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Article

Green Marketing Strategies, Environmental Attitude, and Green Buying Intention: A Multi-Group Analysis in an Emerging Economy Context

by
Balween Kaur
1,
Veer P. Gangwar
1 and
Ganesh Dash
2,*
1
Mittal School of Business, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144002, India
2
College of Administrative and Financial Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Riyadh 11673, Saudi Arabia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 6107; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106107
Submission received: 25 April 2022 / Revised: 11 May 2022 / Accepted: 16 May 2022 / Published: 17 May 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Marketing and Consumer Behavior in Emerging Markets)
Browse Figure
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
The present study investigates the association between green marketing mix strategies and the green buying intentions of consumers in an emerging economy. The focus is on the green buying intentions of millennials towards green personal care products and the impact of green marketing strategies on it. The moderating role of the environmental attitude of consumers and the role of consumers’ demographics as control variables are also assessed. The study used structural equation modeling to corroborate 405 responses of millennial consumers of green personal care products. Multi-group analysis was used to assess the control variables. Findings indicate that green products, green place, and green promotional strategies significantly impact green buying intentions. The moderating role of environmental attitude provided some interesting results. Income and education play a significant role in the green buying intention of different customers. Marketers can expressly understand the critical areas of their strengths and the direction in which the efforts need to be channeled in their upcoming endeavors.

1. Introduction

Concerns about adopting pro-environmental behavior and climatic conditions have motivated commercial establishments to integrate ecological issues into their upcoming business activities [1]. Such business organizations face challenges in redesigning their production and marketing processes to make them eco-friendly and shift the orientation of R&D towards achieving sustainability [2]. To achieve the goal of cleaner industrial production, it has become inevitable to produce only green products that do not harm the environment and its inhabitants. The marketing function of commercial organizations has been entrusted with the essential task of creating a sustainable market where the users understand the need to adopt green products and are willing to contribute to the healing process of ecology by shifting their buying preferences from traditional products to contemporary green products. Therefore, to foster cleaner production and sustainable consumption, an important role is being played by the marketing function of business organizations.
Therefore, the present study focuses on “green marketing,” which has emerged as a savior of the planet. Green marketing, also referred to as “sustainable marketing” and “eco-friendly marketing,” promotes products and services based on the environmental advantages and values.
Previous researchers have elucidated the impact of green marketing mix elements on the buying intentions and behavior of consumers in different nations [3,4,5,6,7]. However, as India occupies the third position among the most polluting countries globally, more research on green issues is needed to save the country from an ecological crisis. However, there is a scarcity of studies on the influence of ecological marketing on Indian consumer behavior [8]. Green marketing is still blooming [9,10,11]. In addition, the extant literature reveals that previous scholars have investigated the effect of green marketing mix variables on eco-friendly products in general. However, there is hardly any research that aims to corroborate the influence of green marketing mix variables on consumers’ buying intentions (millennials) towards green personal care products and examine the role of consumers’ demographics as control variables and environmental attitudes as moderators. Therefore, the present study was designed to fill this gap in the literature relating to the influence of green marketing strategies on purchasing intentions of millennials towards green personal care products in the Indian context and reveal the role of consumers’ demographics and environmental attitudes as moderators. In previous studies, the researchers outlined the influence of green marketing strategies on sustainable products. However, the proposed study investigates the impact on personal care products, including bath products, personal hygiene products, beauty products, cosmetic products, fragrances, and medicinal value products. Therefore, the present study attempts to explore whether the 4Ps of the green marketing mix (green product, green price, green place, and green promotion) impact the buying intentions of millennials towards green personal care products in the Indian context. In addition, the study also aims to discover whether the demographic features of consumers and their environmental attitudes play a role in strengthening or weakening said relationship.
Section 1 explains the background, rationale, novelty, and research questions. Section 2 discusses the literature review, theoretical background, hypotheses development, and conceptual model. Section 3 is related to the research methodology, highlighting the sample, procedure and measures adopted. Section 4 corroborates the analysis and results obtained in terms of findings. Section 5 presents the discussion. Last, the conclusion, limitations of the study, and future directions are presented in Section 6.

