Environmental awareness and green product purchasing behavior in Germany

retail participation in the economy has significantly increased and the rising environmental concern influences economic sectors. The green products fulfill the same environment as conventional products. It can be noticed that the consumers not only choose green products due to their appeal, but also their offer. Every manufacturer must try that they provide maximum protection to the environment (Dekhili & Achabou, 2012). Environmental Awareness and Concern Among Germans According to study findings by the German Federal Ministry for the environment and the German Federal Environmental Agency (2015), the environmental awareness level for Germans is increasing. The majority of Germans consider nature conservation as being an essential part of tackling global challenges. The study, which had a total of 2,117 participants had 63% report that the protection of the environment and tackling climate change are primary requirements in managing the modern way of life, for example, globalization. This represented a significant rise compared to the 2012 4% figure (BMUB and UBA 2015). Nearly half of the respondents (56%) considered environmental protection and tackling climate change as being an essential element towards the realization of sustainable prosperity, the competitiveness of German-produced products, and for the creation of new employment opportunities.

Based on the study (BMUB and UBA 2015), the level of environmental awareness among German considers is high. Among every ten respondents, nine hold the view that the lifestyle of Germans in partly responsible for the environmental and climate problems other countries face. About 75% of the respondents believe that the environmental conditions in which German children and grandchildren will have to live are worrisome, with the figure highest among young people aged between 14 and 17 years, at 85% (BMUB and UBA 2015). Nearly all the respondents in the study reported they almost always opt for the energy-efficient choice when buying electrical appliances.

This kind of survey has been carried out in German every two years since 1996 (BMUB and UBA 2015), and it covers the German population. Through the years, the study results have shown that environmental consciousness among Germans has increased over the years. As a result, a higher number of Germans consider climate change a problem, and environmental conservation the solution.

These findings are in line with studies on other populations including New Zealand, which has an 84% of consumers are environmentally aware (Gan et al. 2008), and the United States, which study shows consumers and the society, in general, does seriously consider environmental issues that arise from industrial manufacturing sectors (Chen 2011; Rizwan et al. 2013). As a result of these findings, study findings show that consumers are willing to purchase products that have less or no effect in terms of contributing to environmental and climate-related problems (Gan et al. 2008; BMUB and UBA 2015; Rizwan et al. 2013).

2.3 Translation of Environmental Awareness to Purchase Behavior It is the belief of consumer behaviorists that the actions of an individual consumer can be predicted based on his/her attitudes and the prevailing conditions. Attempts to accurately predict a consumer purchasing behavior have been done with the incorporation of a variety of factors, which can be classified as either situational or dispositional (Cherian & Jacob 2012). Research indicates that the ability to predict a consumer's behavior is dependent on the consumer's attitude which is a result of knowledge and personal experiences. Some researchers on this topic, however, argue that, if attitudes are to be used to predicts a consumer buying behavior, then a number of issues related to the method to be used arise (Cherian & Jacob 2012). According to Cherian & Jacob (2012), attitudes and behavior have to be measured at a similar correspondence level.

Various theories have been postulated to explain how attitudes can be used to predict behavior. First is the theory of reasoned action, which states that a person will consider the results of his/her actions before engaging in a particular behavior. A second theory argues that behavior is guided by attitudes. This theory holds the view that attitudes guide behavior through an automatic and spontaneous process rather than a deliberate process as argued by previous behavior theorists (Cherian & Jacob 2012). Despite the availability of these theories in predicting the link between attitude and behavior, with reference to environmental consumerism, there still are debates among researchers on the ability to predict consumer attitude.

