CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

The present chapter includes the review of literature which has been divided
into three sections i.e green products scenario in the country, consumers’
perception towards green products and factors affecting consumer purchase
decision towards green products. It also includes the research gap, research
questions, objectives, hypotheses, research methodology and limitations of the
present study.

The review of the existing literature carried out to find out the various
aspects and key issues related to present study and also find out the gap that
exists between previous studies conducted in and outside the country and the
study being carried out:

 Studies on Green Products in Indian Context

 Studies on Consumers’ Perception towards Green Products
 Studies on Consumer Purchase Decision of Green Products

2.1 Studies on Green Products in Indian Context

Green marketing orientation is defined as the extension of marketing

orientation in an environmental context (Stone and Wakefield, 2000). The
concept is adopted by the companies who realize their responsibilities towards
the natural environment (Miles and Munilla, 1993). Merilanen, Moisander &
Personen (2000) concluded that in the western countries the environmental
management systems and green marketing programmes increasingly gained
importance, they are viewed as a cost-efficient and effective in environmental
protection and it is also argued that these optimistic views are based on a
number of ideas, images and descriptions that are contrary with long-term
goals of environmental protection.
 Companies that are adopting green marketing faced a number of
challenges like changes in consumer preferences, suspicion of green
advertising claim, unfavourable consumer perception of green products and
the high cost invested in developing green products (Chen and Cha, 2010) but
in spite of these issues companies are launching new range of products which
are eco-friendly to environment, reusable, energy efficient, made with
recycled materials or delivered in eco-responsible packaging or containers
(Lampo and Leong, 2014).

Jain and Kaur (2004) concluded that environmentalism has fast

emerged as a worldwide phenomenon and business organizations are also
start adopting this phenomenon and formulating green marketing strategies to
gain competitive advantage. Green consumerism has played a catalytic role in
ushering corporate environmentalism and making business firms green
marketing oriented. Manju (2012) found that Green consumers play a
significant role in the adoption of the green concept by the business firms.
Mohanasundaram (2012) concluded that social responsibility, government
pressure, competitive pressure and cost reduction are the reasons for adopting
green marketing concept by the companies.

Nadaf and Nadaf (2012) empirically studied that companies are

adopting the concept of green marketing to reduce the impact of products and
services on the environment. The consumers are also showing keen interest
regarding the green products and efforts of the companies but still the concept
green marketing is in its infancy stage.

Sarkar (2012) concluded that green marketing should not be considered

as an approach to marketing, but has to be pursued with much greater vigor,
as it has both environmental and social dimension. Green marketing should
become a norm rather than a marketing strategy by the companies.

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 Sheth and Sheth (2012) examined that green marketing is still in its
infancy and a lot of research has to be done on green marketing to fully
explore its potential.

Shil (2012) empirically studied that the word eco-friendly has become
a marketing strategies for companies and the concept of green marketing are
gaining attention day by day. The marketer should not consider the green
marketing as an approach to earn high profit, they should feel their
responsibility towards the protection of the environment and at the same
marketers also have the accountability to make consumers understand the
need for and benefits of green products as compared to non-green ones.

Shrikanth and Raju (2012) revealed the actual meaning of Green

Marketing and how companies can gain competitive advantages by using
green marketing strategies and describe the challenges and opportunities
involve with businesses firms regarding green marketing and concludes that
green marketing is in its birth stage will continuously grow in both practice
and demand.

Singh (2013) concluded that the concept of green marketing and green
products are still in its developing stage, although the government and many
companies are making efforts to aware the peoples about the green marketing
and green products available in the market. Majority of the consumers favour
green marketing concept as well as green product but it is important to
develop appropriate and affordable technologies so that green products should
not be costly as well as easily available in the market.

Singh (2013) examined that the green marketing is a long run concept
and it will continuously grow with the increasing awareness of the business as
well as consumers.

Sivesan, Achchuthan and Umanakenan (2013) concluded that Green

marketing practices (product, price, promotion and place) are positively
associated with customer satisfaction.

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 Banerji and Dubey (2014) revealed the current scenario of green
marketing in India, different green marketing initiatives and the problems
faced in the mission of GO GREEN, particularly in Indian market and found
that today consumers are very much concerned about climatic changes, and
also suggested that green marketing is in its infancy stage & requires a lot of
research work needs to be done by the Indian companies in the future.

Ghodeswar and Kumar (2014) concluded that green marketing

orientation is significantly determined by recycling practices, responsible
sourcing practices, product design innovation, responsible advertising
practices, and green communication practices, building green product
credibility, price setting behaviour, consumer engagement practices, and
ethical standards. Green marketing-oriented companies should develop an
organisational vision for the environment and a long-term focus that enable
them to create customer value, to strategically manage their customer
relations and to gain competitive advantage in the market.

Gupta et al., (2014) carried out a study on the present scenario of

Indian market and find out the challenges and opportunities that businesses
have with green marketing, understand awareness of consumers’ towards
green marketing and green branding along with exploring the concept of
green marketing and give a thought to the marketer to adopt green marketing
techniques. Manian and Ashwin (2014) examined that Green marketing is not
an easy concept for any organisation, a lot of research has to be carried on by
the organisation to accept this concept. Green marketing may not be easy in
the short run, but in the long run it will definitely have a positive impact on
the firm. Majority of the organisation are adopting this concept because of
opportunity, social responsibility, Govt. Pressure, competitive edge and cost
reduction.

