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Green buying
Green buying behavior in India: an behavior
empirical analysis
Richa Chaudhary
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, India 179
Received 1 December 2017
Revised 2 February 2018
Abstract Accepted 27 March 2018

Purpose – Using insights from theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study aims to examine the
determinants and their relative importance in predicting green buying behavior among young educated
consumers in India.
Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected from 202 young Indian consumers using online
questionnaire survey. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to ensure the reliability and validity of study
measures in the present context. Structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed research model.
Findings – Findings confirm perceived value and willingness to pay premium as significant predictors of
the green purchase intention. In turn, green purchase intention significantly influenced green buying
behavior.
Practical implications – This study by advancing the understanding on the factors influencing green
product purchase intention and behavior among Indian youths will help the policymakers to design policies
and programs to encourage the adoption of green purchase behaviors, which in turn will help in addressing
the problem of environmental sustainability, which the whole world is struggling with.
Originality/value – This study validates the importance of TPB framework in comprehending consumer
green product purchase intention and behavior in a culturally different context of India. Thus, this study
contributes to the green marketing literature by examining the unique combination of variables in predicting
green buying behavior in an integrated framework. It also extends the TPB by demonstrating the importance
of additional constructs, perceived value and willingness to pay in predicting green purchase intention and
behavior among young millennials in India.
Keywords Perceived value, Environmental concern, Green purchase intention,
Green buying behavior, Willingness to pay premium
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Excessive pollution has choked the Indian cities and has made air pollution a natural
emergency (Jain, 2016). Pollution kills more than 1.2 million people every year and has been
found to be fifth principal cause of deaths in India (Times of India, 2017). India is among the
most polluted countries and around 30 Indian cities figure in the top 100 most polluted
global cities across the word (WHO, 2016). Going green has been suggested as one of the
solutions to deal with this ecological crisis. As a result, every individual is recognizing the
need to contribute toward decreasing his/her ecological foot prints. Consumers are no
different and have come forward to participate in this revolution toward sustainable
development by adopting green consumption. Green consumption, which refers to the
adoption of eco-friendly products (Kim et al., 2013), is on the rise as it provide the opportunity
Journal of Global Responsibility
Vol. 9 No. 2, 2018
The author would like to thank Samrat Bisai and Chinmay Panda, Research Scholars, Department of pp. 179-192
Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, for their assistance in data © Emerald Publishing Limited
2041-2568
collection. DOI 10.1108/JGR-12-2017-0058
JGR to preserve and protect the degrading quality of natural environment and contribute to
9,2 environment sustainability (Leonidou et al., 2013).
Green consumption has emerged as an opportunity for the marketers, leading to green/
sustainable marketing on their part to meet the changing consumer product needs and
preferences. Companies are designing and coming up with more and more eco-friendly
products to capitalize on this trend of green consumerism. Consequently, it becomes
180 important for the marketers to understand the factors that influence the adoption of green
products among the consumers. This research presents a framework to analyze the factors
influencing green purchase intentions and behaviors of young consumers in India. Young
millennials differ from general population with regard to their high environmental
consciousness (Sheahan, 2005) and stronger preferences (Smith, 2010) and willingness to
buy environment-friendly products (Rogers, 2013). This segment becomes important for the
marketers, as India has world’s largest population of millennials (400 million) constituting
one-third of its workforce (Mogan Stanely, 2017).
Building on the framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this research
presents an integrated model to explore the impact of environmental concern, personal
norms, perceived value and willingness to pay on purchase intentions and behaviors toward
green products. This study contributes to the literature by advancing the understanding of
the factors determining the green buying behavior of young consumers in the context of a
developing country. This will assist the marketers in planning, strategizing and channeling
their green marketing efforts in the right direction.