As a result of the continued debate, researchers are exploring the effects of external variables and the lack of measurement validity and reliability. Research has shown that there is no correlation between behaviors that are pro-environment by an individual, for example, a consumer who believes in environmentally safe products might not be engaging in recycling efforts (Cherian & Jacob 2012). To overcome this challenge, it has been suggested that the attitudes measures ought to be directed towards a specific environmental issue, for example, the purchase of green products and not a general view of pro-environmental behavior (Cherian & Jacob 2012). One of the major concerns in measuring purchase behavior is the need for sustainability, which, based on the evident results of environmental problems on lifestyle, people are getting concerned on the lives of their children and grandchildren hence the need for sustainability (Cherian & Jacob 2012; BMUB and UBA 2015).

Sustainability is a broad discipline and gives people various insights from social sciences to technology to the environment to businesses. Sustainability draws on philosophy, economics, and politics. The idea of sustainability is to create a balance between social, economic and environmental needs. Environmental issues in the retail sector not only impact water, land use, the volume of packaging and transportation, but here is also a need to focus on chemicals that are offered in stores. Environmental issues such as packaging waste management and energy use also help in sustainability (Tseng et al., 2013).

In furtherance to this theory, the accounting framework Triple Bottom Line Model of Sustainability or TBL was proposed by John Elkington (Hollos et al. 2012), which went beyond measuring profits in a traditional manner. The TBL measures three dimensions of performance: economic, social and environmental. Few factors such as changing supply chain models, evolving technology and business practices have established long-term standards in the industry.

2.4 Consumer Environmental Awareness and Purchase of Green Products
A green or sustainable product is defined as one that helps in conserving the future generations. As a result, Nuttavuthisit & Thogersen (2015) argue that a green product has an added positive impact on the health of the entire community. It is not necessary or possible that any product can be 100% green as every product has some impact on the environment. Fuentes (2013) agrees and further argues that it all depends on the degree of the impact caused by products. Some of the characteristics of green products are; energy-efficient, durable, and low maintenance requirements. Other green aspects are; energy-efficient production methods, lower level of exposure to chemicals, and recycling manufacturing waste.

2.4.1 Theory of Reasoned Actions According to the theory of reasoned actions, human beings are rational and know the systematic use of information (Zhao et al. 2014). The theory of reasoned actions is explained as the intention or attitude of an individual towards the behavior. A person forms an intention to engage in a certain behavior and the intention can be transformed into action. This theory is bound by certain assumptions and it is believed that social behavior is controlled by overriding motives or desires. The goal of this theory is to predict or understand a person's behavior. For instance, organic food products are categorized as green products, so based on the theory of reasoned action, the positive consumer attitude will drive green purchase intention (Zhao et al., 2014).

2.4.2 Theory of Planned Behavior The theory of planned behavior is an extension of the theory of reasoned action as the latter has limitations while dealing with behaviors for incomplete volitional control. The green consumer intention for purchasing a green product is affected by consumer behavior (Zhao et al., 2014).

2.5 Purchase Intentions and Environmental Awareness Based on the literature reviewed for this paper, there has been little attention to the issue of product attributes and the eco-friendly purchasing behavior of consumers. The attributes of a product do play a crucial role in eco-friendly purchasing as they have an effect on the choices a consumer makes in an effort to satisfy his/her needs. In addition to the inherent need for the product, ecofriendly products have been shown to affect a consumer's choice based on the need for suitability (Cherian & Jacob 2012; Gan et al. 2008).

According to Akehurst et al. (2012), purchase intentions are considered to be the motivation factors influencing a consumer's purchasing behavior. It indicates the level of effort people need to put for obtaining certain behavior therefore, their actual purchase behavior of the green product is more likely to be affected by performance. If the consumers are willing to purchase certain products, that is purchase intention. Various factors influence the attitude of a consumer while constituting to purchase intention. The possibility of the consumer to purchase a particular product can be measured by the purchase intention (Akehurst et al., 2012).