Modi (2014) investigate the segments of green consumers and the

challenges and opportunities businesses have with green marketing, reasons
why companies are adopting it and future of green marketing and conclude

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that green marketing is something that will continuously grow in both practice
and demand.

Sara and Madhumita (2014) carried out the conceptual study of the
initiatives of few selected companies towards green marketing in India and
abroad and found that various practices are made by companies for promoting
green environment and also working toward increasing awareness level and
their perception towards environment. While most of the companies have
adopted green marketing as a part of their strategy in order to create brand
image, gain the notice of the consumers.

Elemeen (2015) concluded that green marketing is not just an

environmental protection tool but also a marketing strategy and developing
green product marketing strategies is helping for enhancing green awareness,
and for promoting the protection of the environment.

Sharma and Singh (2015) concluded that the green marketing occupy
an important place in the marketing strategies of the companies as consumers
are becoming more sensitive towards environment, and their concern towards
environment which reflected in their purchase decision. Kharde (2016)
concluded that in India, the concept of green marketing is in its developing
stage, with increasing environmental problems day by day, it is important that
green marketing should become the norm rather than an exception or just a
fad.

Gupta, Singh and Thakur (n.d) concluded that majority of the business
organizations have directed their marketing efforts towards green marketing
and also accepting it as a part of marketing strategy. Awareness level of the
consumers help the companies in launching the green products in the market,
but at the same time companies must be aware of the fact that the consumers
would purchase green products and will behave environmentally only if they
believe that their action contributes in environment protection.

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 Shukla and Gupta (n.d) concluded that business have increased their
rate of targeting green consumers, those who are concerned for the
environment and allow it to affecting their purchase decision. Green
marketing is a new concept, although green products have lot of advantages
but still majority of the consumers are unaware about them and even do not
know how purchasing of green product saves environment. The green
movements required a lot of time and efforts and it is essential that it should
reach the masses. (Tiwari, nd).

Tiwari, Tripathi, Srivastava & Yadav (2011) empirically studied that

the companies adopting green concept should enlarged their activities such as
reducing toxics, recycling and managing water. In developing countries,
majority of the consumers prefer to spend more on green products.

Kaur (2017) examined that majority of the companies used green

marketing as a tool to create an image in the eyes of the consumers that they
are eco-friendly and produce green products. The companies are adopting the
concept of green marketing at a very high speed in order to maintain a balance
between the consumers demand and its impact on the environment.

2.2 Studies on Consumers’ Perception towards Green Products

Studies related to consumers’ perception towards green products have

been categorized into five variables (Eco-label, price, quality, place and
promotion) to be used to determine the perception of the consumers towards
green products in the present study

a. Eco-label
Eco-labels is defined as the combined overall environmental
performance of the product (Giridhar, 1998) and are used as a marketing
strategy by the marketer for the product identification in the market (D'Souza,
Taghian, and Lamb, 2006) as well as an effective way of communicating to
the customer, the specific benefits and attributes of the product and the claim

36
of safety (D’ Souza, Taghian, Lamb and Peretiatkos, 2006). Eco-label is an
important marketing tool to overcome market failure due to information
asymmetries between sellers and buyers of environmental friendly products
(Sammer and Wustenhagen, 2006).

Loureiro, Mccluskey and Mittelhammer (2002) concluded that female

respondents with children and female with strong environmental and food
safety concerns are more likely to pay a premium for eco-labeled apples. The
factors (Values, beliefs/knowledge, needs, motivations, attitudes,
demographics) and intervening variables (eco-labels and consumer backlash)
usually drive choice of green purchase; hence the marketers should pay more
attention to these inputs and interventions that affect process of customer
choice (Bui, 2005).

Rashid (2009) explore that consumers respond in a positive manner

towards green marketing and purchase of green product when they are aware
about the eco-label and still there is a need to identify the impact of eco
labeling will have directly on the consumer environmental attitude in terms of
decision making. The awareness level of the consumers regarding eco
labeling and its impact on consumer intention to buy green products has been
researched and conflicting views have been expressed (Rashid, 2009; Lyer,
1999).

Kavaliauske, Vaskiv and Seimiene (2013) investigate the perceptions

of consumers for Lithuanian ecological label “Ekologinis žemės ūkis” in
Lithuanian. The result revealed that consumers positively perceived eco-label
“Ekologinis žemės ūkis”. Delafrooz, Taleghani and Nouri (2014) studied the
impact of green marketing tools such as eco-label, eco-brand and
environmental advertisement on purchase behaviour of consumer in Tehran
city. 384 respondents have been selected through cluster analysis and the data
was analyzed using the Spearman correlation test and multiple regression
analysis. The results show that eco-brand have no significant influence

37
whereas environmental advertisement had the most significant effect on
consumer purchasing behavior.

