Transition Towards Sustainability: Adoption of Eco-Products Among Consumers

sustainability
Article
Transition towards Sustainability: Adoption of
Eco-Products among Consumers
Jana Hojnik 1, *, Mitja Ruzzier 1 and Maja Konečnik Ruzzier 2
1 Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Cankarjeva 5, 6000 Koper, Slovenia
2 Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Kardeljeva ploščad 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
* Correspondence: jana.hojnik@fm-kp.si

Received: 31 May 2019; Accepted: 6 August 2019; Published: 9 August 2019
Abstract: Transition to sustainability is a long-term challenge which should also actively engage
consumers, as consumption causes environmental stress. In order to understand how consumers
adopt eco-products, we conducted an extensive literature review of green consumerism and presented
findings of 47 previous research works. In addition, this study’s aim was to explore whether consumers
remain only concerned about the environment or whether they actually make a difference. Moreover,
we examined gender differences. Because the relationship between consumers’ environmental
concern and purchase intention is not straightforward, we aimed to explore the effect of consumers’
environmental concern on their purchase intention. The purpose of this paper was to explore
how consumers’ familiarity with and consciousness of eco-products and their perceived sense of
environmental responsibility mediate the relationship between consumers’ environmental concern and
their purchase intention. We used structural equation modeling to test the proposed conceptual model
based on a sample of 705 Slovenian consumers. Our findings suggest that all the above-mentioned
constructs mediate the relationship between consumers’ environmental concern and their purchase
intention in relation to eco-products. However, consumers’ consciousness of eco-products has
the greatest effect in channeling environmental concern into purchase intention of eco-products.
In addition, the findings indicate that female consumers express greater environmental concern,
consciousness of eco-products, and perceived environmental responsibility than male consumers.
The paper concludes with policy and managerial implications, theoretical implications, limitations of
the study, and future research directions based on the findings of consumers’ perspectives.
Keywords: literature review; environmental concern; consumer’s familiarity with eco-products;

consumer’s consciousness of eco-products; consumer’s perceived sense of environmental responsibility;
purchase intention; green consumerism
1. Introduction
Transformation towards sustainability has taken an increasingly central position in global
sustainability research and policy discourse in recent years [1]. According to researchers [1], governance
and politics are central to understanding, analyzing, and shaping transformations towards sustainability.
However, ways of understanding and analyzing transition towards sustainability should place more
emphasis on consumers as well, because, in developed countries, consumption directly or indirectly
drives much of the environmental stress, waste, degradation, and resource exhaustion being produced
by the goods and services demanded [2]. Being green and behaving in an environmentally friendly
way is thus today more a necessity than a lifestyle [3], as people have become increasingly aware of the
fact that the more conventional energy resources on the planet are finite [4]. A lifestyle that is oriented
towards care for the environment is becoming a trend worldwide, as well as a salient issue with which
we need to cope quickly and effectively, because we are running out of certain resources.
Sustainability 2019, 11, 4308; doi:10.3390/su11164308 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