2. Literature Review and Hypothesis Development

2.1. Theoretical Background

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) [12] and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) [13] are the two most frequently used theoretical models for corroborating and predicting the behavior of human beings. The present study operationalizes the extended version of TPB and TRA, which includes four elements of the green marketing mix by moderating the influence of consumers’ demographics and environmental attitudes on green buying intentions. These theories postulate that the intention to perform a particular behavior is the antecedent of the actual behavior [12,14]. The empirical research conducted by past researchers has used numerous additional constructs as extensions to the theoretical frameworks to find the impact of different factors on consumers’ green buying intentions and behavior [15,16,17,18,19,20,21].
Numerous researchers in the past years have done countless research studies examining the influence of different psychographic factors, sociodemographic factors, social factors, cultural factors, and personal factors on buying intentions and the actual behavior of consumers towards pro-environmental products and services [19,22,23,24,25]. For example, initially, the consumer has intentions to perform an act. These intentions take root in his mind due to several motivating factors, and these intentions force him to perform such an act or function. Similar is the case with green products, where several factors influence his thought process and drive him to buy green products. The components of the green marketing mix influence buyers’ intentions to buy eco-friendly products and services [26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33].
Values and consumers’ past experiences affect intentions of buying sustainable personal care products [34]. Environmental and appearance consciousness favorably impact consumers’ buying intentions for sustainable personal care products. The findings confirmed that a sustainable lifestyle is reflected in the consumer’s consumption pattern. The past experiences of using other categories of organic products significantly affect the intention of buying sustainable personal care products. Consumers’ intentions toward buying pro-environmental beauty products and personal care products were assessed by using belief patterns of individuals, factors related to the environment, socio-economic features, and consciousness and knowledge as independent variables [35,36]. The study confirmed the magnitude of the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) model and found that the respondents were little concerned with the environment. Only a few demographic factors significantly influenced the purchasing intentions of consumers. Consumers’ intentions to re-purchase sustainable personal care products were also assessed [37] and the association between value–attitude–behavioral intentions was confirmed. The study found that attitude, the most significant motivator of re-purchase intention, is influenced by product knowledge, health consciousness, safety value, and environmental consciousness.

2.2. Hypothesis Development

2.2.1. Green Product

Green products do not cause any harm to the health and safety of humans and nature, as these products do not add to air pollution, can be recycled, and allow for the conservation of natural resources for future generations. The most relevant definition of green products says that green products’ environmental and societal staging is better than traditional non-green products in all stages, i.e., production, consumption, and disposal [38]. Therefore, it cannot be stated that these products have a negligible impact on the environment. However, these products strive to save the environment and conserve nature by limiting chemicals and other hazardous substances [39]. Manufacturers and marketers have realized that consumers’ buying decisions are being affected by the green features of products and services. The choice and preference of consumers have undergone a significant shift from conventional non-green products to green products. After realizing the irreversible impacts of chemically composed products on environments, green products are significantly influencing buying intentions of Bangladeshi consumers [40]. As part of the green marketing strategies of marketers, green products are found to have a favorable impact on the buying intentions and behavior of consumers [41,42,43]. A significant impact was found for green products on the green purchasing intentions of consumers in Sri Lankan supermarkets [5]. As part of green marketing strategies, green products favorably influence green consumer intention [4]. Hence, we propose:
Hypothesis (H1).
Green products significantly impact consumers’ green buying intentions.

2.2.2. Green Price

Green price can be stated as fixing prices for green products, which can be higher compared to conventional non-green products due to the usage of dearer raw materials to maintain good quality, usage of substitutes for chemicals and other toxic substances, and enhanced cost of production due to increased restrictions [44]. Green price takes care of the 3Ps, people, planet and profit, as well as human health and sustainability [26]. The term “premium price” is generally used by researchers with green products, as going green in production, consumption, and disposal attracts additional expenses, resulting in a higher cost of production than traditional non-green products. In addition, the costs of inculcating policy measures related to the environment add to the production costs, thereby raising the selling price of green products [45]. The buyers of pro-environmental products in developed European countries are willing to pay a premium price for green products due to the eco-friendly features present in such products [46]. The premium price is considered a symbol of comparatively better quality and pro-environmental performance of products [41]. A significant effect is exerted by the price of green products on consumers’ buying decisions [47]. The positive attitude of Indian consumers towards sustainable products has a significant impact on their willingness to pay a premium price to buy them [48]. Therefore, previous studies show that the users of green products do not resent paying a higher price for green products [43,49]. Hence, we propose:
Hypothesis (H2).
Green price significantly impacts consumers’ green buying intentions.

