BASIQ INTERNATIONAL

CONFERENCE

New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption

2017

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

31 May -3 June 2017

Graz, Austria

ISSN 2457-483X
ISSN-L 2457-438X
 BASIQ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption

2017

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

31 May - 3 June 2017

Graz, Austria

ISSN 2457-483X
ISSN-L 2457-483X

Editura ASE
Piaţa Romană nr. 6, sector 1, Bucureşti, cod 010374
www.ase.ro, editura@ase.ro, www.editura.ase.ro
The papers included in this volume were part of the technical conference cited on the cover
and title page. Papers were selected and subject to review by the editors and conference
program committee. The papers published in these proceedings reflect the work and
thoughts of the authors and are published herein as submitted. The publisher is not
responsible for the validity of the information or for any outcomes resulting from reliance
thereon.

Please use the following format to cite material from this book:
Author(s), "Title of Paper," in BASIQ International Conference: New Trends in
Sustainable Business and Consumption - 2017, edited by Rodica Pamfilie, Vasile Dinu,
Laurențiu Tăchiciu, Doru Pleșea, Cristinel Vasiliu, Proceedings of BASIQ Vol. 01 Article
Number.

ISSN 2457 – 483X

ISSN-L 2457 – 483X

Editura ASE
Piaţa Romană nr. 6, sector 1, Bucureşti, România
cod 010374 www.ase.ro www.editura.ase.ro editura@ase.ro

Copyright © 2017, The Association for Innovation and Quality in Sustainable Business
(BASIQ)

All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of BASIQ.
 BASIQ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

HONORARY COMMITTEE

Nicolae Istudor
Rector
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Elgrid Messner
Rector
University College for Teacher Education, Graz, Austria

Roxana Sârbu
Vice-Rector
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Eugeniu Țurlea
Vice-Rector
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Dorel Mihai Paraschiv

Vice-Rector
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Rodica Pamfilie
Dean
Faculty of Business and Tourism
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

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 New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption

CONFERENCE CHAIRS

Elgrid Messner
Rector
University College for Teacher Education, Graz, Austria

Rodica Pamfilie
Dean
Faculty of Business and Tourism
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Vasile Dinu
Editor in Chief
Amfiteatru Economic Journal, Romania

Laurențiu Tăchiciu
President
Association for Innovation and Quality in Sustainable Business, Romania

PROGRAM CHAIR

Marieta Olaru
Director of the Doctoral School in Business Administration
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

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 BASIQ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

MEMBERS

Irina Albăstroiu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Nina Bialowas, Padagogische Hochschule Steiermark, Graz, Austria
Magdalena Bobe, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Cătălin Boja, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Mihaela Bucur, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Robert Bumbac, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Slobodan Cerovic, Univerziteta Singidunum, Beograd, Serbia
Răzvan Dina, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Mariana Drăgușin, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Mihai-Adrian Felea, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Alina Filip, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Smaranda Giușcă, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Raluca-Mariana Grosu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,
Romania
Alina-Elena Iosif, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Maria Claudia Lucchetti, Universita' Degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy
Mihaela Maftei, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Irina-Gabriela Maiorescu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,
Romania
Teodor-Mihai Negrea, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Puiu Nistoreanu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Marieta Olaru, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Cristian-Bogdan Onete, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,
Romania
Doru-Alexandru Pleșea, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,
Romania

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 New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption

Dorin-Vicențiu Popescu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,

Romania
Delia Popescu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Roxana Procopie, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Juozas Ruzevicius, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Gabriel Cristian Sabou, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,
Romania
Roxana Sârbu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Andreea-Simona Săseanu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,
Romania
Mirela-Octavia Sîrbu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Daniel Stavarek, Silesian Univestity, Karvina, Czech Republic
Gabriela Țigu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Aharon Tziner, Netanya Academic College, Israel
Călin Vâlsan, Bishops University, Canada
Cristinel Vasiliu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Simona-Lelia Voinea, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Dianne Welsh, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, USA
Daniel Zgură, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Nicola Yankov, D. Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov, Bulgaria