Sustainability 2019, 11, 4308 2 of 29
Environmental awareness is increasing worldwide [5]. Many companies have started to brand
themselves as environmentally friendly and to offer products that have a smaller adverse effect on
the environment while also offering benefits to the end-user (such as being made from less harmful
ingredients, resulting in energy or material savings, etc.). Many companies have thus adopted
the concept of cleaner production in order to cater accordingly to consumers’ needs and demands
and to operate in an environmentally friendly way by reducing pollutants and conserving finite
resources. Cleaner production is a relatively new preventive environmental strategy which tries to
increase resource efficiency of products, processes, and services, and reduce risk to people and the
environment [6]. Therefore, cleaner production delivers several benefits, such as pollution reduction,
resource saving, and economic-efficiency improvements [7]. The previously mentioned benefits do not
pertain only to the environment and companies that act in an environmentally friendly way, but also
regard consumers, who can enjoy environmentally friendly products (i.e., eco-products), which are
energy efficient, less harmful for the environment and their health, and more frugal when it comes to
consumption of resources.
In addition, many sustainable labels addressing different aspects of sustainability have emerged
in recent years [8]. Thus, awareness of environmental issues, as well as solutions and eco-products,
has been increasing steadily. Perhaps as a result, some companies have been observed to be “green” in
their words but not in their actions. As stated above, there are many reasons why companies adopt
eco-innovations, and many literature reviews have been conducted on this topic [9,10].
As stated above, protecting the environment has become a salient issue during recent decades.
Companies need to adhere to certain environmental regulations if they want to operate and remain
active players in the market. On the other hand, an increasing number of studies stressed the relevance
of the consumer experience in research about new trajectories towards sustainability, suggesting that
consumers should not be viewed solely as passive agents who select between different commercial
options [11]. On the contrary, consumers are active players, which can heavily affect and participate in
transitioning to sustainability by changing their purchasing habits, behaviors, and mindset. Nowadays,
consumers demand eco-products, and companies need to cater to this demand accordingly. It is
essential to consider environmental issues in product development to explore and comprehend why
consumers adopt eco-innovations [12]. Given the current market situation, consumers have many
choices among various brands of products, including many eco-products. As we live in a capitalist
economy, the principles, values, and behaviors of a great part of the population are centered on buying
things and possessing goods [13]. Thus, in order to achieve sustainable development, we should place
more emphasis not only on the creation and the promotion of environmentally sustainable products,
but also on green consumerism, which presents one of the paths to sustainability.
As past research has focused primarily on companies and their behavior towards the environment
(the drivers of companies’ eco-innovation adoption and their consequences at the firm level), we aim
to explore what drives customers to green purchase intentions and, furthermore, what mediates the
relationship between customers’ environmental concern and purchase intention. Within our study, we
define green consumerism as a concept that includes a broader social awareness of green consumer
behaviors, where green consumers are the main drivers of green consumerism [14]. Three typical
statements of green consumers are as follows: (1) “I identify myself as someone who is concerned with
‘green/environmental issues’”, (2) “I perceive my lifestyle as ‘green’”, and (3) “I purchase and consume
green products” [14]. We have conducted an extensive literature review of green consumerism from
the point of view of consumers. In the literature review, we searched papers that contained one of the
two key phrases, “green consumerism” and “environmentally responsible consumption”. We have
used the Science Direct database and enriched our search with Google Scholar. Our search for the
above-mentioned key phrases in Science Direct yielded a total of 1237 results. We have reviewed all
the papers and finally presented the main findings of 47 papers, which can be found in Table 1.
Pertaining to green consumerism, past research implies that the relationship between consumers’
environmental concern and their purchase intention is not straightforward. Being concerned about the
environment does not necessarily lead to purchasing of eco-products, although it leads to other behaviors
related to green consumerism. Some researchers [15] posited that consumers’ environmental concern
works as an antecedent of environmental knowledge, whereas others [16] found that environmental
concern positively relates to consumers’ sense of responsibility and to consumers’ consciousness of
eco-products [17]. On the other hand, environmental knowledge affects green purchasing behavior [17],
as does consumers’ environmental consciousness [18] and consumers’ perceived sense of environmental
responsibility [15]. This fragmented empirical evidence collected from different research works and
assumptions based on literature reviews clearly shows that there is a gap between consumers’
environmental concern and their green purchase intention and thus calls for further empirical evidence.
The availability of and preference for eco-products have increased; however, the understanding
of consumers’ choice for eco-products is still insufficient [19]. Therefore, we aimed to explore the
role of consumers as a small fragment in transition to sustainability. In more detail, we examined
what motivates consumers to act in an environmentally responsible way and purchase eco-products.
Our research question is how consumers’ familiarity with and consciousness of eco-products and
perceived sense of environmental responsibility translate environmental concern into purchase intention.
The main aim of this study is to explore what channels the effect of environmental concern on purchase
intention and what gender differences occur in the examined constructs. As such, this study makes a
major contribution to the body of research on green consumerism and tries to clarify why consumers
decide to purchase eco-products. By conducting an extensive literature review and reporting the main
findings of prior research works (47 in total), moreover by exploring and presenting both the prior
research findings and empirical findings based on our research regarding the consumers’ perspective,
the findings of the literature review and empirical study ease companies’ understanding of consumers’
actions. This study offers companies an answer to the question of what persuades consumers to
purchase eco-products. We test a unique model to explore how consumers’ perceived sense of
environmental responsibility, familiarity with eco-products, and consciousness of eco-products mediate
the relationship between environmental concern and purchase intention. In addition, we have tested
for the differences between female and male consumers related to the above-mentioned constructs.
2. Literature Review
We conducted a literature review in order to explore what has already been done with regard to
green consumerism from the viewpoint of consumers. In the literature review, we searched for papers
which contained one of the two key phrases, “green consumerism” and/or “environmentally responsible
consumption”. The literature review used the Science Direct database, to which researchers had full
access, and it was most relevant to this topic. We enriched our search with Google Scholar and added a
few papers that were not included in the literature review conducted using the Science Direct database.
In total, our search for the above-mentioned key words using Science Direct yielded 1237 results for
papers containing either “green consumerism” or “environmentally responsible consumption”. We
have focused only on research papers and papers that were focused on consumers, not companies, on
green products and green consumption, but not energy-saving behavior, services (e.g., adoption of
renewable energy, tourism), or selection of environmentally friendly hotels. The final sample of papers
fitting all the above-mentioned criteria results in 47 papers, which are presented in Table 1. Table 1
contains the selected papers, providing authors and year of publication, the journal in which paper
was published, details of the sample, determinants that were examined, and main findings.
Table 1. Literature review of “green consumerism” or “environmentally responsible consumption”.
Authors and Year of

