Antecedents of green purchase intention: A case in vietnam

Nội dung text: Antecedents of green purchase intention: A case in vietnam

1. ANTECEDENTS OF GREEN PURCHASE INTENTION: A CASE IN VIETNAM Dr. Nguyen Binh Minh binhminh279@gmail.com* Le Bao Ngoc lebaongoc.tuti@gmail.com* Nguyen Bao Ngoc nguyebaongoc23091991@gmail.com* Nguyen Viet Dung vietdungptit@gmail.com* *Lecturer, Faculty of Marketing, Post and Telecommunication Institute of Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam Abstract: The last few years have witnessed a phenomenon growth in the green consumption industry. Yet, relative few studies have been performed in this domain in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of materialism, perceived risk, trust, corporate environmental advertising, and environmental concern on the willingness to purchase green products in Vietnam. A conceptual model was developed to represent the proposed relationships among the related variables. An online survey was conducted and 133 valid surveys were collected. This research shed some light on green consumption behavior of consumers in Vietnam. Materialism (centrality), environmental concern, perceived risk and trust were all reported denoting significant influence on consumers’ willingness to purchase green products in Vietnam. Limitations for this study mainly come from the representativeness of the sample, which was restricted to consumers in Hanoi. This paper provides a conceptual framework to explain green consumption and its motives. Keywords: consumer behavior, green consumption, risk, trust, Vietnam 1. Introduction Research background Currently there is a growing awareness of the environmental impact and a rising concern over consequence of consumption among consumers in Vietnam. This could be explained as the fast paced industrialization and urbanization have resulted in serious environmental issues for Vietnam. According to The World Factbook CIA 1026
2. (2015), Vietnam is facing significant environmental challenges, such as deforestation, soil degradation, water pollution, air pollution and overfishing. Realizing the urgency to move towards a more sustainable industrial development pathway and sustainable consumption, the Vietnamese government has launched the Vietnam Green Growth Strategy for the period between 2011 and 2020, aiming to reach “a decisive tendency in sustainable economic development” by 2050 (Nguyen et al., 2017). The Vietnam Green Growth Strategy emphasizes on climate change mitigation, green production and green lifestyle. Past worldwide researches highlighted the impact of individual consumption on environmental quality and suggested consumer action can address ongoing environmental concerns (Barr and Gilg, 2006; Bonini and Oppenheim, 2008). One action which could be easily taken by consumers is the choice of purchasing green products, also known as environmental friendly products. These products are defied as doing no or the least to nature, humans and animals during its production and consumption and does not contain any was material either in its package or in itself (Ottman, 1993; Elkington et al., 1990; Moisander, 2007). The purchase of these green products is called green consumption. For successful expansion of green consumption into Vietnamese market to reduce environmental issues, green producers should first identify what leads Vietnamese consumers to purchase green products and then design the most effective marketing strategies on the basis of their findings. Research gap Green consumption has emerged as an academic concept in developed nations since the 1960s, and received great attention from marketing scholars (Ellen et al., 1991; Pickett et al., 1993). Numerous studies have concentrated on determinants of green consumption (Kim and Choi, 2005; Kim et al., 2009) and attempting to link green consumption with perceived consumer effectiveness, environmental concern and environmental knowledge (Aydin, 2016). Despite a consistent relationship between environmental concern and green consumption has been established throughout extant studies (Mostafa, 2007; Mainieri et al., 1997), Straughan and Robert (1990) claimed that the existence of environmental concern alone is not useful in explaining the variability of green purchase behavior. Green purchasing or green consumption remains a brand – new concept in Vietnam. Previous studies on green consumption in Vietnam are limited to attempt to explore relationship between materialism and green consumption or apply the theory of planned behavior to explain green purchase behavior (Nguyen et al., 2017; Nguyen et al., 2016). The role of perceived risk, trust and environmental concerns which have been proved significant in other consumption behavior are intact. Little empirical attention has 1027