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 BASIQ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

IN CHARGE WITH ORGANIZATION

Laurențiu Tăchiciu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Andreea Săseanu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Astrid Fortmüller, Pädagogische Hochschule Steiermark, Austria

COORDINATORS

Robert Bumbac, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Răzvan Dina, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

MEMBERS

Irina Albăstroiu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Robert Bumbac, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Mihaela Bucur, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Mariana Drăgușin, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Smaranda Giușcă, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Raluca Mariana Grosu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,
Romania
Irina Maiorescu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Doru-Alexandru Pleșea, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,
Romania
Cristinel Vasiliu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Gabriel Cristian Sabou, Bucharest University of Economic Studies,
Romania

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 New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption

AUTHORS INDEX

Albu Cristina Dabija Dan-Cristian Ilie Anca Gabriela

Aivaz Kamer-Ainur Dadfar Elham Ilie Cristian
Albăstroiu Irina Dediu Liviu Iorgulescu Maria-Cristina
Alexandru Vlad-Andrei Diamescu Dragoș Iosif Alina-Elena
Androniceanu Armenia Dieaconescu Ramona Iosub Irina
Antoneac (Călin) Raluca Iulia Istudor Nicolae
Arp Ann-Kathrin Dina Răzvan Jipa Gabriel
Badea Liana Dinu Vasile Jovanović Milica
Badulescu Alina Dobrotă Carmen Elena Just Vanessa
Badulescu Daniel Đorđević Lena Kiehne Jan
Baicu Claudia Gabriela Drăgulanescu Irina Kirschner Carsten
Bădițoiu (Păun) Laura Virginia Kompalla Andreas
Bădițoiu Daniel Drăgușin Mariana Kopia Jan
Bejan Brîndușa Duca Mioara Lacatus Maria Liana
Belu Mihaela Gabriela Dumitru Ionel Lange Steffen
Bercovici Adrian Dünnweber Matthias Lixandru Marius
Bercovici Elisa Gotesman Enache Antonia Cristiana Luchian Cristian-Eugen
Bob Natalia Felea Mihai Luchian Iuliana
Bobe Magdalena Felicetti Gianluca Lupescu Ernuț
Boboc Cristina Florea Ilie Constantin Maciupa Monika
Bocianowski Robert Florescu Margareta Stela Maftei Mihaela
Bodemann Markus Foltynowicz Zenon Maier Andreea
Buchmüller Melanie Förster-Metz (Förster- Maier Dorin
Bucur Mihaela Pastor) S.Ulrike Maiorescu Irina
Bucur Raluca Crina Fortmüller Astrid Marinović Minja
Budz Sonia Fruth Andreas Marquardt Katrin
Bulin Daniel Gavril Roxana Maria Mateescu (Bejinariu)
Bumbac Robert Geldmacher Jens Ruxandra Maria
Burlacu Sorin Geldmacher Wiebke Mateiu (Sârbu)
Cace Corina Georgescu Bogdan Alexandra
Calabrò Grazia Ghiță Simona Mihajlovic Marija
Ceaușu Ioana Ghițulescu Virgil Mirea Marioara
Cercelaru Oana Valentina Giușcă Smaranda Mohammadreza
Cetină Iuliana Golowko Nina Khorshidi
Chiriță Otilia Florentina Grecu Liliana Moise Daniel
Chitescu Răzvan Ion Grigorescu Adriana Morutan Radu Alin
Ciachir Lilian Grosu Raluca Mariana Munteanu Florea Ionela
Condrea Elena Heinemann Bastian Muradin Magdalena
Cristian Adriana Hell Christian Richard Mureșan Manuela
Csintalan Csaba Hornoiu Remus Ion Liliana