Kong et al., 2014 explore the influence of consumers’ perception of

green products on green purchase intention. The result reveals that Eco- label
have positive significant impact on green purchase intention. Eco-label is
considered as an effective means in the identification of eco–friendly FMCG
products and majority of the consumers purchase decision changes when the
products have eco label (Nagaraju and Thejaswini, 2014).

b. Price

Price is defines as the money the consumer pay in exchange for the
product(Burrow, 2008).Consumers do not purchase green products because
they are of view that it is expensive in nature (Bukhari, 2011). Manaktola and
Jauhari (2007) concluded that consumers appreciate and prefer to use lodging
that follows green practices but are not willing to pay extra for these services
and Indian hotels have the competitive advantage if they adopt green
practices. Wanninayake and Randiwela (2008) scrutinize the attitudes and
perceptions of consumer towards eco- friendly products in FMCG sector and
their eagerness to pay on green products by considering four areas such as
product designing, packaging, place and promotion that leads towards the
motivation of consumption. The study exhibits that the Sri Lankan customers
have considerable awareness regarding green products and are ready to pay
something extra for green products.

Oliver, Volschenk & Smit (2011) concluded that a significant positive

link between household income and willingness to pay for green electricity
and also found that not only are higher income households more likely to pay
a premium, but typically they are also willing to pay a bigger premium.
Ahamed and Ravi (2012) examine the attitudes and perceptions of consumers’
towards eco- friendly products in FMCG sector and their willingness to pay

38
on green products by considering four elements such as product designing,
packaging, place and promotion in Krishnagiri District, Tamilnadu. The
results exhibits that the consumers’ of Krishnagiri District have a significant
awareness for green products and they are ready to pay extra price.

Islam and Zabin (2013) investigated the consumers’ attitude toward

green food in Bangladesh through a survey of 50 respondents in Dhaka city
through a structured questionnaire. The study reveals that consumers of
Dhaka city understand the benefits of green food, their perception is that
green food are costly than traditional food but they are ready to buy green
food if it available in market. Anvar and Venter (2014) found that price of
green product positively influence individuals’ attitudes towards green
products.

Nagaraju and Thejaswini (2014) examine the awareness and perception

of consumers’ towards eco-friendly products of FMCG sector in Mysore
district of Karnataka through structured questionnaire. The results revealed
that the consumers of Mysore district are well aware about the eco-friendly
products and their price and quality have significant relationship with
consumers’ perception as they are ready to pay more price for green products.

Sachdev and Mahna (2014) found that green product are expensive in
nature and majority of the consumers hold the view that if they are ready to
pay premium price for the green products what benefits they will get out of it
(Sen, 2014).

Agarwal and Ganesh (2016) concluded that green packaging and

environmental friendly features are the main reasons for the high price of
green product and consumers are ready to pay more to avail these benefits of
the green products. Price of the green products should be economical so that it
do not pinch the pocket of middle class, the biggest hurdle in the purchase of
green product is its high price (Sharma and Trivedi, 2016).

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c. Quality

While purchasing green product consumers give due importance to

basic factors such as quality, availability, convenience, performance, and
affordability along with the environmental feature (Ottman, 1992).

Johri and Sahasakmontri (1998) concluded that consumers purchasing

decision do not totally depend on environmental concern alone, product
features, price, quality and convenience also play an important role in the
consumers’ purchasing decision. Green consumers are not ready to
compromise in term of product quality; so organisation must focus on product
quality as well as environmental benefits of a product in order to achieve the
recognition in the market (D’Souza, Taghian & Lamb, 2006). While making
purchase decision traditional product attributes such as brand name, its price
and quality are still considered an important factor (Gan, Wee, Ozanne &
Kao, 2008).

Akter (2012) concluded that quality of product, price, environmental

safety and environmental awareness influence attitude of customer. Agyeman
(2014) concluded that significant relationship exists between quality of green
product, price, environmental concern and the buying behaviour of the
consumers. Vazifehdousta, Taleghanib, Esmaeilpourc, Nazari (2013)
identified that consumer attitude (Consumers’ environmental concern, quality
of green products, green advertising and green labeling) positively influences
green purchase intention.

Sachdev and Mahna (2014) studied attitudes and perceptions of

consumers towards eco- friendly products in FMCG sector and their keenness
to pay for green products by considering the demographical variables and the
four traditional marketing-mix elements, i.e. product, price, place and
promotion. The results revealed that the quality of eco- friendly products is
not satisfactory in comparison to their price.

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 Sheikh, Mirza, Aftab and Asghar (2014) highlighted that there is a
strong positive relationship between consumer green behaviour and price,
quality and green marketing while brand and gender difference has very weak
relationship with consumer green behaviour.

Gumeni, Shalari & Mulla (2015) explored that perceived quality and
price affect the consumer decision-making process towards sustainable
products. The positive attitude towards sustainable products is not always
reflected in purchasing behaviour.

d. Place

Vernekar and Wadhwa (2011) studied the attitude and perception of

consumers towards eco-friendly products in FMCG sector and their eagerness
to pay for green products under four value added areas such as product
designing, packaging, place and promotion. Both primary and secondary data
was collected, primary data were collected among 160 respondents from the
sample survey that was conducted in the Delhi and NCR through self-
structured questionnaire. The results revealed that urban Indian consumers
have substantial awareness and are willing to pay premium price for green
products but majority of the consumers considered packaging as an important
element. Bhatia & Jain (2013) found that consumers have positive attitude
towards green products but they are also concerned with the availability and
price of green products. Islam and Zabin (2013) concluded that consumers of
Dhaka city understand the benefits of green food, their perception is that
green food are costly than traditional food but they are ready to buy green
food if it available in the market.