2.2.3. Green Place

Green place manages reverse logistics to reduce carbon footprint by bringing down transportation emissions [50]. The strategies adopted by marketers to make green products available at the right time, in the correct quantity, and at the right place are referred to as “green place” as a component of the green marketing mix. Green place includes better inventory management, reduced inventory costs, savings in costs and time, and enhanced service to consumers [51]. The distributors must formulate an eco-friendly distribution strategy to maintain the sustainability aspect of marketing and benefit from a competitive edge over competitors [41]. Consumers will not make any enhanced efforts to find and fetch green products from faraway places. Therefore, it is the task of the marketer to make green products available in all places. Consequently, the easy and regular availability of green products significantly influences consumers’ green purchasing intentions [4,40,52]. Hence, we propose:
Hypothesis (H3).
Green place significantly impacts consumers’ green buying intentions.

2.2.4. Green Promotion

Green promotional strategies play an inevitable part in users’ successful adoption of green products, which depends on suitable communication methods used by marketers. Therefore, communication is an essential part of green marketing excellence [53]. It plays an inevitable role in increasing consumer awareness, knowledge, concern, and consciousness and motivating people to become green consumers by accepting only eco-friendly products to meet routine and luxury needs. Advertising and sales promotion have undergone significant modifications due to environmental changes in raw materials, production processes, and distribution strategies [54]. As a result, consumers have revealed a positive attitude toward advertisements for eco-friendly products, which predicts their buying intentions [46]. Green promotion enhances the green image and persuades consumers to shift towards green products by highlighting their environmental benefits and addition to sustainable lifestyles [55]. Therefore, previous authors empirically proved in their research studies that green promotional strategies encourage consumers to modify their conventional buying habits and shift toward green products and services [4,5,26,40,41]. Hence, we propose:
Hypothesis (H4).
Green promotion significantly impacts consumers’ green buying intentions.

2.3. Consumers’ Environmental Attitude and Green Buying Intention

The factors included in consumers’ environmental attitudes are concern for the environment, awareness regarding environmental issues, consciousness of environmental problems and solutions, knowledge of environment-related issues, and activism for the environment. Three kinds of environmental attitudes predict the ecological behavior of a person: attitude towards the environment, which is referred to as an environmental concern (deteriorating quality of air due to pollution); attitude towards ecological behavior (recycling and energy-saving behavior); and the NEP (New Environmental Paradigm) [56]. The impact of green products on green buying intention varies among consumers depending on their environmental attitude [57]. Consumers with favorable and robust attitudes and values for ecology reported high intention to buy eco-friendly products [58]. Their attitude toward the environment hugely influenced the impact of pricing on intention. The influence of consumers’ environmental attitudes on the impact of green marketing strategies on buying intention was confirmed in various studies conducted in cross-cultural contexts [57,58,59,60,61,62,63]. Similarly, the evidence available in previous research studies showed that consumers’ ecological concerns play a massive role in influencing marketing strategies to swing green decisions in their favor [20,64,65]. Environmental knowledge is considered a vital factor that impacts the information-gathering activity of consumers: environmental knowledge and pro-environmental consciousness [66]. Environmental attitude, consciousness, and social phenomena strongly impact consumers’ ecological consumption [67], shaping green marketing strategies. Hence, we propose:
Hypothesis (H5).
The positive relationship between green product and green buying intention is stronger when the environmental attitude is high.
Hypothesis (H6).
The positive relationship between green price and green buying intention is stronger when the environmental attitude is high.
Hypothesis (H7).
The positive relationship between green place and green buying intention is stronger when the environmental attitude is high.
Hypothesis (H8).
The positive relationship between green promotion and green buying intention is stronger when the environmental attitude is high.

