2.2. Theory of Planned Behavior
This study uses the TPB model proposed by Ajzen [
18] to investigate consumers’ motivations of sustainable consumption intentions during China’s Double-11 shopping festival. The TPB model has been one of the most widely used models for studying environmental behaviors [
19]. Many researchers believe that the TPB model can explain consumers’ sustainable consumption behavioral intentions and predict their future behaviors well [
20]. The TPB model indicates that consumers’ sustainable consumption intentions can best predict their future sustainable consumption behavior [
9,
18]. Research has shown that there are consistencies between people’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors [
21]. More specifically, consumers’ sustainable consumption intention is an essential component of sustainable consumption behaviors [
22].
The TPB model demonstrates that human intention is guided by three predictors, including attitude towards behavior, the subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Attitude towards behavior refers to consumers’ evaluation of the performance of a particular behavior; the subjective norm is defined as the social pressure that consumers perceive when engaging in a particular behavior; and perceived behavioral control is defined as consumers’ perceived difficulty or ease when they perform a particular behavior [
9]. However, although the TPB model has been widely used to examine the motivation of sustainable consumption intentions, researchers have noticed that domain-specific factors have not been included in the model [
23,
24]. An increasing number of studies have extended the TPB model by including new constructs [
25,
26,
27]. This study has also included one construct, atmosphere, along with the traditional TPB constructs (i.e., attitude towards behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) to measure consumers’ sustainable consumption intention.
2.2.1. Environmental Concern and Attitude
Environmental concern is defined as “the degree to which people are aware of problems regarding the environment and support efforts to solve them and or indicate the willingness to contribute personally to their solution” [
28]. Studies have supported the importance of environmental concern in environmental attitudes research [
29,
30]. In general, consumers’ attention towards environmental concern is positively associated with their attitude towards sustainable consumption behaviors [
31]. Several studies have shown that consumers with a high level of environmental concern have a more positive attitude towards sustainable consumption [
29,
32,
33]. Thus, we propose:
Hypothesis 1 (H1). Environmental concern is positively associated with the attitude towards sustainable consumption during the Double-11 shopping festival time.
2.2.2. Environmental Concern and Subjective Norm
The environmental concern could be considered as a crucial factor that results in a higher subjective norm [
34]. Environmental concern affects subjective norm in a way that influences consumers’ perceptions of pressure from their family and friends on their sustainable consumption behavior [
35]. Some studies have demonstrated that compared to lowly environmentally concerned consumers, those consumers who have a higher level of environmental concern perceive stronger supports from their family and friends [
35,
36]. For example, Bamberg [
36] examined college students’ purchase decisions on green electricity products and found that environmental concern had significant effects on college students’ perception of the subjective norm. Therefore, we propose that highly environmentally concerned consumers perceive a higher subjective norm from their important reference persons during the Double-11 shopping festival.
Hypothesis 2 (H2). Environmental concern is positively associated with subjective norm during the Double-11 shopping festival time.
2.2.3. Environmental Concern and Perceived Behavioral Control
Perceived behavioral control is defined as consumers’ perceived difficulty or ease when they perform a particular behavior [
9]. Peoples’ behavioral control is determined by their general attitude through specific control beliefs. It reflects consumers’ prior experiences and their anticipated difficulties. Consumers who think that it is difficult to perform a particular behavior might not have strong intentions, even though their attitude and subjective norm is favorable. Thus, consumers’ perceived behavioral control has motivational implications for their behavior. Previous studies have shown the relationship between consumers’ environmental concern and their perceived behavioral control [
35]. For example, Bamberg [
36] found that consumers’ environmental concern can predict their confidence in their ability to perform energy conservation behaviors. Based on the above discussion, we propose:
Hypothesis 3 (H3). Environmental concern is positively associated with perceived behavioral control during the Double-11 shopping festival time.