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 BASIQ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Ruzevicius Juozas Takács Ildikó-Csilla

Murswieck Raphaël Sabou Gabriel Cristian Tanțău Adrian
Nagel-Picioruș Claus Sadeghi Mojarad Ali Tăchiciu Laurențiu
Peter Asghar Tănase Gabriel-Iulian
Neacșu Monica Nicoleta Sandru Mircea Tănase Mihail Ovidiu
Negrea Teodor Mihai Sărăcin Valentin-Cosmin Teodorescu Ioana
Nicolae Elena Ecaterina Săseanu Andreea Simona Teodoroiu Flavia
Niculescu Arina Mihaela Săvoiu Gheorghe Toma Maria–Alexandra
Nistoreanu Bogdan Sârbu Roxana Toma Sorin-George
Gabriel Scheiblich Mathias Țală Mădălina-Lavinia
Nistoreanu Puiu Schüler Timm Țigu Gabriela
Olaru Marieta Silvestru (Bere) Ramona- Țîrcă Ilona-Elena-Cristina
Onete Bogdan Cristian Camelia Țuclea Claudia-Elena
Orzan Gheorghe Silvestru Cătălin-Ionuț Țurlea Carmen
Pamfilie Rodica Simoni Smaranda Țurlea Eugeniu
Paraschiv Dorel Mihai Sîrbu Mirela Octavia Valter Narcisa
Petrică Andreea-Cristina Solomon Ionela Gabriela Vasilcovschi Andra
Petronije Jevtic Sommer Marc Vasiliu Cristinel
Piroșcă Grigore Ioan Šošević Uroš Vătămănescu Elena-
Platon Otilia-Elena Stanciu Anca Cristina Mădălina
Pleșea Doru-Alexandru Stanciu Silvius Velciu Magdalena
Popa Ioan Stanciulescu Gabriela Velica Marian
Popescu Delia Stancu Stelian Verjel Ana-Maria
Popescu Dorin Vicențiu State Olimpia Vieri Simone
Popovici Alina Stăiculescu Camelia Vlad Denisa Elena
Popovici Veronica Stosic Mihajlovic Ljiljana Vochin Oana Alexandra
Prada Elena-Maria Studeny Michael Voinea Lelia
Procopie Roxana Sven Irmer Weber Gregor
Rahil Asadi Şanta Ana-Maria Iulia Zamfirescu Vlad
Rauch Manfred Șchiopu Andreea Fortuna Zgură Daniel Ion

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 New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption

CONTENTS

Case study and analysis for a sustainable quality management in a university

library
Cristina Albu, Narcisa Valter, Adriana Cristian, Mioara Duca……………………… 19

New trends of businesses digitalization in Romania and the behaviour young

consumers
,
Armenia Androniceanu , Sorin Burlacu , Irina Virginia Drăgulanescu,
Elena Ecaterina Nicolae…………………………………………….……………………… 27

Corporate social responsibility and economic and financial performance of an

enterprise
Raluca Antoneac (Călin), Carmen Elena Dobrotă ............................................ 36

Green asset management – A revolution?

Ann-Kathrin Arp, Jan Kiehne , Timm Schüler ............................................................ 45

The role of leaders in the convergence of training programs with the

organizational strategies: a conceptual study
Rahil Asadi …………………………………………………………………………. 54

Functions of leadership in convergence the training programs with the

organizational strategies
Liana Badea…………………………………………………………………………………... 62

The potential held by value-creating networks – a study on the Romanian

beer industry
Laura Bădițoiu (Păun), Daniel Bădițoiu………………...………………………………. 71

Sustainability in Romanian banking: a promising new business model or

”business as usual”?
Daniel Badulescu, Alina Badulescu, Radu Alin Morutan……………………………… 80

Teaching sustainability in tourism. A research among Romanian master

students in Business Administration
Daniel Badulescu, Alina Badulescu, Csaba Csintalan………………………………… 88

