Environmental concern and green product purchase behavior among German retailers

¶ … Environmental Concern on the Purchase of Green Products: An Empirical Study of German Retailers

With increased popularity of climate change, pollution, and environmental degradation, consumers have become more aware of environmental issues, and consequently increased their preference for eco-friendly products. Research demonstrates that environmentally-conscious consumers increasingly desire to reflect their social and moral values in their purchase behaviour. Focusing on the German retail context, the present study sought to examine whether consumers\' concern for the environment affect their purchase of green products. Following a survey of 50 retailers, it was revealed that environmentally-conscious consumers were more likely to purchase green products compared to their counterparts with little or no concern for the environment. The findings of this study have important implications for retailers in Germany. Stocking eco-friendly products can attract and retain environmentally-conscious consumers, thereby creating valuable competitive advantage.

Introduction

Environmental sustainability has become a hot topic in the last few decades. It is an area that has even attracted legislative attention, with governments across the world increasingly passing laws and regulations aimed at protecting the environment. Business organisations in diverse sectors and industries, large and small, have now incorporated sustainability principles in their operations, owing to their negative impact on the environment. Organisations are more determined than ever before to minimise environmental degradation and pollution and other environmental impacts (Ishaswini and Datta, 2011).

Increased attention to environmental sustainability has considerably affected consumer behaviour (Suki, 2016). Indeed, a number of studies conducted in various parts of the world have shown that consumers have become more environmentally-conscious and increased their preference for green products (Mainieri et al., 1997; Boztepe, 2011; Ishaswini and Datta, 2011; Dagher, Itani and Nassar, 2015). These studies demonstrate that consumers have increasingly become aware of environmental issues and the impact of products on the environment, and as a result inclined their consumption behaviour towards green buying. Simply, consumers concerned about the environment tend to buy eco-friendly products. In the future, concern for the environment on the part of consumers is anticipated to be even greater. Consumers will be more determined than ever before to buy green products, meaning that business organisations that produce or deliver eco-friendly products will have an advantage over those that do not. Indeed, green marketing is already a crucial source of advantage in the ever more environmentally-conscious world (Boztepe, 2011).

Some studies, however, have shown that consumers may not necessarily change their consumption habits as a result of environmental concern (Junior et al., 2014). Furthermore, green buying behaviour may be predicted by other factors such as demographic variables, not necessarily pro-environmental concerns (Dagher, Itani and Nassar, 2015). Even so, consumers\' increased preference for environment-friendly products cannot be understated.