2.2.4. Environmental Concern and Purchase Intention
Environmental concern is critical to consumers’ decision-making process [
37]. From a theoretical perspective, the environmental concern could be treated as a type of general attitude in the TPB theory [
36,
38]. It represents consumers’ worries, compassion, and likes toward the environment [
39], which could affect their decision in all stages of the purchase process [
40]. The underlying reason for this is that consumers who are highly concerned about the environment tend to behave in an environmentally friendly way [
41]. Many studies have found a positive relationship between environmental concern and purchase intention of green products. For example, Irawan and Darmayanti [
42] found that students with high environmental concern in Indonesian universities have more green purchase intentions. Aman et al. [
43] also indicate a positive correlation between environmental concern and green product purchase intention. The positive relation between environmental concern and sustainable consumption behavior is examined not only in western countries, but also in eastern countries [
44]. Thus, the increased environmental concern is positively associated with consumers’ sustainable consumption behaviors, expanding the market for green products. Specifically, in our research context, consumers who have a high level of environmental concern are more likely to have higher purchase intentions for sustainable consumption during the Double-11 shopping festival. Thus, we propose:
Hypothesis 4 (H4). Environmental concern is positively associated with purchase intention for sustainable consumption during the Double-11 shopping festival time.
2.2.5. Attitude and Purchase Intention
In the TPB model, attitude is one of the determinants of purchase intention. As an interaction in memory between a product and the evaluation of the product, attitude can be used to discover consumers’ psychological evolution of the product [
21,
45,
46] and predict real human behavior [
9]. Studies have revealed the relationships between attitude and purchase intention [
47]. For example, Birgelen et al. [
48] conclude that if consumers have a positive attitude towards the environment, they are likely to choose environmentally friendly beverage packaging. Han and Yoon [
49] found that consumers’ attitude towards sustainable consumption is positively associated with their booking intention towards green hotels. Thus, we propose:
Hypothesis 5 (H5). Attitude towards sustainable consumption is positively associated with purchase intention for sustainable consumption during the Double-11 shopping festival time.
2.2.6. Subjective Norm and Purchase Intention
The subjective norm is consumers’ perceived social pressure that forces them to behave in a certain way to meet social expectations [
9]. If a particular behavior that consumers perform meets the social expectations, consumers are likely to perform the behavior; otherwise, consumers might not perform the behavior [
50]. A number of studies have indicated a positive relationship between subjective norm and sustainable consumption, such as green hotel booking intention [
34,
51], organic food purchase intention [
52,
53], and environmental conscious consumption [
54,
55]. Thus, we propose that the subjective norm has important effects on consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior.
Hypothesis 6 (H6). Subjective norm is positively associated with purchase intention for sustainable consumption during the Double-11 shopping festival time.
2.2.7. Perceived Behavioral Control and Purchase Intention
Perceived behavioral control includes two aspects. One aspect refers to the availability of resources such as money and time required for performing a behavior, and the other aspect refers to consumers’ confidence in performing the behavior [
9,
56]. When consumers have both the ability and confidence to perform a particular behavior, the behavior possibly occurs [
57]. Studies have reported a positive relationship between perceived behavioral control and sustainable consumption in a variety of contexts, such as green hotel booking intention [
38,
58], organic food purchase intention [
53,
59,
60], and environmental conscious consumption [
54,
56]. Thus, we propose:
Hypothesis 7 (H7). Perceived behavioral control is positively associated with purchase intention for sustainable consumption during the Double-11 shopping festival time.
2.3. Atmosphere and Sustainable Consumption
The atmospherics of off-line stores are defined as “the conscious designing of space to create effects in buyers … (and) the effort to design buying environments to produce specific emotional effects in the buyer that enhance his purchase probability” [
61] (p. 50). The atmospherics of an off-line store mainly consist of its physical environment, such as cleanliness, music, scent, temperature, lighting, color, and display [
62]. Some studies have identified the influence of off-line store atmospherics on consumer behavior, emotion, and satisfaction [
63]. For example, Srinivasan and Srivastava [
64] indicate that the atmospherics of off-line stores have direct effects on consumers’ purchase intention through creating enjoyable experiences for consumers. Silva and Giraldi [
65] found that the impressive atmospherics of off-line stores enhance consumers’ satisfaction level.