Constraints of the Romanian banking system development – An

interview-based study
Claudia Gabriela Baicu, Olimpia State, Delia Popescu, Daniel Bulin…………. 96

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Sustainable strategy of implementing IPR management in

Mergers & Acquisitions
Adrian Bercovici, Gabriela Stanciulescu, Elisa Gotesman Bercovici……………….. 104

Sustainability as foundation for practical application. Considerations from

and for information technology sector
Markus Bodemann, Ana-Maria Verjel, Gregor Weber………………………………… 113

Research on the modularization strategy as a key factor for the sustainability

in a global company
Melanie Buchmüller, Bastian Heinemann, Michael Studeny, Steffen Lange………... 122

Students' perceptions and attitudes on the impact of the coaching course

Mihaela Bucur, Carmen Țurlea, Eugeniu Țurlea and Cristinel Vasiliu……………... 129

Quality assurance in the teacher training programs at university teacher

training departments. Case study: Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Corina Cace, Maria Liana Lacatus, Camelia Staiculescu……………………………. 138

Organic cotton products: an answer to a more sensitive demand to

environmental, healthy and ethical issue
Grazia Calabrò, Simone Vieri…………………………………………………………….. 147

Study on how startup assistance organizations evaluate new venture support

program performance
Ioana Ceaușu, Marieta Olaru, Gregor Weber and Markus Bodemann……………… 156

The importance of fiscal and budgetary responsibility in Romania and in

Europe
Oana Valentina Cercelaru, Dragoș Diamescu, Otilia Florentina Chiriță………….. 165

The counseling and career guidance centers role for education and
professional decisions
Răzvan Ion Chitescu , Adriana Grigorescu, Marius Lixandru………………………... 174

Behavioral antecedents for enhancing green customer loyalty in retail

Dan-Cristian Dabija, Brîndușa Bejan……………………………………………………. 183

Manipulating social monitoring data for tourism strategies

Liviu Dediu, Irina Maiorescu……………………………………………………………… 192

Spreadsheet engineering education: how to improve it? Case of Serbia

Lena Đorđević, Milica Jovanović, Minja Marinović, Uroš Šošević………………….. 199

Global sourcing and repatriating of the relocated companies in Italy

Irina Virginia Drăgulanescu, Armenia Androniceanu, Narcisa Valter……………… 208

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 New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption

BEHAVIORAL ANTECEDENTS FOR ENHANCING GREEN CUSTOMER

LOYALTY IN RETAIL

Dan-Cristian Dabija1 and Brîndușa Bejan2

1) 2)
Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Romania
E-mail: cristian.dabija@econ.ubbcluj.ro; E-mail: brandusa.bejan@econ.ubbcluj.ro

Abstract
Sustainability is a pressing concern and a constant challenge for the contemporary society,
being carefully monitored by individuals and diligently implemented by companies within
their business strategies. Companies increasingly resort to highlighting the characteristics
and advantages of sustainable and environmentally friendly products in an attempt to curry
favour with green consumers who recycle products, prefer organic food or green products
and visit and buy from retailers exhibiting environmental consciousness.
The empirical research conducted on a sample of 3,382 consumers of different ages reveals
how the attitudes and values of green-oriented consumers as well as their proclivity for
sustainable consumption and willingness to pay a premium price for environmentally
friendly products represent antecedents for creating their loyalty to the retail stores that use
green and environmental-oriented strategies. The research findings clearly reveal that
consumers’ positive attitude to environment protection will prompt them to immediately
look for and prefer retailers offering such sustainable products. From a theoretical
perspective, the paper contributes to broadening the understanding of behavioral
antecedents that create green loyalty on an emerging market. From a practical perspective,
the paper provides retailers with possible solutions when designing offers for their target
segments.

