Impact of Environmental Concern, Emotional Appeals, and Attitude toward the Advertisement on the Intention to Buy Green Products: The Case of Younger Consumer Audiences

Stefanos Balaskas, Aliki Panagiotarou and Maria Rigou ()
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Stefanos Balaskas: Department of Management Science and Technology, University of Patras, 26334 Patras, Greece
Aliki Panagiotarou: Department of Management Science and Technology, University of Patras, 26334 Patras, Greece
Maria Rigou: Department of Management Science and Technology, University of Patras, 26334 Patras, Greece

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-19

Abstract: The protection of our natural environment and the rational use of our natural resources are topics that have gained enormous attention the last years, with thousands of people changing their buying behaviors and making more environmentally conscious purchase decisions. Green consumer behavior is concerned with environmental issues or societal considerations that are reflected in purchase decisions. In this article, we study the factors influencing the intention of consumers to buy green products by proposing and validating a research model depicting the dependencies of green purchase intention from the selected factors. More specifically, the aim of the exploratory study is to investigate the impact of positive and negative emotions on individuals’ perceptions of environmentally friendly products and services, as well as the influence of attitudes toward green ads and of consumers’ environmental concerns on green purchasing behavior. The study was conducted with 75 participants who were shown six ads promoting a specific ecofriendly product, with each ad featuring a different emotional appeal both through its visual imagery and its textual information; three of the ads elicited negative emotions (fear, guilt, and disgust) and three positive emotions (joy, interest/curiosity, and inspiration). Findings indicate that ads that elicit negative emotions demonstrate a significant positive effect on consumers’ attitudes toward the green ad and on their intention to buy the promoted green product, but this does not apply to ads that elicit positive emotions. The statistical analysis also revealed that the attitudes toward the green ad are not a significant predictor of consumers’ buying intention. Moreover, as expected, consumers with high environmental concern demonstrate stronger intention to buy the promoted green product compared to consumers with low environmental concern.

Keywords: green marketing; emotional appeals; environmental concern; green purchase intention; undergraduate students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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