2.4. Consumers’ Demographics and Green Buying Intention

Past empirical studies on environmentally conscious consumer intention have considerable evidence predicting the connection between demographic features of consumers and their purchasing intentions and behavior towards eco-friendly products [41]. Therefore, the demographic features of consumers facilitate marketers to avail of the advantages of market segmentation and consequently make efforts to target the right market segment [68,69,70,71,72,73]. Environmental consciousness constructs and the sociodemographic characteristics relating to residents of Delhi have a significant positive association [74]. The authors used six sociodemographic variables, namely, gender, age, income, academic qualifications, occupation, and type of school attended. The review of past studies revealed that consumers’ environmental knowledge is significantly influenced by gender [75]. Females have a more eco-friendly attitude than their male counterparts, and males engage less in green buying than females [76]. However, there is hardly any study examining the moderating impact of gender. Therefore, it has become essential to discover whether gender strengthens the association between green marketing mix variables and the green buying intentions of consumers. The existing literature proves that consumers’ academic qualifications are more consistently attached to ecologically conscious consumer intention [77]. Nath et al. [77] investigated how demographic variables dictate the purchase intentions of Indian consumers toward pro-environmental products and highlighted that academic qualification is the most crucial driver of buying intention of Indian consumers toward pro-environmental products. Few studies have found an insignificant connection between education and green intention [78], but most research supported the positive relationship [68,69,70,71,72,73]. Occupation determines the social class to which the consumer belongs. The previous literature reported mixed results regarding the connection between occupation and the ecological intention of consumers. In addition, buyers’ income was found to be a significant predictor of the green buying intentions of consumers, corroborating the positive connection between the two [79]. However, others proved that income does not affect customers’ sustainable intentions for hotel services [80]. Therefore, this calls for further research in diverse geographical settings to elucidate the connection between consumers’ demographics and green buying intentions.
The hypothesized research model is presented in Figure 1.

3. Research Methodology

A structured questionnaire was formulated with all 21 variables detailed in the following section. We adopted the statements from previous empirical research studies published in reputed journals despite developing a suitable scale. The structured questionnaire was bifurcated into two sections, where Section 1 solicited the sociodemographic information of respondents, and in the next section, the intended respondents were questioned to assess multiple parameters on green marketing mix strategies adopted by commercial organizations, environmental attitude, and green buying intentions of consumers. The responses were solicited on a 5-point Likert Summation Scale (interval) with two extremes of “strongly disagree” and “strongly agree” [81]. This part had 14 statements for performance scores relating to four dimensions of green marketing mix strategies, three statements regarding the environmental attitude (moderator) of consumers, and four statements relating to the green buying intentions of consumers.

Data Collection

A well-drafted cover letter explaining the research questions and privacy protection was distributed online to respondents due to COVID-19 restrictions. A few responses were collected offline where COVID-19 restrictions were not stringent. Primary data were collected from millennials through an online survey using Google Forms. The Pew Research Centre defines millennials as born between 1981 and 1996 [82]. Therefore, only respondents whose age fell between 24 and 40 years old were contacted for responses. The last few years have seen India become the world’s largest millennial market, drawing multinational companies’ attention to reap the benefits of such a vast market. Moreover, millennials are the primary bread earners in Indian families. Therefore, these persons are the primary decision-makers for buying products and services to meet different needs. The researchers targeted this study only on millennials in the Indian context because the people of this age group are more educated than older generations and are more aware of environmental problems and hence are more likely to understand the need for and importance of pro-environmental consumption [83]. Therefore, these persons are the primary decision-makers for buying products and services to meet different needs. Primary data were collected from respondents belonging to the whole of India. As per the SRS Report published on the structure of the population based on the 2011 census, the total population of people aged 24 to 40 years old in India is 275,149,600. This was taken as the study population to arrive at the sample size. Using the Raosoft calculator available on the Raosoft website, 385 was determined as the sample size, with a 5% margin of error and a 95% confidence level. It was administered to a sample of 500 respondents for final data collection. Four hundred five responses (see Table 1) were collected in a period of four months (July 2021 to October 2021), and the primary data were further analyzed for the formulation of descriptive statistics.
The constructs and the items are detailed below. The first factor was green product (GP). It had four variables: solution to environmental problems does not harm the environment, is good for health, and is better than traditional non-green products (gp1, gp2, gp3, gp4). The second construct was green price (GP), with four variables: justified by ecological benefits, reasonable, in proportion, and justified by enhanced performance (gpc1, gpc2, gpc3, gpc4). The third construct was green place, with three variables: regularly available, readily available, and widely available (gpl1, gpl2, gpl3). Finally, the fourth construct is green promotion, with three variables: paying attention to advertisements, making informed buying decisions, and increasing consumers’ awareness (gpm1, gpm2, gpm3). Finally, consumers’ environmental attitude (EA) was measured using three variables: inevitable to protect the environment, knowledge of environmental benefits, and participation in environmental campaigns (ea1, ea2, ea3). Furthermore, green buying intention (GBI) consisted of four variables: willingness to pay more, would consider buying to save resources, products made of recycled materials, and green products have more excellent added value (gbi1, gbi2, gbi3, gbi4) (see Table 2).