Theoretical framework and research hypotheses

This study builds on the framework of TPB, which posits that attitudes, subjective norms
and perceived behavioral control contribute toward individuals’ behavioral intentions,
which in turn determines their behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Attitude refers to an individual’s
favorable or unfavorable assessment of performance of concerned behavior (Ajzen, 1991).
Subjective norm is a social factor that refers to perceived social pressure toward
performance or non-performance of a particular behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Perceived
behavioral control refers to the perceived ease or difficulty (time, money and opportunity) of
performing a particular behavior and reflects past experiences and anticipated impediments
(Ajzen, 1991). Intention is considered to be an immediate antecedent to behavior and is
defined as an individual’s readiness to perform a given behavior (Ajzen, 1991). TPB has
been used widely to examine green consumer purchase intentions and behaviors (Yadav
and Pathak, 2017; Chan and Lau, 2002; Liobikienė et al., 2016).
This study aims to validate the TPB in Indian context by examining environmental
concern: an important component of attitude, personal norm which is likely to be more
appropriate than subjective norm for young educated consumers (Prakash and Pathak,
2017) and willingness to pay: an element of perceived behavioral control as determinants of
green purchase intentions and behaviors. Willingness to pay was included as it was found to
be more relevant in case of price-sensitive Indian consumers (Yadav and Pathak, 2017). In
addition, we attempt to extend the TPB by including one additional construct (perceived
value) in the model. Perceived value is significant for comprehensive understanding of
consumer intentions and behaviors as consumers exchange money for value and not
products. If they see green products as compromising on functional benefits as provided by
conventional products, they may withdraw their intentions to go green. The following
section discusses each of the study variables.
Environmental concern Green buying
Environmental concern refers to the extent to which people are aware of problems regarding behavior
the environment, support the efforts to solve them and demonstrate the willingness to
contribute personally to their solution (Hu et al., 2010). Phau and Ong (2007) in a study
among Australian consumers reported that environmentally conscious consumers
responded positively to green brands. Pickett-Baker and Ozaki (2008) in a study among
women consumers in London demonstrated significant influence of environmental concern
on pro-environmental buying behavior. Hartmann and Apaolaza-Ibáñez (2012) also reported 181
significant direct and indirect influence of environmental concern on purchase intent of
Spanish consumers. Chen and Tung (2014) in a study among consumers in Taiwan reported
environmental concern as an important variable influencing purchase intent through its
effect on attitudes, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. Mostafa (2007) in a
study among Egyptian consumers highlighted the role of environmental concern in
influencing their intention to buy green products. In Indian context, Paul et al. (2016)
established significant effect of environmental concern on green purchase intention directly
and indirectly through the mediation of TPB predictor variables. Prakash and Pathak (2017)
also demonstrated significant effect of environmental concern on purchase intention toward
products with eco-friendly packaging.

Personal norms
Personal norm refers to individuals’ moral standards and obligations to engage in the
concerned behavior (Moser, 2015). Jansson (2011) in a study among Swedish consumers
reported that adoption of environment friendly innovations was determined by
environmental values and norms. Thogersen (2007) showed that personal values play a
significant role in determining environment friendly behavior of Danish consumers.
Prakash and Pathak (2017) also reported significant relation between personal norms and
purchase intention toward products with eco-friendly packaging. In contrast, Khare (2015)
failed to show any significant relationship between personal norms and green buying
behavior among young consumers from metropolitan cities in India.

Perceived value
Perceived value is consumers’ opinion about worth of a product or service based on
evaluation of its utility (Chen and Chang, 2012). It determines the price consumers are
willing to pay for the products. Perceived value has been identified in the literature to play a
significant role in consumers’ decision-making process (Dodds et al., 1991) and determining
their purchase intentions and behaviors (Yadav and Pathak, 2017; Zhuang et al., 2010; Chen
and Chang, 2012; Chiu et al., 2014). For example, Yadav and Pathak (2017) demonstrated
significant relation between perceived value and green behavioral intention. Similarly,
perceived value was found to relate to environmentally responsible behavior in a study by
Chiu et al. (2014) in ecotourism industry. Cheung et al. (2015) also reported green perceived
value as an important driver of green product adoption.

Willingness to pay premium

When compared to traditional products, green products have been found to be expensive
due to high cost involved in their production and processing (Ling, 2013). In case of young
consumers, price assumes a place of significant importance. Studies in past have indicated
about price-sensitive nature of consumers in India (Yadav and Pathak, 2017; Prakash and
Pathak, 2017). As a result, price has been identified as an important obstacle to green
consumption (Gleim et al., 2013; Nasir and Karakaya, 2014). Especially for young consumers
JGR limited by their purchasing power, price plays an important role in making purchase
9,2 decisions. Evidences in the literature are mixed with some studies reporting price as an
impediment to green product purchase intent and behavior, whereas others indicating
otherwise. For example, Grankvist and Biel (2001) in a study among Swedish consumers
reported that price does not matter to the consumers who are concerned about the
environment when it comes to buying eco-friendly products. Furthermore, Cronin et al.
182 (2011) asserted that environmentally conscious and concerned consumers were willing to
accept higher prices. In contrast, Choi and Parsa (2006) reported hesitant nature of US
consumers when it comes to paying extra price for green products. In Indian context also,
mixed findings have been reported with respect to willingness to pay premium for green
products. For example, Manaktola and Jauhari (2007) reported that consumers with high
environmental concern preferred to choose hotels adopting green practices but were
unwilling to pay premium price for it. While, Yadav and Pathak (2017) and Prakash and
Pathak (2017) reported that consumers were willing to pay premium for eco-friendly
products. Therefore, it is important to see how the educated young Indian consumers
respond to paying higher prices for green products.

