ethical foods remains at 5 per cent of sales. This paper investigates the purchasing process for green consumers in relation to consumer technology products in the UK. Data were collected from 81 self‐declared green consumers through in depth interviews on recent purchases of technology products. A green consumer purchasing model and success criteria for closing the gap between green consumers' values and their behaviour are developed. The paper concludes that incentives and single issue labels (like the current energy rating label) would help consumers concentrate their limited efforts. More fundamentally, ‘being green’ needs time and space in people's lives that is not available in increasingly busy lifestyles. Implications for policy and business are proposed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

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Sustainable Development

Tập 18 Số 1

20-31

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