4. Results

4.1. Evaluation of Measurement Model

Table 2 and Table 3 provide the required model fit for the measurement model. In addition, other criteria such as AVE (average variance extracted), Cronbach’s alpha, and composite reliability (CR) were assessed. All values met the required thresholds. Hence, considering all these findings, it can be said that there were no validity concerns in the measurement model [92,93,94].

4.2. Structural Model

The casual relationship between green marketing strategies and green buying intention was investigated. It was found that green product, green place, and green promotion strategies had a significant impact on the green buying intention of respondents. Green promotion had the maximum impact (0.23), followed by green place (0.21) and green product (0.17). The fourth construct, green price (0.04), did not significantly impact it. Therefore, H1, H3, and H4 are accepted, and H2 failed to be accepted (see Table 4).

4.3. Moderation Effects

Table 5 highlights the moderation effect of environmental attitude between green marketing strategies and the green buying intention of consumers. All the values are less than 0.05, which shows that environmental attitude played no moderation role between green product and green buying intention, green price and green buying intention, Green Place and Green Buying Intention and lastly between Green Promotion and Green Buying Intention. Hence, H5, H6, H7, and H8 failed to be accepted.

4.4. Multi-Group Analysis

The multi-group analysis (see Table 6) revealed no significant differences between males and females for all hypotheses from H1 to H4. There was a significant difference between income level 1 and income level 2 concerning H1 (see Table 7). For all other hypotheses, there was no significant difference between income levels. Education level-wise, there was a significant difference between level 1 and level 4 concerning H1 and H2. There was no significant difference between education levels (see Table 8). For all hypotheses H1 to H4, there was no significant difference between occupation types (see Table 9).

5. Discussion and Implications

The present research study was conducted to elucidate the impact of green marketing mix strategies on the green buying intentions of Indian millennials and examine the role of environmental attitude as a moderator and consumers’ demographics as control variables. Therefore, manufacturers and marketers need to understand the relevance of various green marketing strategies adopted to attract consumers to green products manufactured and sold.
The researchers discovered that out of the four Ps of green marketing adopted by commercial organizations, three of them significantly affected the buying intentions of Indian millennials towards pro-environmental products. The findings revealed that green products, green places, and green promotional strategies significantly impacted the green buying intentions of Indian millennials. However, green price strategies did not exert any significant impact on it. Thus, it can be stated that Indian millennials strongly believe that green products are one of the solutions to ecological issues, as these products do not harm the environment, are good for health, and are better in terms of quality and environmental performance. The consumers found these products quickly and readily available nearby. The green promotional strategies adopted by marketers make consumers aware of the ecological benefits of such green products and make them readily acceptable.
It is also highlighted that green promotional strategies had the highest impact and green product the lowest on green buying intentions. This shows that Indian consumers are convinced by the green claims of the marketers and transform their green buying intention into the actual buying of green products. It also highlights that their trust in the green claims of marketers is more significant than their perception that green products are one of the solutions to environmental problems. On the contrary, researchers found that green products had the highest impact and green places the lowest on the green buying intention of Bangladeshi consumers [40].
Talking about the insignificant impact of green price strategies on green buying intentions, it can be stated that Indian millennials are willing to buy green products. However, they are not willing to sacrifice more or pay premium prices. This can be explored in the future with other categories of green products such as organic food, green electronics, and green vehicles. Two takeaways are evident from this. First, customers believe that the quality and price of green products are not in proportion and that the higher price of green products is not justifiable for enhanced performance. Similar results were found in an empirical research study conducted in Jordan. Strategies relating to green product, green place, and green promotion significantly impacted consumers’ green buying intentions, except for green price [4]. However, contrasting results were found for exceptional green promotional strategies [47].
As far as moderation effects of environmental attitude between green marketing strategies and green buying intentions of consumers are concerned, consumers’ environmental attitude did not moderate the relationship between any of the strategies of green marketing and green buying intentions of Indian millennials. The findings of the present study regarding the moderating impact of the environmental attitude of consumers appeared to be in contrast to those found in a recent study in a neighboring country where the environmental attitude played the mediation role in the association between green marketing mix and green buying intention in Sri Lanka [5].
About consumers’ demographics playing a role in the control variables, it was discovered that the gender and occupation of consumers did not impact the relationship between green marketing strategies and green buying intentions of Indian millennials. In contrast, consumers’ education level and income partially controlled the relation between independent and dependent variables. Therefore, marketers need to consider consumers’ education and income level while designing future marketing campaigns to attract consumers to their green products. In a recent study, consumer demographics (age, gender, and educational qualifications) significantly improved the association between green marketing and consumers’ purchasing intention [95]. In addition, consumers’ age, marital status, income, gender, and education were found to play the role of moderators in the association between similar dependent and independent variables [41].