Purchase intention
Intentions capture the motivations to perform a behavior such as the willingness to perform
and the intensity of effort an individual is ready to exert. According to TPB, performance of
a behavior is the function of intentions when the behavior is under volitional control (Ajzen,
1991). Studies have reported positive relation between purchase intention and behavior
(Chan, 2001; Chan and Yam, 1995). In the context of green products, Yadav and Pathak
(2017) in a study among consumers in India found support for the positive association
between behavioral intentions and green buying behavior.
Based on the above arguments, we propose the following hypotheses:
H1. Environmental concern relates positively to green purchase intention.

H2. Personal norm relates positively to green purchase intention.

H3. Perceived value relates positively to green purchase intention.

H4. Willingness to pay premium relates positively to green purchase intention.

H5. Green purchase intention relates positively to green buying behavior.

Figure 1 presents the hypothesized research model.

Research methodology
The data were collected from students of an institute of higher education in India through
online questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was sent to the students using institute
group email ids in the month of March 2017. Two weeks later, a reminder email was sent as
a follow-up. The effective sample consisted of 202 responses after removing extreme
outliers. Majority of the respondents were male (89 per cent) with female constituting only
11 per cent of the sample. With regard to age, 69 per cent of the respondents belonged to
15-25 years age group, 26 per cent were in the age bracket of 26-30 and the rest were above
30 years of age. As to education, 44 per cent of the respondents were pursuing B.Tech,
21 per cent were enrolled in master’s (science and technology) program, whereas 35 per cent
were doing PhD.
 Green buying
behavior

183

Figure 1.
Hypothesized
research model

Measures
Environmental concern was measured using a five-item scale adopted from Kilbourne and
Pickett (2008), as used by Paul et al. (2016). Personal norm was measured using three-item
scale adopted from Khare (2015). Five-item scale taken from Chen and Chang (2012) was
used to assess perceived value. Again, purchase intention was measured using five-item
scale from Paul et al. (2016). Three-item scale adopted from Jang et al. (2011) and Kang
et al. (2012) was used to measure willingness to pay premium. Finally, purchase behavior
was assessed using three-item scale adopted from Wan et al. (2012). Responses on all the
scale items were recorded on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree)
to 5 (strongly agree). The items and Cronbach alpha value of each study instrument are
presented in Table III.

Control variables
Respondents were asked to share some personal information as well such as gender, age and
education. Gender was coded as 0 (female) and 1 (male), age as 1 (15-20 years), 2 (21-25years),
3 (26-30 years) and 4 (above 30 years), and education as 1 (B.Tech), 2 (M.Tech/MSc) and
3 (PhD). However, we statistically controlled for the above demographic variables to avoid
confounding relationships.

Data analysis
We conducted confirmatory factory analysis (CFA) to examine the convergent and
discriminant validity and verify the goodness of fitness of all the scales in present context.
Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) with the help of SPSS
AMOS 24 using different indicators such as chi-square ( x 2), chi-square to degree of freedom
ratio ( x 2/df), Tucker–Lewis index (TLI), comparative fit index (CFI), goodness-of-fit index
(GFI) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Indirect effects were tested
and confirmed with the help of bootstrapping procedures in AMOS.

Results
Table I presents means, standard deviations and inter-correlations among the study
variables. Respondents were found to show high concern for the environment, had high
JGR personal environmental norms and displayed strong green purchase intention as reflected in
9,2 the respective mean scores. However, perceived value of green products, willingness to pay
premium and green buying behavior were found to be at above average level. Furthermore,
significant positive correlations were found between the antecedent and outcome variables,
thereby providing preliminary support for the study hypotheses.