Keywords: Green consumer, sustainable products, behavioral antecedents, green loyalty,

green retailing

JEL Classification: Q01, F64, L81, M14, M31

Introduction
Preservation of resources, consumption sustainability, responsibility towards society and
environment protection are a more and more frequent concern of modern organizations and
a constant feature of the business environment. The interest in and the consistent
implementation of these issues within their business activities and strategies does not
automatically trigger consumers’ preference for “green” or sustainable products, brands and
services. The consumption of the “green” products, services, brands is encouraged by

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“activating” the conative side of attitudes so that the individual makes a behavioral decision
(Silva Braga Jr. et al., 2015).
In a society in which technological development and the fast emergence of innovations
prevail the concern for the environment and social responsibility becomes the company’s
main pillar/instrument in approaching the market. The fierce competition prompts
companies to better differentiate their offers and position them by focusing on sustainable
business practices designed to attract and better satisfy customers’ needs and desires and
gain their loyalty. Variety of assortment and the services provided, the varied pricing
policies and the sending of information about products and services, the relatively large
number of competitors fighting hard for a unique “position” in the mind of customers as
well as the image and awareness of each retailer can be better enhanced in this century of
social media through specific actions governed by concern for the environment and
sustainability.
An empirical research study on a sample of about 3,000 Romanian respondents was
conducted to determine the behavioural antecedents that create customer loyalty—
regardless of customers’ age and generation—towards the retail stores implementing an
environmental protection-oriented sustainability strategy. The authors then emphasize the
relevance of sustainability in retail and describe how retailers rely on environmentally
friendly products to capture consumers’ attention and satisfy them. Afterwards, they set to
operationalize the theoretical concepts and carry out the empirical research. Following the
validation of the model by means of statistical tests and structural equation modeling, the
authors put forward the research findings and some pertinent conclusions which,
theoretically, help understand the role of green behavior and of a proactive and positive
attitude towards environment protection in creating customer loyalty. From a management
perspective, the paper provides some strategic recommendations which, when properly
implemented by retailers, may contribute to the development of effective strategies for
approaching emerging markets.

2. Literature review
2.1. Sustainability in retail
Sustainability represents the major concern of researchers (Kwok et al., 2016; Chankrajang,
Muttarak, 2017) and of different contemporary organizations and is amply documented in
the WCED report (1987) as the development that meets the needs of the present generations
without compromising or jeopardizing the access of future generations to similar resources.
In other words, sustainability promotes the concept that an individual or a company may
use natural resources as part of their own processes but cannot exploit them to the full. As
market competitiveness has increased, sustainability has become the necessary condition
for a company to survive in a tumultuous and ever-changing competition environment
(Martin, Shouten, 2012; Dabija, Băbuț, 2013).
Sustainability has become a major concern of the companies in the retail sector as well. The
main reason thereof is the need to adapt company strategies to the needs of the modern
society and suit the offers to the demands of consumers who increasingly embrace green
values and visit stores and/or retail formats depending on the extent to which such
stores/retail formats advertise and sell organic products made of natural fibres within
environmetally harmless technological processes (Schmidt et al., 2012; Joshi, Rahman,
2015). Retailers are also concerned with marketing fair trade products (Pop, Dabija, 2014)
manufactured in compliance with ethical principles (Dabija et al., 2016) and with a low

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consumption of raw and other materials (Gershoff, 2011), which protect the environment
(Joshi, Rahman, 2015) and are energy-saving (Euromonitor International, 2015) etc. For the
modern consumer of the tewnty-first century, a retailer’s adopting and implementing a
sustainability strategy and striving to protect the environment has increasingly become a
good reason to revisit and recommend the retailer, leading to the creation of customer
loyalty. Certainly, the implementation of a sustainability strategy calls for companies to use
innovation and promote responsible consumption because the impact of their own actions
on the environment has to be as low as possible.