Theoretical and Practical Implications

The empirical evidence of the present study makes a vital contribution to the literature by corroborating that the environmental attitude imbibed by Indian millennials does not strengthen the connection between green marketing strategies and buying intention. Therefore, policymakers and marketers need to design marketing techniques where they can transform the positive environmental attitude of the consumer into buying intention for sustainable products. It also serves as an opportunity for marketers to attack the environmental emotions of consumers to get their intentions to transform into green intentions. Emotional and sensitive consumers are likely to engage in the green movement [20]. Moreover, consumers in emerging economies like India are considered to be nature-loving [96]; therefore, their love for nature can be capitalized on by green marketers by designing their future moves cleverly. A fascinating insight from the present study is related to the socio-demographics of consumers, which throws light on the fact that consumers’ education and income level were more stringent factors than gender and occupation, which can become the basis of dividing the market into different target groups. The emerging-market emphasis of this research is also worth mentioning, as no past research has investigated the environmental attitude and consumers’ socio-demographics together.
We explored the influence of green marketing strategies (GP, GPC, GPL, and GPM) on the green buying intentions of Indian millennials for green personal care products. We also investigated the role of EA as a moderator in said association. Considering the lacunae in elucidating consumers’ intention in emerging economies like India, the literature is far behind, and the present study contributes to the knowledge hub of green consumer buying intention. The use of green marketing strategies to empirically corroborate the buying intention of Indian millennials and to reveal the moderating impact of consumers’ environmental attitude was attempted for the first time, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge. The present study contributes to the literature by proposing a comprehensive consumer intention model with essential constructs to unearth the green buying intention of Indian millennials. The findings of the empirical analysis play a vital role in theory building around green marketing strategies and consumer intention. First, GP, GPL, and GPM significantly influenced buying intentions of Indian millennials toward green personal care products. Second, the EA of consumers did not at all strengthen/weaken the influence of green marketing strategies on consumers’ green intentions. Therefore, we believe that the present research findings will motivate marketers of green personal care products to adopt stringent strategies related to green products, eco-friendly places, and pro-environmental promotional methods. As green price does not impact consumers to exhibit green buying intention, it teaches marketers that it is an urgent requirement to adopt suitable and customer-friendly pricing policies for green personal care products for their upcoming endeavors to make them entirely acceptable among the millennial generation. The study also highlights that the environmental attitude of consumers is not being converted into green buying intention. Therefore, it is time for marketers to design novel marketing campaigns by associating an individual’s pride in consuming green products and contributing towards saving the planet from further degradation.