184 Measurement model

The six-factor (environmental concern, personal norm, perceived value, willingness to
purchase, purchase intention and purchase behavior) measurement model was tested using
CFA. Item 3 (EC3) of environmental concern measure was removed due to low factor
loading. The proposed six-factor model indicated an acceptable fit to the data (Table II). The
one-factor model where all the items were loaded on a single latent factor showed poor fit to
the data, as can be seen from Table II. Further, the single latent factor did not account for
majority of the variance ruling out the possibility of common method bias (Podsakoff et al.,
2003).
All measures reported Cronbach alpha value higher than 0.70, confirming reliability
(Table III). The composite or construct reliabilities ranged between 0.84 (personal norm)
0.94 (purchase intention). All the factor loadings were within the acceptable limits and
were found to be significant at 0.001 levels. The high values of construct reliabilities along
with significant factor loadings confirm the convergent validity in the given data (Anderson
and Gerbing, 1988; Bagozzi and Yi, 1988). In addition, the reported average variance
extracted (AVE) values (>0.5) and composite reliabilities (CR) greater than AVE further
confirmed the convergent validity (Hair et al., 2010). We analyzed discriminant validity by
comparing the square root of AVE values and correlations among the constructs in the
model. Table I demonstrates discriminant validity as square root of AVE values of
respective constructs was greater than their correlation with other constructs in the model
(Chin, 1998). Thus, convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs was confirmed in
our model.
In addition, the VIF values ranged from 3.78 to 4.59 (below 10), indicating the absence of
multicollinearity.

S. No. Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 EC 4.3688 0.62104 (0.81)

2 PN 4.2310 0.77373 0.735** (0.76)
3 PV 3.9436 0.88169 0.625** 0.636** (0.81)
Table I. 4 WP 3.8135 0.87524 0.502** 0.541** 0.753** (0.85)
5 PI 4.0683 0.75567 0.647** 0.677** 0.803** 0.784** (0.84)
Mean, standard
6 PB 3.2657 1.03041 0.232** 0.300** 0.537** 0.462** 0.499** (0.89)
deviation and inter-
correlations among Notes: **Correlation is significant at 0.01 level (two-tailed); Figures in the bracket (italic) represent square
study variables root of respective AVE values

Model x2 x 2/df GFI CFI IFI TLI RMSEA

Table II.
Confirmatory factor Six-factor model 435.543 2.104 0.851 0.937 0.937 0.923 0.074
analysis One-factor model 1,177.07 5.118 0.635 0.738 0.739 0.711 0.143
 Construct Indicators AVE CR/a Factor loadings

Environmental I am very concerned about the environment 0.66 0.88/0.77 0.801*

concern I would be willing to reduce my consumption to help protect the environment 0.845*
Major social changes are necessary to protect the natural environment 0.791*
Anti-pollution laws should be enforced more strongly 0.811*
Personal norms I feel an obligation to save environment where possible 0.58 0.84/0.80 0.786*
I should do what I can to conserve natural resources 0.811*
I feel a strong personal obligation to use eco-friendly packaged product 0.681*
Perceived value The green product’s environmental functions provide good value to me 0.65 0.92/0.90 0.779*
The green product’s environmental performance meets my expectations 0.720*
I purchase green product because it has more environmental concern than non-green products 0.853*
I purchase green product because it is environmental friendly 0.857*
I purchase green product because it has more environmental benefit than non-green products 0.804*
Willingness to I would pay more for a green product that is making efforts to be environmentally sustainable 0.72 0.89/0.89 0.854*
pay I would be willing to pay this extra percentage on the green products to support the organization’s/product 0.880*
efforts to be environmentally sustainable
I feel proud to have environmental friendly products in my house though they are more costly than 0.821*
conventional products
Purchase I will consider buying products because they are less polluting in coming times 0.70 0.94/0.92 0.831*
intention I will consider switching to environmental friendly brands for ecological reasons 0.813*
I plan to spend more on environmental friendly product rather than conventional product 0.831*
I expect to purchase product in the future because of its positive environmental contribution 0.873*
I definitely want to purchase green products in near future 0.844*
Purchase I have been purchasing green products on regular basis 0.79 0.90/0.91 0.825*
behavior I have green purchasing behavior for my daily needs products 0.914*
I have green purchasing behavior over the past six months 0.920*

Note: *p < 0.001

Table III.