3. been devoted to identify a multidimensional conceptual model to reveal what are key factors influencing Vietnamese consumers’ green consumption. A comprehensive review of literature has confirmed the relationship between materialism and green consumption (Nguyen et al., 2017; Nguyen et al., 2016; Kim and Choi, 2005). This study aims to contribute to the existing literature by incorporating perceived risk, trust and corporate environmental concern to these relationships. The paper is structured as follow: first, a comprehensive review of literature and previous findings will be provided, followed by an explanation of research methodology in details. Then an in-depth analysis of results will be provided and last a discussion of findings, implications, limitations and some suggestions for future research will be present. Defining the green consumption Mainieri et al. (1997), along with Kim and Choi (2005) defined green consumption as a consumption of products that leave minimal impacts on the environment. Earlier in the literature Simon (1995) explained that a good can be qualified as green product if it is produced either by minimizing used inputs, utilizing recyclable materials, requiring less energy for production or having minimal or no packaging in use. This study has decided to focus on purchase intention rather than behavior, because intention has been used as a predictor of actual behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Environmental concern Lee et al. (2014) defined environmental concern as public attitudes about the environment, reflecting the considerations about threats related to the environment. Mainieri et al.(1997) posited that consumers with a deeper concern for the environment would be more likely to purchase green products in comparison with other customers. Based on this argument, the following hypothesis is proposed: 1: Environmental concern is positively correlated with green purchase intention Materialism There is not a universally accepted definition of materialism. Belk (1985) based on psychological perspective viewed materialism as the importance a consumer placed on worldly possessions. Richins and Dawson (1992) defined materialism as a consumer value in which three sub – constructs were identified: a) defining success (the extent to which one uses possession as an indicators of success and achievement in life), b) acquisition centrality (the extent to which one uses possession to indicate their success and achievement in life, c) pursuit of happiness (the belief that 1028
4. possessions are essential to satisfaction and well – being in life). The relationship between materialism and green behaviors has multifaceted dimensions. Alexander and Ussher (2012) in line with Brown and Kasser (2005) proposed that consumerism and materialism would lead to socio – economic issues, for instance, environmental problems. Some empirical studies showed a negative link between materialism and environmentally – responsible behaviors (Good, 2007). However, Andreou (2010) in concurrence with Karabati and Cemelcilar (2010) reported a positive relationship between materialism and green consumption could not be confirmed because of limitations regarding measurement scale. In the context of emerging economies, a recent research ran by Strizhakova and Coulter (2013) pointed out a positive correlation between materialism and environmentally friendly behaviors. Nguyen et al. (2016) employed Richins and Dawson (1992)’ scale items to measure materialism found a positive association between the “happiness” facet of materialism and green purchase intention. From the above literature, the following hypotheses are proposed: 2: “Success is negatively correlated with green purchase intention 3: “Centrality” is negatively correlated with green purchase intention 4: “Happiness” is positive correlated with green purchase intention Perceived risk Perceived risk is the consumer’s subjective assessment of the probability of making wrong decisions when purchasing the product (Bauer, 1960). If consumers perceive high risk towards a product, they would be reluctant to trust the product (Mitchell, 1999). On the other hand, if consumers perceive low risk towards product consumption, they will reduce their skeptics and are more willing to consume the product. It is therefore hypothesized that: 5: Perceived risk is negatively correlated with green purchase intention Trust Customer trust was posited from past literature as a determinant of consumer purchase intention (Schlosser et al., 2006). Previous research shows that customer trust would positively affect customer purchase intentions (Schlosser et al., 2006; Lu et al.,2010) indicate that customer trust positively affects customer purchase intentions. Chen (2010) and Chen and Chang (2012) put forward this idea by indicating that green trust would influence consumers’ purchase behaviors in the environmental era. 6: Trust is positively correlated with green purchase intention 1029
5. Figure 1: A proposed conceptual framework Environmental concerns Success Centrality Green purchase intention Happiness Perceived risk Trust 2. Methodology Data collection Using the convenience sampling method, the data was gathered by surveying people living in Hanoi. Known as the capital of Vietnam, environmental issues in Hanoi are usually prioritized to solve. High income and living standard in Hanoi, along with its easy access to green products make it a potential research location (Nguyen and Smith, 2012; Nguyen et al., 2013). Questionnaire was distributed in both online and offline setting. All questionnaires were administered by the same researcher to control external variables. To ensure the representability of the sample, researchers aimed to approach people from different genders, age cohort, occupations, education and level of income. Among 133 respondents, 75.4 percent were females, 69 percent were at the age of 25 – 34. Additionally, in terms of socioeconomic status, 64.6 percent were students and 13.8 percent were working in the public sectors. Measurement of variables The questionnaire used in this study contained the measures for environmental concern, materialism, perceived risk, trust and intention towards purchasing green products. Researchers adopted scale items from Kim and Choi (2005) to measure environmental concern. The measurement of materialism in general and its three facets was adopted from Richins and Dawson (1992). The scale items measuring perceived risk were derived from William and Hammit (2001). Following extant literature, trust was measured with the use of Berg et al. (2005) and Huynh and Ho 1030