2.2. Enhancing consumer loyalty by means of green products

The individual’s buying decision is influenced by the stimuli coming from the producer or
the seller as well as by his or her past experience, own values and various contextual factors
(Dabija, 2010; Joshi, Rahman, 2015). The synergy between all these factors enhances or
suppresses the preference of a brand, product, store, retail format or company. An
individual’s values have a strong bearing on his or her beliefs which, in turn, are influenced
by the social and cultural context in which s/he lives, his/her background, lifestyle or
customs and traditions (Joshi, Rahman, 2015). Collins et al. (2007) show that collectivism-
oriented people have a tendency towards sustainable behaviour, pay increased attention to
and get actively involved in social responsibility campaigns of various organizations. Such
individuals are a lot more concerned with their fellows, with the preservation of
environment resources and with the extent to which future generations have access to living
conditions similar to those enjoyed by today’s generations. Their involvement in the
decision to buy a product or to prefer a particular store is much more intense. Such people
actually “choose” the producer or the retailer and remain loyal to it depending on the extent
to which the organization’s sustainability actions are in harmony with their precepts,
values, beliefs and attitudes (Stern et al., 1999). The individual’s care for the environment
is also the result of his/her orientation towards universalism achieved by his/her
communion with nature and the emphasis placed on the need for social justice (Schwartz,
1992). It is actually the wisdom of the human being that makes people maintain a lifestyle
centered around strong values.
Consumers’ preference for environmentally friendly products, brands or services made in
compliance with sustainability principles is largely conditioned by the existence of
sustainable consumption (reflected in two behaviour attitudes: desire to recycle products
and avoid food waste) (Ferguson, 2014; Laroche et al., 2001), ecological consciousness,
understood as the effort made to purchase non-polluting products (Pop, Dabija, 2013) and
of a willingness-to-pay, that is, the individual’s financial willingness to pay a premium
price for the desired product (Batte et al., 2007; Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Aryal et al., 2009).
This willingness-to-pay is dependent on people’s socio-demographic characteristics (level
of education, marital status, household size etc.) as well as their knowledge, values,
experience, attitudes and behaviour. Informed people, who are concerned with environment
protection, know the major negative effects of pollution. This motivates them to easier
accept to pay a premium price hoping that in this way they will make a mininum
contribution to the protection of the environment (Laroche et al., 2001).
An individual’s decision to buy sustainable, green, environmentally friendly products is
actually made depending on how much they harm or do not harm the environment, are
“friendly” with it, can be recycled or reused and comply with the environment protection
and resource preservation norms and requirements (Lee, 2009). It is often the case that the

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attitude towards a company, brand, product or service may influence the desire to buy such
products. The importance that each individual places on such environmentally friendly
products is essential because the consumer also selects the company depending on its image
in his/her mind. This image is created as a result of the company’s involvement in social
responsibility or environment protection campaigns (Laroche et al., 2001; Collins et al.,
2007).
Once a positive and strong image of the environmentally friendly company that markets
sustainable products is created in the individual’s mind (Dabija, 2010), the company may
expect the customer to show increased willingness to pay a higher price for such products
and be aware of the environment protection issues faced by contemporary society when
making a buying decision. Moreover, the consciousness of recycling or reusing products
whenever possible as well as the habit of using environmentally friendly products are
essential levers for generating customer’s trust in, and satisfaction with the company’s
sustainable products and services, which is a prerequisite to gaining his/her loyalty
(Larouche et al., 2001).
By means of sustainable products, which often have attractive packaging and special design
(Silva Braga Junior et al., 2015), environmentally conscious retailers seek to offer
customers novelty and added value so as to gain their trust, satisfy them and develop their
loyalty. Therefore, retailers expect people to exhibit a favourable attitute to any new
product or service contributing to environment protection and manufactured in compliance
with the principles of sustainability. By his/her attachment to the environmentally friendly
company and its products, the customer will convey his/her positive feelings and
experience to his/her fellows, leading to an attitudinal state in favor of the provider (Garcia
de los Salmones et al., 2005). By fostering loyal behaviour, the customer will also prefer
the environmentally friendly product in the future, will repurchase, recommend and
positively describe it through word-to-mouth communication to his/her friends and
acquaintances while becoming rather “immune” to the competitors’ marketing actions
intended to capture his/her attention (Sierra et al., 2015).