Suharjo, Ahmady and Ahmady (2013) found that biggest obstacle in

the purchasing of organic food is that its availability in the market, high price,
difficulty in differentiating between organic and nonorganic food. Availability
of product (When and where) in the market have a major impact on the
consumers decision, few consumers think beyond this aspect in order to

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purchase green product (Haider and Tahir, n.d). Rehman (2014) identified
that consumers are aware about the green products and willing to pay
premium price for it but availability of green products in the market also act
as an important deciding factor in promoting green marketing.

e. Promotion

Eco-advertising can take three forms, a) Advertisements presenting the

relationship between environment and the product/service. b.) Advertisements
that endorse an eco-lifestyle by emphasizing product or service. c.)
Advertisements that depict a corporate image of ecological concern satisfied
by them (Haider and Tahir, n.d). In order to grab the attention of consumers,
companies are advertising sustainable products/ services and actions.
Advertisements of sustainable products focus not only on issues related to
environment and attributes of products/service, but also provide information
to the consumers about the entire life cycle of the product, about the
sustainability of the producing company and communicates desirable
lifestyles changes to consumers (Belz & Peattie, 2009).

Souza and Taghian (2005) empirically studied that is there any

differences in green advertisement attitudes between high involved and low
involved consumers. In order to compare the high and low involvement
consumer’s cognitive responses and affective responses towards
advertisements on certain themes (company image, environmental labels, and
product recycling symbols) are considered and 207 respondents had been
chosen from Victoria (Australia). The results reveal that there are differences
between the two groups in terms of their attitude towards green advertising
with respect to all the dimensions and the low involved customers appear to
have a stronger disregard for the green advertising across all the perceptive
measures to wards green advertising. Environmental advertisements are more
effective in enhancing consumer knowledge and helps in making purchasing
decision regarding green products (Akehurst, Afonso & Goncalves, 2012).

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 Boztepe (2012) concluded that green promotion activities affect green
purchasing behaviors of the consumers in positive way. Ansar (2013)
explored that advertisements play an important role in improving consumers’
knowledge about the environment and green products. Ecological
advertisements are significantly related with green purchase intention. Sales
promotion, advertisement, personal selling and public relations are included
in the promotional mix. Green product advertisement and sale promotion are
quite low as compare to non green products (Jebadurai and Rajalingam,
2013).

Kianpour, Anvari, Jusoh and Othman (2014) concluded that

promotional tools is also one of the important motivators that influence the
consumers purchase decision towards green products and also help in shaping
their behaviour. Kalsi and Singh (2015) revealed that green marketing mix
(green product, green promotion, green price and green product availability)
have significant influence on consumers’ purchase intensions and related
purchase behaviour.

Kumar & Anand (2015) empirically studied the impact of demographic

and psychographic variables on green consumer behavior and ANOVA,
regression analysis and descriptive statistics were used. The results exhibits
that green consumer behavior is positively influenced by green
advertisements and perceived behavior.

Azimi and Shabani (2016) empirically studied the impact of green

marketing mix (green product, green price, green promotion and green
distribution) on consumers purchase decision in appliance stores in Sanandaj
and mean, standard deviation, correlation coefficients and regression tools
were used. The results exhibits that green promotion is the second major
factor affecting purchase decision.

Agarwal and Ganesh (2016) examine the impact of 4 P’s (product,

price, place, promotion) on consumers’ attitude and purchase intentions

43
towards green products in FMCG sector with the help of correlation,
descriptive statistical test and percentage values. The results found that a
significant positive relationship between promotion and attitude, green
product and package have a significant impact on purchase intention of the
consumers’ as well as consumers’ willingness to pay premium price for green
product is positively correlated with purchase intention.

2.3 Studies on Consumers’ Purchase Decision of Green Products

The decision made by the consumer for buying the product from the
market is define as purchase decision and it is affected by various factors i.e
price, brand image, impact of product on environment and customer
attachment (Suki, 2013) and consumers green purchasing decision is
influenced by nature of the product (Suki, 2013). Green consumer gave more
importance to those green products which can be easily recycled and have
minimum impact on the environment and company target those customers
who are different in their attitude while purchasing green products and have
attributes such as culture and social, age and gender (Diamantopoulos,
Schlegelmilch, Sinkovics and Bohlen, 2003).Consumer purchase green
products when their basic needs such as quality, availability, convenience,
performance, and affordability are fulfilled as well as they realized that green
products can help to solve the environment problems (Ottman, 1992).

Majority of the consumers do not rely on label while purchasing green

products because they considered the information given on product labels
inaccurate and confusing (D’Souza et al., 2006; Glegg, Richards, Heard, and
Dawson, 2005).

Johri and Sahasakmontri (1998) concluded that consumers purchasing

decision do not totally depend on environmental concern alone, products
features such as convenience, availability, price, and quality also play an
important role in the consumers’ purchasing decision. Consumers purchasing

44
decision towards green products is also influence by the brand (Aasker,
1992).Anderson and Hansen (2004) found that price was the most important
factors for American consumers to decide for wood furniture and also found
that typical respondent is willing to sacrifice environmental certification for
the sake of a lower price.

Gan, Wee, Ozanne, Kao (2008) examined the factors which impacts
the consumers’ purchasing behavior toward green products in New Zealand
and identified the factors that discriminate between those who purchase green
products and those who don’t. The results revealed that consumers who are
concerned towards the environment are more likely to buy green products and
still attributes such as price, quality, and brand are the most important that
consumers consider while making green purchasing decision.