6. (2013)’ scale items. All measured used a five – point Likert – type response format, with “strongly disagree” and “strongly agree” as anchors. Data analysis SPSS statistical package software was used to test proposed hypotheses and regression was used to reveal the relative importance of the determinants. A principal component analysis was run with the items to test the factorial validity of the scale. A series of exploratory factor analyses were applied to further purify measurement indicators; the factor structure of the study model is supported for reliability by the Cronbach’s alpha and so on. Exploratory factor analysis was chosen to define the theoretical framework for this study. Varimax rotation was employed to the principle components in order to extract factors on the same scale that failed to exhibit significant loading on the construct. This research conducted a strict a priori decision criterion to discard factor loadings of 0.6 (Hair et al., 2009) and the components with Eigenvalue greater than 1.0 were retained. The analysis revealed 33.9 percent of the variance is contributed by seven factors, and these are defined as follows: environmental concern (three items), materialism “success” (three items), materialism “centrality” (three items), materialism “happiness” (five items”, perceived risk (six items), trust (six items). The values of alpha ranged from 0.75 to 0.95 which validate reliability of scale measurements. The results of EFA, Cronbach’s alpha, along with mean, standard deviations, and correlations for all variables used in this current study are presented in Table 1. Table 1: Descriptive statistics and results of the exploratory factor analysis Standard Factor Variables and the measurement items Mean deviation loadings Environmental concern (alpha = 0.823) I am worried about the environment 4.188 1.1416 .872 Mankind is severely abusing the environment 4.266 0.9840 .908 The balance of nature is very sensitive and easily deteriorate 3.875 1.0039 .721 Success (alpha = 0.809) I admire people who own expensive homes, cars and clothes 3.664 .9743 .694 Some of the most important achievement in life include 3.758 .683 acquiring material possessions .8671 I place much emphasis on the amount of material objects .9136 3.492 .657 people own as a sign of success The thing I own say a lot about how well I’m doing in life 3.461 .9127 .371 I like to own things that impress people 2.570 .9613 .807 1031
7. Standard Factor Variables and the measurement items Mean deviation loadings Centrality (alpha = 0.755) I try to keep my life comfortable, as far as possessions 3.250 .8418 .459 are concerned The things I own are all that important to me 3.750 .7736 .733 Buying things give me a lot of pleasure 3.633 .8499 .800 I like a lot of luxury in my life 2.539 .9860 .463 Happiness (alpha = 0.879) I haven’t got all the things I really need to enjoy life 3.195 .9860 .604 My life would be better if I own certain things I don’t have 3.367 1.0815 .787 I would be any happier if I owned nicer things 3.445 .9624 .784 I would be happier if I could afford to buy more things 3.227 1.0212 .794 It sometimes bothers me quite a bit that I can’t afford to 3.055 .9417 .620 buy all the things I’d like Perceived risk (alpha = 0.890) Products that I purchased are not meeting my requirements 3.20 0.81 .657 I meet obstacles while using currently owned products 3.19 0.84 .764 I wasted money on unsafe products 3.41 0.91 .864 It takes me a lot of time and effort to afford clean products 3.53 0.84 .775 I face psychological pressures to purchase currently 3.27 0.88 .729 owned products Life is full of risks 3.62 0.96 .786 Trust (alpha = 0.899) I believe that the quality of goods (including food) have 3.27 0.92 .684 been greatly improved I believe consumer protection organizations are trying to 3.31 1.00 .801 improve citizens’ lives I believe goods (including food) that I am using daily are 3.00 0.96 .808 good for my health and the community My belief on the improvement of quality of goods is growing 3.21 0.94 .786 I believe in the government's efforts to implement 3.31 0.97 .810 environmentally friendly product (including food) standards. I am confident that today's manufacturers are responsible for the community in the production of safe (including 2.93 0.96 .739 food) products. 1032
8. Before entering data into multiple regression for analysis, correlations were checked among the variables in this study. All independent variables (environmental concerns, success, centrality, happiness, perceived risk, trust) are significantly correlated with green purchase intention. Correlation coefficients lie in the range of 0.1 to 0.8. Table 2 presents result of the correlation coefficient between six independent variables and one dependent variable. Table 2: Correlation coefficients Green Environmental Perceived Success Centrality Happiness Trust purchase concerns risk intention Environmental 1 .189* .113 .167 .202* concerns Success .278 1 .443 .699 .393 .371 .275 Centrality .087 .443 1 .468 .488 .393 .382 Happiness .189* .699 .468 1 .393 .532 .315 Perceived risk .113 .393 .488 .393 1 .383 .425 Trust .128 .371 .393 .532 .383 1 .494 Green purchase .202* .275 .382 .315 .425 .494 1 intention Note: *p 0.1 and β = -.446, p > 0.1), therefore, the study rejects 2 and 4. Possible explanation for this will be offered in the next session. In terms of perceived risk’s relationship with green purchase intention, this analysis found a strong positive effect which is in contrast with the literature (Ho et al., 2013) with β = .224, p < 0.01), thus 5 is rejected. In 6, the hypothesis was that trust will have a positive relation with purchase intention. The analysis supports this hypothesis (β =. 365, p < 0.001). The results of hypothesis testing are summarized in Table 3. 1033