0
validity indicators
Reliability and
185
Green buying
behavior
JGR Structural model: model fit and hypotheses testing
9,2 To test the study hypotheses, we used structural equation modeling. All the study measures
were modeled as latent constructs with respective subscale means as indicators of the latent
factor. The proposed framework was found to show good fit to the data. All the CFI, TLI and
IFI values were above 0.91 (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988) and RMSEA value was 0.08 (Browne and
Cudeck, 1993), as shown in Table IV. The structural model with standardized path
186 coefficients is presented in Figure 2.
The results showed that environmental concern, personal norms, perceived value
and willingness to pay premium determine 91 per cent of the overall variance in
purchase intention (R2 = 0.910). Furthermore, purchase intention explained
32.7 per cent (R2 = 0.327) of the variance in purchase behavior. Perceived value ( b =
0.496, p = <0.001) and willingness to pay premium ( b = 0.327, p = <0.001) were found
to exercise significant positive influence on purchase intention. However,
environmental concern ( b = 0.099, ns) and personal norm ( b = 0.111, ns) failed to show
any significant relationship with purchase intention. Furthermore, the study
empirically confirms the role of purchase intention as a predictor of purchase behavior

Model fit indices Structural model

x2 491.96
x 2/df 2.288
GFI 0.828
CFI 0.923
IFI 0.924
TLI 0.910
Table IV. RMSEA 0.080
SEM model fit R2 (PI) 0.910
indices R2 (PB) 0.327

Figure 2.
Structural model
concerning green products ( b = 0.572, p = <0.001). Thus, H1 and H2 were rejected, Green buying
whereas H3, H4 and H5 were supported. Table V summarizes the results of hypotheses behavior
testing.
The indirect effects of predictor variables on green buying behavior were also
examined using bootstrapping procedures in AMOS. A total of 5,000 bootstrap samples
were requested. Significance of the indirect effects was examined with the help of bias
corrected 95 per cent confidence intervals, as presented in Table VI. The indirect effect
of only perceived value (estimate = 0.368, BC CI [0.003, 0.744] and willingness to pay 187
premium (estimate = 0.230, BC CI [0.028, 0.527]) was significant (Table VI), whereas
environmental concern and personal norm failed to exercise any significant indirect
effect on green buying behavior.

Discussion and implications

This research was an attempt to understand the role of environmental concern, personal
norms, perceived value and willingness to pay in shaping the green purchase intention and
buying behavior of young millennial consumers in India. The results highlighted the
importance of perceived value and willingness to pay in stimulating green purchase
intention and buying behavior. This is in line with findings of previous studies from China,
Taiwan and India (Cheung et al., 2015; Yadav and Pathak, 2017; Chiu et al., 2014; Prakash
and Pathak, 2017). Perceived value was found to have a significant effect of purchase
intention indicating that consumers perceived green products as offering high value to them
and showed high readiness to adopt green products. Perceived value was also found to show
significant indirect effect on purchase behavior through purchase intention. Further,
willingness to pay was found to relate positively to purchase intent which suggests that
consumers were willing pay premium for acquiring green products. Willingness to pay was
also found to influence green buying behavior indirectly through its impact on purchase
intention. Thus, price-sensitive nature of Indian consumers was not reflected when it came
to the purchase of green products in the present sample. This could be due to the perceptions

Paths Beta coefficient t-value p-value Relationship

EC-PI 0.099 0.373 0.709 Not supported

PN-PI 0.111 0.448 0.654 Not supported
PV-PI 0.496* 4.486 0.001 Supported
WPP-PI 0.327* 3.876 0.001 Supported
PI-PB 0.572* 7.732 0.001 Supported
Table V.
Note: *p < 0.001 Path relationships