Consumers are taking a greater interest in addressing environmental issues that contribute to environmental pollution from industrial or manufacturing activities. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of environmental problems, which according to Akehurst et al. (2012), has a contributory role in the willingness to purchase green products as they have less harmful effects on the environment. For instance, customers in the USA are willing to pay more for products that have a lower or no contributory role to air pollution. Research shows that American consumers are willing to pay a greater amount for the products and services that would reduce emissions through renewable sources of energy (Akehurst et al. 2012; Cherian & Jacob 2012). The manufacturers and marketers need to reorganize the business models for establishing environmental beliefs. Therefore, it is inferred that the customers have a higher purchase intention for environmentally friendly products even if the price to be paid for it is high. Few variables that affect green purchase intention are discussed as follows.

According to Kaufmann et al. (2012), there is a significant difference between eco-friendly purchase behavior and general purchase behavior. While general purchase behavior is motivated by an assessment of the immediate benefits to be derived from a product, ecofriendly purchasing is coupled with a future-oriented outcome that benefits the entire society. It has been observed that, as a result of the highest even menacing environmental degradation effects on the health and wellbeing of consumers, consumers are integrating eco-friendliness of a product in their purchase choices (Lee et al. 2010). Similarly, Jain et al. (2015) argue that, over the past few decades, there has been increased discussion on environmental degradation and its negative effect on health. As a result, consumers are paying much more attention to causes and various ways to solve the problem of environmental degradation. Eco-friendly products are considered to be one of the solutions to avert environmental degradation and thus, a large number of consumers are opting for such products (Jain et al. 2015).

The researcher has deduced various ways through which consumers are driven towards or away from ecofriendly products.

2.5.1. Green Awareness According to Hur et al. (2012), green awareness refers to the familiarity with the effects of a product on the environment. When consumers evaluate a product in terms of features and benefits in the context of the environment, it is known as green awareness. The greater the awareness, the higher will be the purchase intention. In addition, Kaufmann et al. (2012) argue that, if people are educated, they should be relatively more worried about the environment. Green awareness is the most important determinant of green purchase intention. The marketing activities are interrelated with customer brand awareness and knowledge. The researchers prove that the previous knowledge and awareness about a green product generate the intention of customers to purchase green. Moreover, researchers (Kaufmann et al. 2012; Lee et al. 2010; Jain et al. 2015) agree that green awareness is the most potent driver towards the purchase of green products.

2.8 Green Perceived Value The green perceived value refers to the performance, benefit, and features offered by a green product in the mind of the customer. According to Chen and Chang (2012), green perceived value is a customer evaluation of the overall benefits of the green product. According to Kaufmann et al. (2012), green perceived value can also be defined as the thought that a consumer gains from the purchase of green products and the valuation of the benefits and performance of green products in the mind of the customer. It is not necessary that if a product is green, it should have guaranteed sales. As a result, it is considered to be the second most influential factor in the purchase of green products. According to Chen and Chang (2012), for a green product to sell, it should have a positive effect on marketing performance. As a result, it is inferred that there is a positive relationship between green perceived value and purchase intention (Chen & Chang, 2012).

2.9 Green Customer Satisfaction After a customer perceives the value of a product, they purchase it, then satisfaction arises from the consumption of the product. According to Chavez et al. (2014), customer satisfaction is considered one of the most important components for the marketers and customer researchers. It is defined as the consumer's judgment about a product or service if consuming it was a pleasurable experience (Chavez et al. 2014). According to research findings, the two conceptualizations of customer satisfaction are: cumulative and transaction-specific. With the increasing environmentalism, the consumers are willing to purchase greener products if they perceive that the products will fulfill the green concerns (Chavez et al., 2014).

2.7 Green Perceived Trust According to Chen and Chang (2012), trust refers to the promise, word or statement of the other party upon which an individual can rely upon. The three main reasons for trust are goodwill, honesty, and attitude. Likewise, Jain et al. (2015), argues that trust is referred to as the level of self-assurance that the other party will have no discrepancy between actual and expected performance. Green perceived trust is developed among consumers when sharing experiences of a product and it is a determinant of long-term consumer activities. Therefore, consumer green perceived trust has a positive impact on the customer green purchase intention (Chen & Chang, 2012).