9. Table 3: Regression results Variables Model (standardized) Environmental concerns .135* Success -.017 Centrality .149 Happiness -.446 Perceived risk .224 Trust .365 푅2 .339 Adjusted 푅2 .306 F 10.253 Note: *p < 0.1, p< 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.001 3. Discussion and Conclusion With the examination of factors suggested by the previous literature, the primary task of this section is to make sense of the hypotheses that were confirmed and give potential interpretations for those that were not supported. According to previous section, environmental concern is positively related to green purchase intention. This is in concurrence with the findings from extant studies (e.g: Suki & Suki, 2015). The result of this study provided novel insight into environmental concerns of Vietnamese consumers with regards to green products. Second, the impact of materialism which is formed by success, centrality and happiness, was examined. In this study, the findings reported out of three facets, only centrality has a positive effect on purchase intention of green products. This is inconsistent with the findings of Nguyen et al. (2017). We offer one explanation for this result as urban consumers in Vietnam with a high level of centrality may see green consumption is a trend in Vietnam and the consumption of green products could bring comfort to consumes’ material life. However for better understanding of the relationship between materialism and green purchase intention, further studies are needed. Third, in this study, perceived risk was found to be positively correlated with green purchase intention of consumers. This finding is inconsistent with past suggestion of positive relationship between perceived risk and green consumption (e.g: Ho et al., 2013). One plausible interpretation for perceived risk’s positive relationship with green purchase intention could be the participants in the current research are younger in general. They have a high level of confidence in spending 1034
10. and thus believe in their ability to make the right purchase decision. Another possible explanation for this positive relationship is when perceived risk is about the environment, consumers will be more likely to be involved in environmental protection activities, including moving towards green purchase. Furthermore, trust is reported to have the greatest influence on purchase intention of green products. This is consistent with previous findings of Ho et al. (2013), suggesting that if the consumers believe in producers, governments and consumer protection organizations’ ability to control food hygiene and safety; they will be likely to purchase the products. The findings of this study provide a theoretical contribution to the literature of green purchase intention, environmental concerns, perceived risk, trust and materialism in Vietnam. First, the key contribution of this study is the establishment of environmental concerns, perceived risk and trust as important antecedents in the development of green purchase intention among Vietnamese consumers. Second, the study has highlighted the role of centrality facet of materialism as a motivation of purchase intention of green products. Moreover, this study indicates that the green product producers, along with the government and consumer protection organization can attempt to promote the trust in consumers by developing and implementing food hygiene and safety programs, minimizing or labelling GMO products. Strict regulations on food quality control should be launched. Economic tools, such as FDI or ODA fund should be used to encourage cooperation with foreign organizations to develop technologies and techniques for green projects. Managers also should design effective communication strategies focusing on the status dimension of green products to consumers who buy and consume these products. Public campaigns, such as Earth Hour program calling for households and businesses to turn off electric lights and electrical devices could be useful in order to bring the perception of green consumption closer to consumers. Several limitations of this study need to be recognized. First, this study used a convenience sampling method which may lower the generalizability of its findings. Second, this study was conducted in Vietnam, the capital of Vietnam. Green consumption behavior may vary across areas with different tastes and social development. It therefore would be fruitful to examine the green purchase intention in other cities and compare the findings to provide a complete picture of consumer behavior in Vietnam. In this study, we tested the direct impact of environmental concerns, perceived risk, trust and materialism on green purchase intention. Future studies may want to 1035
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