6. Conclusions, Limitations, and Future Research

The demand for green products has increased to protect families’ health. More observational grounded bits of knowledge are expected to test the theoretical elements that discover the cavity between the apparent greenness of consumers’ buying intentions. The concept of environmental attitude with consumers’ buying intention issues in India is growing fast. On the other hand, the future scope of the study related to the 4Ps can receive more and various measurements, such as the 7Ps (product, price, place, promotion, packaging, positioning, and people) of the green marketing mix in India. In green promotion, buyers will pay more to maintain a cleaner and greener climate. Green advertising takes on much more significance and importance in agricultural nations like India. In the future, only organizations that improve with innovative objects, resources, and novelties that are eco-driven and address the task by assimilating the conclusions will receive the best benefits.
There are four limitations: First, the present study used a cross-sectional research design, limiting the practical value of the findings for producers and marketers. Secondly, the findings of the empirical analysis cannot be generalized to Western and developed countries, as this research was conducted in an emerging economy, which imbibes specific unique cultural characteristics entirely different from developed countries. Third, the present study is related to only the millennial population of India and ignores the total working population, which falls from the age group of 15 to 59 years. Fourth, only select aspects of environmental attitude were studied. Other environmental behaviors such as environmental consciousness, recycling, and energy-saving were ignored.
The present study was limited to emerging economies (India). This paves the path for future researchers to utilize this conceptual model in other emerging economies, diverse geographical locations, and cross-cultural settings [97,98]. In addition, conducting similar studies in longitudinal settings can enhance the pro-environmental measure for sustainable consumption. As the study evaluated the moderating role of environmental attitude between green marketing strategies and consumer buying intentions, future researchers can address the mediation effects. Predicting green consumer behavior has become more challenging in the ongoing COVID-19 period. Recent advancements have been made in the literature on sustainable consumption choices that introduce a measure of environmental attitude. This measure is indirectly measured using past behaviors or acts and is thus unbiased. It also separates environmental attitude from the mere appreciation of nature. It can also be explored in future studies in an emerging economy context. Greenwashing can be explored in addition to the current propositions in a developed vs. developing economy context. The mediating role of both attitude and knowledge on behavior can be explored in future works. Future researchers must investigate the prospective changes in consumers’ preferences for green products in the post-pandemic period. In addition, future researchers need to develop variables related to the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) world and corroborate its application, as the intention to buy green products is dependent upon volatility in demand, uncertainty in sustainable practices, complexity in sustainable development, and ambiguity of the impact of the green product on the environment. Hence, future scholars need to explore the impact of green marketing strategies in the VUCA scenario.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, B.K., and V.P.G.; methodology, B.K., V.P.G., and G.D.; software, G.D.; formal analysis, B.K., V.P.G., and G.D.; writing—original draft preparation, B.K., and V.P.G.; writing—review and editing, G.D.; visualization, G.D. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the authors.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Sustainability 14 06107 g001 550
Figure 1. Hypothesized research model.
Figure 1. Hypothesized research model.
Sustainability 14 06107 g001
Table
Table 1. Demographic profile of the respondents.
Table 1. Demographic profile of the respondents.
MaleFemaleTotal
Age (years)24–3049 (30.43%)98 (40.16%)147 (36.29%)
31–3565 (40.37%)79 (32.37%)144 (35.55%)
36–4047 (29.19%)67 (27.45%)114 (28.14%)
161 (39.75%)244 (60.25%)405
EducationUndergraduate28 (17.39%)25 (10.24%)53 (13.08%)
Graduate42 (26.08%)63 (25.81%)105 (25.92%)
Post-graduate65 (40.37%)128 (52.45%)193 (47.65%)
Doctorate26 (16.14%)28 (11.47%)54 (13.33%)
161 (39.75%)244 (60.25%)405
OccupationStudent17 (10.55%)46 (18.85%)63 (15.55%)
Homemaker5 (3.1%)42 (17.21%)47 (11.60%)
Own business55 (34.16%)17 (6.9%)72 (17.77%)
In service46 (28.57%)71 (29%)117 (28.88%)
Professional38 (23.60%)68 (27.86%)106 (26.17%)
161 (39.75%)244 (60.25%)405
Monthly
income
(INR)		Less than INR 30,00054 (33.54%)104 (42.62%)158 (39%)
INR 30,000–60,00057 (35.4%)88 (36%)145 (35.8%)
More than INR 60,00050 (31%)52 (21.31%)102 (25.18%)
161 (39.75%)244 (60.25%)405
Table
Table 2. Measurement model summary.
Table 2. Measurement model summary.
ConstructsStatementsFactor
Loadings		Source
Green product (GP)gp1: Green personal care products are solutions to environmental problems.0.858[40,84,85]
gp2: The products I use must not harm the environment.0.875
gp3: Green personal care products are good for health.0.830
gp4: The quality of green personal care products is better.0.807