3. Research methodology
In order to determine the behavioral antecedents contributing to the creation of loyalty to
the retail stores implementing sustainability and environment protection measures among
Romanian consumers regardless of generation (baby boomers, X, Millennials and Z
generations), the authors have carried out a survey-based empirical research study. The data
were collected through face-to-face questionnaire administration. The questionnaire was
operationalized for each individual construct (loyalty and its antecedents) according to the
literature as respondents assessed the statements on a five-point Likert-scale. Loyalty was
investigated in terms of the degree to which respondents from different generations (Baby
Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials and Z generation) are willing to recommend the store,
patronize the store and make more purchases from the store that implements sustainability
measures, preferring it over other less green stores (Nasir, Karakaya, 2014). Each loyalty
antecedent was operationalized using several items: own environmental concern
(Lastovicka et al., 1999), environmental impact of retailer’s actions (Antil, 1984; Dabija et
al., 2016), article use extension (Lastovicka et al., 1999; Haws et al., 2014).
The first behavioral antecedent assessed the extent to which the decision to buy a food or
non-food product pays regard to environment protection or the own contribution to the
reduction of resources consumption. Environmental impact of retailer’s actions is about

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measuring the degree to which respodents try to find out more information about the
retailer that they patronize as well as the extent to which the green environmental standards
are met when making and selling various products. The last antecedent contained the
assessment of respondents’ willingness to reuse the purchased electronic, household,
clothing etc. items, make efforts not to throw out food, recycle products or use them for
other purposes as a result of optimizing their own consumption or of their intention to
achieve financial savings.
Respondents from Romania’s administrative and territorial units were selected by operators
by gender and age, according to the breakdown in the Statistical Yearbook (2014). They
were approached in public places, in the proximity of stores or at their home. The collected
data were sistematized and then analysed using statistical software to check their reliability,
validity and internal consistency (Churchill, 1991). The four constructs exceed the
minimum acceptable threshold levels. Cronbach α (>0,7) takes on values between 0.788
and 0.897 while the Kaiser-Meyer-Ohlkin criterion (>0,7) takes on values greater than
0.742. Each construct shows a variance of over 50%, with eigenvalues greater than 2 for
each of the four individual dimensions (Churchill, 1991; Dabija, 2013). The exploratory
factor analysis conducted on loyalty antecedents (Walsh, Beatty, 2007) confirmed the
stability of the three constructs, which were subjected to structural equation modeling
analysis to identify their contribution to the enhancement of customer loyalty to retail
stores. The AMOS-computed fit indices (Forza, Filippini, 1998; Ju et al., 2006) of the
structural model exceed the minimum acceptable thresholds (Table 1), which enabled the
validation of the model and the interpretation of results. Each respondent had to state
his/her year of birth so that they could be categorized in one of the generations considered,
according to the literature: Baby Boomers (1945-1964), Gen Xers (1965-1979), Millennials
Y (1980-1994), Z (1995-2000) (Gurău, 2012; Doster, 2013; Young, 2015; Dabija et al.,
2017).
With the exception of generation Z who either still are high school students or just started
college, most members of the other generations hold university degrees (Millennials: 714
persons; Xers: 475 persons; Baby Boomers: 202 persons). In the case of Baby Boomers, the
number of high school graduates is almost equal to those with vocational training (100
persons) but in the case of Millennials there are twice as many high school graduates (310
persons) as persons with vocational training (164 persons). It is possible that Millennials
are a lot more likely than the other generations to find a well-paid job with only high school
diploma. Almost 85% of respondents live in urban areas and only 15% of them come from
rural areas.