Beckford, Jacobs, Williams, Nahdee (2010) concluded that green

purchase intention was a significant predictor of green purchase behaviour i.e
purchase intention was positively affecting the probability of a customer
decision that he would buy green products.

Braimah and Tweneboah Koduah (2011) empirically studied the

awareness level of Ghanaian consumers’ regarding green marketing issues
and it influence on their purchase decisions among 200 respondents who were
selected from 4 satellite markets within Accra. The results exhibits that
awareness level of the Ghanaian consumers are quite low and it also affect
their purchase decision whereas price was ranked ahead of green concerns as
influencing purchase decisions. Promotosh and Sajedul (2011) founded that
young consumers’ intention between the age group of 27-30 towards green
product was influenced by environmental knowledge, peers and parents.
Boztepe (2012) examined the impact of green marketing variables
(environmental awareness, green product features, green promotion activities,
green price and demographic variables) on the consumer buying behaviour
among 540 consumers in Istanbul. The results reveal that demographic

45
variables (age, gender, marital status, income, education) have a moderate
effect whereas environmental awareness, green product features, green
promotion activities and green price affect green purchasing behaviours of the
consumers in positively way.

Kheiry and Nakhaei (2012) empirically studied the impact of

environmental beliefs, eco-literacy and demographic variables on the
consumers purchase decision regarding green product with the help of
stepwise regression analysis and results exhibits that environmental literacy
and demographic variables did not contribute significantly towards
consumers’ ecological purchase decision and choices.

Shahnaei (2012) explored the relationship between demographic as

well as individual differences factors (Green value, Green attitude,
Knowledge, Additional money, Time) with the purchasing behaviour of
Malaysian consumer in green product design development. The results
revealed that all the variables have significant and positive relationships with
purchasing behaviour but besides multiple regression analysis showed all
variables except time have significant impact on Green Purchasing Behaviour.

Bhatia and Jain (2013) examined the perception and preferences of

consumers towards green marketing practices and products with the help of a
structured questionnaire and conducted a survey on 106 respondents. The
results exhibited that values, awareness and the perception towards green
marketing had positive significant impact on consumer opinion to purchase
and prefer green products over conventional products.

Chan (2013) concluded that brands with environmental friendly label

have a positive relationship with consumer purchasing decision for green
product as well as green image.

Hassan Nor Marjan and Nor Mohd Amalina (2013) found that the
decision making towards green electronic products is still weak. Further,

46
environmental knowledge and purchase intention of green products were also
found to be improved.

Ling (2013) examined drivers and its moderating variables that

influencing consumers’ purchase intention on green personal care products in
Penang, Malaysia. The data were analyzed with the help of multiple
regression analysis on testing on the independent variables (drivers) to
dependent variables (purchase intention) and hierarchical regression analysis
for moderating relationship between the drivers and purchase intention. The
results revealed that environmental attitudes and self efficacy were found to
be the factors that drive the purchase intention of consumers on purchasing of
green personal care products whereas consumer willingness to pay more was
moderating the relationship between environmental attitudes and purchase
intention.

Mahesh (2013) concluded that majority of the consumers perceived

that the green products have consistent as well as acceptable standard of
quality and value for money. The reasonable price, value for money,
acceptable quality of standards, environmental friendliness and food safety
are positively influencing the consumer's purchase intention of green products
at one per cent level of significance.

Pillai (2013) studied the impact of demographic variables on the

consumer purchase behaviour towards green products with the help of chi-
square test and found that occupation and marital status of the consumer plays
a significant role in the purchase behaviour towards green products whereas
married respondents are also willing to pay premium price for the green
products.

Smith (2013) ascertained the consumers’ perceptions towards greening

and it’s influenced on purchasing behaviour within the Nelson Mandela Bay
region of South Africa by taking into consideration the three independent

47
variables, namely environmental values and beliefs, environmental
regulations and knowledge/eco literacy. The study revealed that all three
variables to a certain extent had an impact on the consumers’ behaviour
toward green purchasing. Sudhalakshmi and Chinnadorai (2013) examined
the variables that influence the consumer purchase pattern towards green
recyclable products and results exhibits that results reveal that Knowledge and
awareness about green products can affect attitudes and perceptions about the
product and ultimately the buying decisions of the consumers.

Suki (2013) examined the impact of consumers' environmental

concerns, green product awareness, price and brand image on their purchasing
decision of green products among 200 respondents from public University in
the Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia with the help of mean, correlation
and multiple regression tools. The results revealed that consumers' awareness
of price and brand image significantly influenced their purchasing decision of
green products.

Akbar et al., (2014) explored the factors affecting (Green purchase

attitude, Green perceived Value, Green Perceived trust and Ecological
Knowledge) the purchase intention of Pakistani consumers towards green
products. The data were collected among 160 respondents and analyzed with
the help of multiple regression analysis and results revealed that four
variables had significant and positive relationship with green purchase
intention.

Anvar and Venter (2014) studied the factors influencing the Generation
Y consumers attitudes and purchase behaviour along with their attitudes
which can influence purchase behaviour towards green products in South
Africa among 200 respondents between the ages of 18 to 23 by considering
the variables such as social influence, environmental awareness and price.
Simple and multiple linear regressions tools were used and the results
exhibited that social influence, environmental awareness and price have

48
positive influence on consumers attitudes. Further, impact of attitude on
buying behaviour was also found positive

Agyeman (2014) ascertained the relationship different variables (price,

quality, environmental concern and social influence) and their influence on
the buying behaviour of consumers’ towards the green products marketing in
Kancheepuram District. The result of the study shows that significant
relationship exists between price, quality, environmental concern and the
buying behaviour of the consumers’ for green products.