Based on the definition of atmospherics proposed by Kolter [
61], Dailey [
66] (p. 796) defines online atmospherics as “the conscious designing of web environments to create positive effects in users in order to increase favourable consumer responses”. Although online atmospheres lack some cues of off-line store atmospheres (e.g., olfactory cues), online retailers could manipulate other cues, such as color, graphics, context, layout, and music for the online atmosphere to stimulate consumers’ senses and responses [
67].
While online atmospherics refer to the designing of web environments that attract consumers to enter and purchase, the online atmosphere is viewed as consumers’ mood or emotion conveyed by the setting [
68]. The effect of the online atmosphere on consumer purchase behavior has gained increasing attention from both researchers and managers [
69]. For example, Eroglu et al. [
70] found that the online atmosphere influences web visitors’ pleasure and arousal. Carroll [
71] has suggested that online atmosphere is an important factor influencing online shopping behavior, as the online atmosphere incorporates consumers into the same virtual community. Chen et al. [
72] point out that the online shopping atmosphere influences consumers’ willingness to purchase.
However, although some studies have examined the effects of the atmosphere on consumer purchase behavior, few studies have empirically investigated how it influences consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior [
8]. To the best of our knowledge, Robinot et al. [
8] are the only group to have empirically tested the relationship between atmosphere and consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior; they concluded that the Christmas atmosphere does not significantly influence socially responsible purchase intention. Although Robinot et al. [
8] did not find a significant relationship between the Christmas atmosphere and consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior, we propose that the atmosphere during the Chinese Double-11 online shopping festival, a national shopping festival, would have a negative effect on consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior.
On the one hand, festivals such as Christmas are considered as symbolic of hyper-capitalism [
73]. The shopping atmosphere at festivals is marked by the “symbolic exchange,” where the hedonic, aesthetic, and social considerations outweigh more environmentally sustainable concerns. Generally speaking, festivals result in the production of a great number of non-green products, which are condemned by environmental and anti-consumerist organizations [
74]. As a period of intensified consumption, festivals thus produce a significant number of environmental issues. For example, Bryant [
75] suggests that Christmas is the world’s largest annual environmental disaster. Haq et al. [
73] conclude that about £4 billion was spent on unwanted fits in the United Kingdom each year.
On the other hand, price promotion acts as a tempting mechanism that greatly reduces consumers’ self-control resources [
76]. The reduced self-control resources result in consumers’ impulsive behavior [
77], which is not regulated but results from unplanned and spontaneous impulses [
78]. Compared to unsustainable consumption behavior, sustainable consumption behavior is less likely to be impulsive behavior because it is a more planned behavior [
79]. Thus, huge price promotions offered at China’s Double-11 online shopping festival weaken consumers’ attitudes towards and preference for sustainable consumption but strengthen those for unsustainable consumption. Moreover, the national shopping festival atmosphere influences the subjective norm, whereas it dampens consumers’ perceived pressure from others on sustainable consumption. Integrating the above discussions, we therefore propose:
Hypothesis 8 (H8). The Double-11 shopping festival atmosphere is negatively associated with consumers’ attitude towards sustainable consumption.
Hypothesis 9 (H9). The Double-11 shopping festival atmosphere is negatively associated with consumers’ subjective norm.
Hypothesis 10 (H10). The Double-11 shopping festival atmosphere is negatively associated with consumers’ perceived behavioral control.
Hypothesis 11 (H11). The Double-11 shopping festival atmosphere is negatively associated with consumers’ purchase intention for sustainable consumption.
On the basis of the discussed hypotheses, the following theoretical framework (see
Figure 1) is proposed.