Bootstrap BC 95% CI
Paths Indirect effect Lower Upper

EC-PB 0.096 0.589 4.234

PN-PB 0.093 3.430 0.621
PV-PB 0.368 0.003 0.744 Table VI.
WPP-PB 0.230 0.028 0.527 Indirect effects
JGR of high value generated by green products, which enhanced their willingness to pay extra
9,2 for them. On the other hand, environmental concern and personal norms failed to show any
significant effect on millennials’ purchase intention toward green products. This was in line
with the findings of Khare (2015) where personal norms failed to explain green buying
behavior of consumers from India. However, it contradicts the findings of previous studies
where environmental concern (Paul et al., 2016; Prakash and Pathak, 2017) and personal
188 norms (Prakash and Pathak, 2017) related significantly with purchase intentions. This could
be due to the fact that environmental concern and personal norms may not have any direct
effect but may exercise indirect influence on purchase intentions through other variables,
such as attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (Chen and Tung, 2014;
Hartmann and Apaolaza-Ibáñez, 2012; Paul et al., 2016).
Furthermore, unlike most of the previous studies that were restricted to purchase
intention, this study goes a step ahead to explore the linkage of purchase intention with
actual buying behavior. Purchase intentions were found to successfully translate into
purchase behavior among green consumers. This supports the findings of limited number of
studies where green purchase intentions were demonstrated to determine green purchase
behavior (Yadav and Pathak, 2017; Chan, 2001). Thus, the study validates the importance of
TPB framework in comprehending consumer green product purchase intention and
behavior in a culturally different context of India. Also, the study contributes to the green
marketing literature by examining the unique combination of variables in predicting green
buying behavior in an integrated framework. In addition, the study extends the TPB by
demonstrating the importance of additional constructs; perceived value and willingness to
pay in predicting green purchase intention and behavior among young millennials in the
India. This encourages future researchers to look for additional variables in understanding
the buying behavior of consumers toward green products in India. Furthermore, this study
establishes purchase intention as an important underling psychological mechanism through
which perceived value and willingness to pay influence green buying behavior.
This study also carries significant implications for practicing marketing managers. The
results augment the marketers’ knowledge about the factors affecting green purchase
behavior of a unique market segment in India. As purchase intent is found to be a significant
predictor of purchase behavior, it is important for the marketers to make efforts toward
improving the perceptions of factors influencing purchase intent. In addition to focusing on
the predictors of purchase intention established by well-developed socio-psychological
model of planned behavior, the marketers may benefit by directing their attention on the
other variables like perceived value and willingness to pay. This will help them in targeting
right set of consumers for optimal response. Marketing strategies directed toward young
millennials in India should focus on enhancing the perceptions of perceived value
experienced by owning green products. Perceptions of value can be enhanced by creating
awareness about the benefits offered by green products in relation to the cost. Marketing
campaigns through social media can help achieve the desired objectives as millennials are
better informed and more connected through various social media platforms (Mogan
Stanely, 2017). Thus, the marketers need to design appropriate communication strategy
creating favorable perception about the green products in terms of opportunity to contribute
to both the environment and good health. At the same time, functional benefits of green
products should be highlighted as consumers may not compromise on the very purpose for
which they buy the product. It should be emphasized that green products offer additional
benefits over the traditional products available in the market. Enhanced value perception in
turn will persuade consumers to spend more for the green products. Spending on the green
products may also generate a feeling of pride that they are in some way contributing to
overcome environmental crisis the nation is troubled with. Furthermore, segmenting Green buying
markets based on willingness to pay is likely to offer enhanced benefits to the marketers as behavior
directing their attention and resources toward right set of consumers will most likely result
in high response rate. Thus, the above knowledge will help the marketers design sustainable
marketing strategies to expand their markets for green products.
To conclude, the study by advancing the understanding on the factors influencing green
product purchase intention and behavior among Indian youths will help the policymakers to
design policies and programs to encourage the adoption of green purchase behaviors, which
189
in turn will help to address the problem of environmental sustainability. Given the
importance of environmental sustainability for a developing country like India, which
figures among the 30 most polluted countries of the world, this study by encouraging
environment friendly attitudes and behaviors among consumers will help minimize
environmental damage.

Limitations and directions for future research

This study carries certain limitations that provide directions for future research. First, the
use of self-report measures may artificially inflate the relationships among study variable.
However, common method bias was not of much concern as Harman single factor test did
not support one general factor explaining majority of the variance. Second, use of cross-
sectional research design restricts our ability to infer causality. Future research may benefit
by conducting longitudinal and experimental studies. Third, using student sample limits the
extent to which the study findings can be generalized for consumer community in India.
Future research may use sample of consumers chosen randomly from general population for
better generalizability. Fourth, though the study controlled for the influence of demographic
variables in the model, exploring these variables as moderators may provide deeper insights
on boundary conditions of the proposed relationships.

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Corresponding author
Richa Chaudhary can be contacted at: richa.chaudhary18@gmail.com

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