Giany and Tran (2014) revealed the factors that encourage or

discourage Vietnamese consumers’ purchase intention toward green
electronic products among 263 respondents and structural equation modeling
had been used and results revealed that attitude, subjective norm, perceived
consumer effectiveness and control on availability positively and significantly
affect Vietnamese consumers’ purchase intention.

Harper and Makatouni (2014) carried out a study on the perception of

consumer in relation to organic food production and farm animal welfare. The
result revealed that health and food safety were the main motives for organic
food purchases and ethical concern specifically in relation to standards of
animal welfare, play a significant role in the decision to purchase organic
food. Hussain, Khokhar and Asad (2014) examine the influence of consumers'
environmental concerns, green product awareness, price and brand image on
their purchasing decision of green products among 300 respondents from
Multan, Pakistan. The results revealed that awareness of consumers’
regarding price and brand image significantly influences their purchasing
decision of green products. The individual who were environmental
concerned and product brand image would have stronger preference to buy a
green product.

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 Kianpour, Anvari, Jusoh and Othman (2014) examined the main
motivators that influence customers decision to purchase green products and
helps in shaping their behaviour through factor analysis and t-test. The results
reveals that Environmental Concern, Perceived Consumer effectiveness,
Consumer Knowledge, Laws and regulation and Promotional Tools’ were the
most important of motivators that influence the purchase decision.

Kumar and Ghodeswar (2014) empirically studied the factors affecting

consumers’ purchase decision towards green products and data were collected
from 403 working Indian respondents in Mumbai through snowball sampling
method and analyzed by using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses
as well as structural equation modeling. The results exhibited that supporting
environmental protection, drive for environmental responsibility, green
product experience, environmental friendliness of companies and social
appeal are identified as an important factors affecting green product. The
consumers’ were willing to support environmental protection activates, aware
regarding their environmental responsibilities and inclination towards
searching green product-related information and learning about green
products.

Lasuin and Ching (2014) examined the relationship between

environmental concern, social influence, self-image and moderating effect of
demographic factors (gender and ethnic group) on green purchase intention.
The data was collected with the help of self structured questionnaire among
195 University students in Kota Kinabalu, multiple regression analysis,
hierarchical regression analysis tools were used and results revealed that
environmental concern and self-image have positive significant relationship
with green purchase intention.

Rehman (2014) studied the usefulness, awareness and satisfaction of

consumers about green products in the two cities of Tamilnadu (Salem and
Coimbatore) with a sample of 200 selected through convenience sampling

50
technique and results exhibited that consumers were quite aware about the
term green marketing and green products and were ready to pay more price
for it. Further, majority of the consumers were agreed that awareness and
availability of green products in the market are the important deciding factor
in promoting green marketing.

Sheikh, Mirza1, Aftab and Asghar (2014) identified that the factors
affecting green behaviour and consumers decision making towards green
products with the help of a self structured questionnaire and the data was
collected from 200 respondents between the age group of 18-55years. The
results revealed that there is strong positive relationship between consumer
green behaviour and price as well as quality and green marketing whereas
brand and gender difference had weak relationship with consumer green
behaviour.

Khedkar and Patil (2015) examined the impact of marketing activities

and advertisements on the purchase or buying intention of consumers towards
green products among 100 respondents from the Pune City of Maharashtra
and results revealed that the marketers’ activities and advertisements do not
influence the consumer purchase decision regarding green product, while
majority of the consumers were willing to pay an extra price for the green
products if it adds value to it.

Kumar and Anand (2015) empirically studied the impact of

demographic and psychographic variables on green consumer behavior with
the help of ANOVA, regression analysis and descriptive statistics. The results
exhibited that it is complex to differentiate the green behavior from the
demographic variables like gender, age group, family income, occupation,
education and marital status. But results revealed that women had more green
intention as compared to men, the education level of employees had a positive
relationship with green consumer behavior and married people were more
conscious about the environment than the unmarried people.

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 Sharaf, Isa and Al-Qasa (2015) examined the impact of environmental
knowledge, perceived value, eco-label, and social influence on the purchase
intention of 250 young Malaysian consumer of green products, regression
analysis was used and results revealed that social influence have a significant
relationship with young consumers’ purchase intention whereas knowledge
and eco-label had no influence on the purchase intention towards green
products. Ranganathan and Ramya (2016) concluded that awareness of brand
image is the strongest factor that has positively influenced consumer
purchasing decision towards green products. Sharma and Trivedi (2016)
empirically studied the impact of green marketing variables i.e Eco-labels,
Eco-brands, Environmental advertising, Environmental awareness, Green
product, Green price, Green promotions and Demographics on the consumer’s
green buying behaviour. The results revealed that each variable were equally
important for the marketers and difference in age, income, gender and literacy
creates a big difference for the proper implementation of the green marketing
strategy.