Green price (GPC)gpc1: The ecological benefits justify the price of green personal care products.0.798[3,40,84]
gpc2: Green personal care product prices should be reasonable to motivate consumers to buy.0.873
gpc3: The price and quality of green personal care products are proportionate.0.845
gpc4: The enhanced performance of green personal care products justifies their price.0.830
Green place (GPL)gpl1: Green personal care products are regularly available nearby.0.859[20,40,86]
gpl2: Green personal care products are readily available nearby.0.903
gpl3: Green personal care products are widely available in all places.0.856
Green promotion (GPM)gpm1: I tend to pay attention to advertising messages about the environment.0.868[40,85]
gpm2: Consumers are facilitated by environmental advertisements to make informed buying decisions.0.890
gpm3: Green advertisements increase consumers’ awareness of the benefits of green products.0.873
Environmental
attitude (EA)		ea1: It has become inevitable to protect the environment for future generations.0.845[20,21,74]
ea2: I know the environmental benefits of green personal care products.0.879
ea3: I actively participated in an environmental campaign.0.837
Green buying
intentions (GBI)		gbi1: I am willing to pay more for a green product, avoiding cheaper ones that harm the environment.0.842[87,88,89,90,91]
gbi2: I will consider buying green products, as they conserve energy resources.0.869
gbi3: I will consider buying green products, as they are recycled materials.0.857
gbi4: I have the perception that green products have more excellent added value, and therefore I am willing to pay more.0.842
Model fit summary: CMIN/DF: 3.416, goodness-of-fit index (GFI): 0.897, adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI): 0.878, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR): 0.045, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA): 0.069, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI): 0.922, normed fit index (NFI): 0.919, comparative fit index (CFI): 0.935.
Table
Table 3. Assessment of the measurement model.
Table 3. Assessment of the measurement model.
Factors/ConstructsCRCronbach’s
Alpha		AVE
Green product (GP)0.9070.8640.710
Green price (GPC)0.9030.8570.700
Green place (GPL)0.9060.8430.762
Green promotion (GPM)0.9090.8510.770
Green buying intention (GBI)0.9140.8750.727
Environmental attitude (EA)0.8900.8140.729
Table
Table 4. Direct hypotheses (H1–H4).
Table 4. Direct hypotheses (H1–H4).
HypothesisHypothesized RelationshipEstimateAccepted/Rejected
H1 GP→GBI0.17 **Accepted
H2 GPC→GBI0.04Rejected
H3 GPL→GBI0.21 **Accepted
H4 GPM→GBI0.23 **Accepted
** significant at 1%.
Table
Table 5. Summary of the moderation effects (H5–H8).
Table 5. Summary of the moderation effects (H5–H8).
HypothesisEstimateResult of Moderation
H5: EA × GP0.03Rejected
H6: EA × GPC−0.04Rejected
H7: EA × GPL−0.02Rejected
H8: EA × GPM−0.03Rejected
Table
Table 6. Multi-group analysis—gender.
Table 6. Multi-group analysis—gender.
FemaleMale
HypothesisHypothesized RelationshipEstimateEstimateGroup Differences (p-value)
H1GP→GBI0.23 **0.13 *NS
H2GPC→GBI0.070.03NS
H3GPL→GBI0.27 **0.14 *NS
H4GPM→GBI0.26 **0.19 *NS
NS = not significant; * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1%.
Table
Table 7. Multi-group analysis—income level.
Table 7. Multi-group analysis—income level.
<30K30K–60K>60K
HypothesisHypothesized RelationshipEstimateEstimateEstimateGroup Differences (p-value)
H1GP→GBI0.080.28 **0.19 *0.05 *
H2GPC→GBI0.010.120.05NS
H3GPL→GBI0.170.29 **0.18 *NS
H4GPM→GBI0.30 **0.150.20 *NS
NS = not significant; * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1%.
Table
Table 8. Multi-group analysis—educational qualifications.
Table 8. Multi-group analysis—educational qualifications.
Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4
HypothesisHypothesized RelationshipEstimateEstimateEstimateEstimateGroup Differences (p-value)
H1GP→GBI0.010.010.20 **0.58 **0.00 **
H2GPC→GBI0.030.150.07−0.35 *0.05 *
H3GPL→GBI0.31 **0.23 *0.19 *0.22NS
H4GPM→GBI0.29 *0.090.23 **0.27 *NS
NS = not significant; * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1%.
Table
Table 9. Multi-group analysis—occupation.
Table 9. Multi-group analysis—occupation.
12345
HypothesisHypothesized
Relationship		EstimateEstimateEstimateEstimateEstimateGroup Differences
(p-value)
H1GP→GBII0.120.08−0.080.27 **0.21 *NS
H2GPC→GBI−0.12−0.030.37 *0.040.14NS
H3GPL→GBI0.28 *0.34 *0.19 *0.080.19NS
H4GPM→GBI0.160.090.070.31 **0.19 *NS
NS = not significant; * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1%.
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Kaur, B.; Gangwar, V.P.; Dash, G. Green Marketing Strategies, Environmental Attitude, and Green Buying Intention: A Multi-Group Analysis in an Emerging Economy Context. Sustainability 2022, 14, 6107. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106107

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Kaur B, Gangwar VP, Dash G. Green Marketing Strategies, Environmental Attitude, and Green Buying Intention: A Multi-Group Analysis in an Emerging Economy Context. Sustainability. 2022; 14(10):6107. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106107

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Kaur, Balween, Veer P. Gangwar, and Ganesh Dash. 2022. "Green Marketing Strategies, Environmental Attitude, and Green Buying Intention: A Multi-Group Analysis in an Emerging Economy Context" Sustainability 14, no. 10: 6107. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106107

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