4. Research findings
As Table no. 1 indicates, all dimensions considered (own evironmental concern, article use
extension, environmental impact of retailers actions) has a direct and positive influence on
green consumer loyalty as all relationships are highly significant (****). However, the
findings reveal that the greatest influence in shaping green loyalty across all generations
and retail formats is exerted by Green consumers propensity (0.542****). Therefore,
respondents keep a watchful eye on each and every detail and the environment protection
activity of the producers of the articles they purchase. They get information about the
characteristics of the goods purchased from their favourite stores (for example, raw
materials, active substances etc.) because, to them, it is important that, not only the

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purchased article but also its parts and subassemblies have an impact as low as possible on
the environment.

Table no. 1: Behavioral antecendents for enhancing green loyalty towards food and
non-food retail stores
Effects (all consumers) Model fit
Green reuse motivation  Green Loyalty 0,177**** χ2 df χ2/df
Green consumers values  Green Loyalty 0,228**** 1495,821 364 4,60
Green consumers propensity  Green Loyalty 0,542**** GFI AGFI NFI
SRMR (≤ 0,08) 0,0328 0,952 0,937 0,952
****p<0.001
RMSEA (≤ 0,08) 0,052 CFI TLI
0,956 0,949

Loyalty is also determined by consumers’ own environmental concern (0.228****). When

making buying decisions, consumers follow their own beliefs and attitudes but, at the same
time, they ponder seriously about the impact of their own actions on the environment.
Therefore, consumers pay attention to the manner in which the planet’s resources are
managed and how the environment is preserved and make efforts so that their activities and
the purchased food and non-food products may not harm the environment in any possible
way (Table no. 1).
The lowest and equally highly significant impact on building consumer loyalty (revisiting,
recommending, increasing purchase frequency etc.) to food and non-food retail formats is
exerted by consumers’ concern to have even a small contribution to product recycling and
reusage (article use extension). As excessive soil and environmental pollution caused a lot
of problems, many consumers think about using the products repeatedly and identifying
new uses for the already purchased articles. Their concern for the purchased products is
accounted for by the need to make significant financial savings. They choose, revisit and/or
recommend the retail formats depending on the extent to which these stores make efforts to
recover or reclaim old articles. Therefore, consumer loyalty may be generated by buy back
programs which retailers may implement both in fashion retail and electronic and
household applicances retail (Dabija et al., 2016).

Conclusions
The present research clearly suggests that consumers eagerly seek green products, organic
food and products complying with and integrating principles of sustainability when they are
mentally oriented towards, and have positive experiences concerning environment
protection and preservation of natural resources. Therefore, consumers choose retail stores
depending on the extent to which they are capable of offering sustainable products. On the
other hand, retailers are able to attract consumers with a favourable attitude towards
environmentally friendly products and satisfy them with well-conceived and carefully
structured offers, thus gaining their loyalty and making them to recommend the retailer to
other people in a positive way and revisit it. The research findings are also supported by
other studies which show that a positive image ingrained in customers’ mind and the
existence of behavioral antecedents (recycling, desire to have a minimum contribution to
sustainability and/or environment protection, orientation towards healthy, green etc. food)
enhance individuals’ affection for environmentally friendly products and retailers (Laroche
et al., 2001; Collins et al., 2007). The result is that individuals will prefer, become loyal to

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(Garcia de los Salmones et al., 2005) and buy from these retailers to the detriment of their
competitors (Sierra et al., 2015).
Among the research limitations is the failure to consider retailers’ marketing measures in
the form of communication, customer service and store ambience, which may serve as
important stimuli for capturing the attention of customers and drawing them to the store. At
the same time, future research will have to examine more closely how behavior antecedents
differ significantly beteen young persons, on the one hand, and adult and elderly people, on
the other hand, since it is well known that young people are more willing to buy/use green
products than their parents or grandparents (Young, 2015; Dabija et al., 2017).

Acknowledgment
“This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific
Research and Innovation, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-0312”

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