Maichum, Parichatnon, and Peng (2017) examined the factors that

influence purchase intention towards green products of young Thailand
consumers between the ages of 18 to 29 year. The data was collected from
425 young consumers and results exhibited that environmental consciousness,
environmental knowledge and environmental attitude have significant
positive influences on purchase intention towards green products i.e
environmental attitude significantly affect on consumers’ purchase intention,
which reflects that the young consumers have a positive attitude towards
green products, thus, making them more purchase intention.

2.4 Research Gap

Majority of the past studies which have been reviewed to find out the
gap are related to the concept and scenario of green marketing (Sachdev,

52
2011, Manian and Nithish, 2014), companies’ initiatives about green
marketing (Sara and Madhumita, 2014, Banerji and Dubey, 2014) and attitude
of the consumers towards green products (Souza and Taghian, 2005 Akbar et
al., 2014, Anvar and Venter, 2014). However, studies on consumers’
perception exclusively towards green electronic products and its impact on
their purchase decision are lacking.

In the present time many companies are launching variety of green

products in the market such as LED television, LED Bulbs, refrigerators, air
conditioners and soon green cars will be launched in Indian market to grab the
competitive edge. Companies can increased their profit as well as market
share, only when the consumers actually purchase the green products.

Despite of availability of green products in the market, consumers are

still purchasing conventional products which is a great concern for marketers.
Therefore, the present study filled the gap that exist between the consumers
and the companies i.e what consumers actually perceives about green
products in terms of quality and price and how does it affect their green
purchase decision.

2.5 Research Questions

On the basis of one hundred ten studies reviewed for the present study
purpose the following research questions may be raised:

 What is the perception of the consumers’ about green products?

 What factors influencing consumers’ green purchase decision?

 To what extent is the impact of perception on green purchase decision?

2.6 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are as follows:

1. To evaluate the green products scenario in the country.

53
 2. To determine the consumers’ perception towards green products.

3. To explore the factors affecting consumers’ green purchase decision.

4. To investigate the challenges and bring forth some effective measures

to the marketers for their green business orientation.

2.7 Hypotheses of the Study

The major hypotheses of the present study are as follows:

H1 : Consumer perceives green products in a positive manner.

H1.1: Consumer perceives eco-label of green products in a positive manner

H1.2: Consumer perceives promotion of green products in a positive manner

H1.3: Consumer perceives price of green products in a positive manner

H1.4: Consumer perceives place of green products in a positive manner

H1.5: Consumer perceives quality of green products in a positive manner

H02: Consumer is not rational while purchasing green product.

H02.1: There is no significant impact of environmental awareness on purchase

decision.
H02.2: There is no significant impact of reference group on purchase decision.
H02.3: There is no significant impact of brand loyalty on purchase decision.

2.8 Research Methodology

The term research methodology is the process which deals with the
collection of information and data for making important research decisions
(Kuada, 2012). Research methodology of the present study is divided into
different heads i.e research design, collection of data and selection of sample
for the study, research instrument, statistical tools for data analysis, data
validation and reliability of questionnaire.

54
2.9 Research Design
Research design is the conceptual framework or blueprint within which
research is conducted; consist of collection of data, measurement and analysis
of data i.e decision regarding what, where, when, how much and by what
means (Kothari, 2013). The Figure 2.1 exhibits the research design of the
present study.

Review of Literature

Research gap and Significance

of the study

Conceptual frame work of the

present study

Formulation of objectives and

hypotheses

Pre- testing and Pilot Survey

Development of Questionnaire

Final Questionnaire and Data

collection

Data analysis

Findings, discussion
andconclusion

Figure 2.1: Research Design

2.10 Sources of Data

Since the variety of green electronic products are being produced by
the companies and Indian green electronic market is growing rapidly even
that people are not buying the green products in a desired manner. Hence, it is

55
worthy to know the perception of the people regarding what actually they
think about these products along with their considerations to buy these
products. To get the information on these two main aspects of the study a
well-structured questionnaire after repeated modifications have been
prepared. The present study is descriptive in nature therefore, both primary
and secondary data have been used. Primary data have been collected with the
help of convenience sampling from the consumers of Dehradun (300) and
Delhi (300) through a self-structured questionnaire. Delhi and Dehradun cities
have been selected due to their cosmopolitan nature so better results can be
generalized. Secondary data has been collected through various journals,
research paper, website, companies reports and reports of various surveys
conducted all around the world. For the purpose of the present study
electronic products (Smart Phone, Television, Refrigerator, LED Bulb and Air
conditioner) have been selected as global warming become a serious concern
for the whole world and companies are forced to launch a variety of green
electronic products with advanced technology to reduce the environmental
degradation.

2.11 Sample Size

The sample size of the present study was 600 respondents which were
selected through the formula (Hair et al., 2013):

n=(z*d/e)2 (In case of infinite population)

Where n= Sample Size

z = Alfa value

e=Variance

d=Standard deviation

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2.12 Data Collection
In total 600 respondents have been approached personally. After the
checking of the questionnaires seventy questionnaires have been dropped due
to their incompleteness. Therefore, only five hundred thirty questionnaires
which were correctly filled have been used for the analysis.

2.13 Selection of the Respondents

The respondents of the present study were selected on the following criteria:

 Aware about the concept of green product.

 Purchased any one green electronic product selected in the study.

 Time duration of purchase should not be more than three years.

 Product should be purchased by their own.

2.14 Research Instrument

The information have been collected through a well-structured

questionnaire and 5 point Likert scale have been used from strongly agree to
strongly disagree. The questionnaire was divided into four sections. First
section was related with the general questions such as awareness of the
respondents regarding the green products, sources of information about the
green product, purchase of green products as well as duration of purchase.
Second part of the questionnaire deals with the perception of the consumers
regarding green products for which thirty statements based on the variables
selected for the study have been framed. Third section containing twenty six
statements related to consumer green purchase decision and the last section
containing demographic profile of the respondents.

2.15 Tools of the Data Analysis

Table 2.1exhibits the various statistical tools used for the analysis of
the collected data and as well as their significance in the present study.

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Table 2.1: Tools of the Data Analysis
Independent Dependent Statistical tools Purpose
Variable variable

Eco-label, Consumer Exploratory Exploratory factor

Price, Quality, Perception factor analysis, analysis: EFA is used
Promotion, Chi square, to suppress a large
Place number of variables
into new smaller set
with minimum loss of
original information.
Chi-square: It is used to
test the goodness of fit
and significant of
association between
two variables.

Consumer Purchase Multiple Multiple regression

perception decision regression analysis is used to
analysis study the relationship
between one dependent
and several
independent variables.

Environmental Purchase Multiple To examine the most

awareness, decision regression influential factor on
Reference analysis consumer purchase
group, Brand decision.
loyalty, Store
Location,
Culture

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2.16 Data Validation

Reliability determines how closely the items are related with each
other. Cronbach's coefficient alpha is the most efficient measure of reliability
and it should always be greater than 0.7 when items are selected for test
(Malhotra and Dash 2010). The internal consistency i.e Cronbach's
coefficient alpha value for reliability of the questionnaire was 0.903, which
was more than 0.7which was the commonly accepted threshold (Zikmund et
al., 2013). Hence all the items in the questionnaire are reliable for further
analysis. Validity indicates the degree to which an instrument measures what
it is supposed to measure. Malhotra and Dash (2010) define validity as “the
extent to which differences in observed scale scores reflect true difference
among objects on the characteristic being measured, rather than systematic or
random error”. In other words validity indicate the degree to which a scale
measure what it significances to measure (Hair et al., 2013).

According to Hair et al., (2013), the better the fit between theoretical
latent construct and measured items, the greater establishment of validity.
Content validity was used in the questionnaire in order to eliminate the
semantic variation and the statement in the questionnaire was further reduced
through review of literature, consultation with expert and pilot survey. The
pilot survey was conducted among 100 respondents and after the analysis of
the pilot survey result, further changes in the questionnaire was done for
improving the validity, so that results can be better generalized. Five
statements from Section B and five statements from Section C was dropped
out because of the low loading as well as through content validity. Finally a
scale of 30 items regarding consumers’ perception of green products and 26
items related to consumers’ green purchase decision are finalized.

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Table No: 2.2 Reliability Statistics
Section Cronbach's Alpha No of Items
Perception .903 30
Purchase .764 20
decision
Source: Authors’ finding

Table 2.2 exhibits the results of reliability analysis of the questionnaire

which was divided into two section, reliability of the first and second
section was 0.903 and 0.764 which was more than 0.7 (Zikmund et al.,
2013). Hence all the statements in the questionnaire are reliable and
valid for further analysis.

2.17 Limitations of the Study

The limitations of the present study will act as the basis of future
research in the area. The sample selected for the study belongs to only two
cities i.e Delhi and Dehradun; hence the results from the study cannot be
generalized to whole of the Indian population. Apart from sample size, there
are others limitations such as time, resource constraints and the statistical
tools used have their own limitations. Perception of the consumers’ is also
influenced by the gender and ethnic differences and the survey method may
be inadequate to study the depth that what consumers actually perceive about
green products available in the market.

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Table: 2.3 Respondents’ Profile
Particulars Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender
Male 440 73
Female 160 24
Age (in Years)
21-30 301 50
31-40 160 27
41-50 109 18
Above 50 30 05
Qualifications
Upto 12th 100 17
Graduate 250 42
Post Graduate 180 30
Ph.D 20 03
Professional (CA/Lawyer) 50 08
Marital Status
Married 299 50
Unmarried 301 50
Occupation
Service 300 50
Business 150 25
Self Employed 50 08
Homemaker/ Unemployed 100 17
Monthly Income
25,001- 40,000 28 04
40,001- 55,000 306 51
55,001- 70,000 213 35
70,001- 85,000 35 05
85,001 & above 18 03

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Table 2.2 exhibits the demographic profile of the respondents. Out of 600
respondents, a majority (73%) were male. In the age group category, half of
the respondents (50%) belongs to 21-30 years followed by 31-40 years (27%),
41-50 years (18%) and above 50 years (5%). In the education category a
substantial number of respondents (42%) were graduated followed by post
graduated (30%), Intermediate (17%), professionally qualified (8%) whereas
least number (3%) were Ph.D. In the marital status category it is interesting to
note just half of the respondents (50%) were married and equally unmarried.
With respect to occupation a majority of respondents (50%) belongs to service
class followed by business class (25%), homemaker/ unemployed (17%) and a
least number (8%) were self-employed. In the income category more than half
(51%) respondents falls in the 40,001- 55,000 followed by 55,001- 70,000
(35%), belongs to70,001 - 85,000 (5%), to 25,001-40,000 (4%) whereas very
few (3%) of the respondents had the monthly income above 85,000.

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