Journal Sample Determinants Main Findings
Publication
The findings revealed a
positive effect of eco-literacy
380 low-income and self-efficacy on attitude
Eco-literacy, Self-efficacy,
household towards green products.
Journal of Attitude towards
[20] Al Mamun et al. respondents who Subsequently, the findings
Environmental environmentally friendly
(2018) lived in coastal areas also showed a positive effect
Management products, Subjective norms,
of Peninsular of attitude and perceived
Perceived behavioral control
Malaysia behavioral control on
intention and consumption
of green products.
Results confirmed
consumers’ price and
knowledge perceptions to be
Consumer innovativeness,
the major determinants of
Contextual factor,
the behavioral outcome of
[21] Biswas and Roy Journal of Cleaner 42 students and 59 Environmental attitude,
sustained green
(2015) Production faculties (India) Value-for-money, Social
consumption, and
value, Conditional value,
behavioral intention to pay
Epistemic value
the green price premium is
the outcome of sustained
green consumption.
This research showed that
consumers’ environmental
consciousness does not affect
their purchase decision,
demonstrating that
consumers’ decision is based
on brand and price. The
study concludes that brand
equity is an important factor
Environmental
Journal of Cleaner 255 respondents in leveraging
[22] Bittar (2018) consciousness, Price
Production from United States remanufactured sales, but it
perception, Brand equity
is intrinsically associated
with price setting.
Consumer environmental
consciousness has no impact
on remanufactured sales,
highlighting the importance
of the economic side to
consumer purchasing
decisions.
The findings showed that
Attitude towards each proenvironmental
proenvironmental behavior, self-identity significantly
Journal of
[23] Carfora et al. 220 respondents Subjective norm, Perceived moderated the impact of
Environmental
(2017) from southern Italy Behavioral Control, perceived behavioral control
Psychology
Proenvironmental on intentions and the effect
self-identity of past behavior on both
intentions and behaviors.
Attitudes towards the
Environmental concern,
products were the main
Importance given to
predictors of green product
ecological labels and
purchasing and were
Journal of Cleaner 7627 questionnaires certifications, Importance
[24] Cerri et al. (2018) influenced by consumer’s
Production from Italy assigned to communication
attitudes towards eco labels,
campaigns, Product quality,
whose marginal effect
Perceived availability of
decreased as environmental
sustainable products
concern increased.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
Results indicate that
environmental attitude,
eco-label, and cultural value
(man–nature orientation)
significantly influence green
purchase intention. The
result also indicates that the
premium price has no
moderating effect, denying
its role as one of the main
barriers for consumers to
Environmental attitude, “walk their talk”, as
[25] Chekima et al. Journal of Cleaner 405 consumers from
Eco-label, Man–nature previously reported by
(2016) Production Malaysia
orientation studies and opinion polls. In
addition, the findings
revealed that education level
and gender have a
significant positive
moderation effect. This
suggests that green purchase
intentions’ motivational
factors are greater among
highly educated individuals,
especially with female
consumers.
This study found that the
attitude, perceived
behavioral control,
environmental
consciousness of consumers
and their environmental
Attitude, Subjective norm, ethics and beliefs have a
Perceived behavioral control, significant positive
Technological
[26] Chen and Hung 406 respondents Social impression, association with their
Forecasting and
(2016) (Taiwan) Environmental ethics and intention to use green
Social Change
beliefs, Environmental products, whereas the
consciousness subjective norms of
consumers and the social
impression of consumers are
positively but not
significantly correlated to
their intentions towards
using green products.
Findings support the claim
that it is situation and
issue-specific motivations
that are direct constructs of a
specific behavior rather than
general motivations.
Environmental knowledge,
Environmental knowledge
Sustainable Perceived environmental
[27] Choi and had an appreciable effect in
Production and 284 adults (USA) effectiveness, Novelty
Johnson (2019) explaining purchase
Consumption seeking, Adventurous spirit,
intention but environmental
Attitude, Subjective norm,
concern did not. When
novelty seeking was
controlled, adventurous
spirit accounted for no
additional variance in
purchase intention.
The results convey how
general prosocial attitudes
have a direct influence on
green consumption values
General prosocial attitudes, and show that green values
[28] Do Paço et al. Journal of Cleaner 471 individuals from Green consumption values, positively influence green
(2019) Production the UK and Portugal Receptivity to green buying behavior and
communication receptivity to green
advertising. However, green
advertising generates only a
weak influence on green
buying behaviors.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
The hierarchical structure
proposed in the model, from
abstract values to product
Self-transcendence,
160 women, specific attitudes, to
Conservation,
following the birth of intention, to purchase
[29] Follows and European Journal of Self-enhancement,
their baby in a behavior, was confirmed.
Jobber (2000) Marketing Environmental
maternity hospital in Both environmental and
consequences, Individual
Nova Scotia, Canada individual consequences of
consequences
purchasing diapers were
linked to behavior through
intention.
Results show that policy
measures could be targeted
to deal with situational
factors (e.g., availability of
Gender, Education,
recycling services) (more so
Occupation, Eco-labelling in
in Cyprus than in Sweden);
products, Trust political
improving access to trusted
parties, Information related
Eurobarometer data: information sources and
to general environmental
[30] Foukaras and Procedia Economics 479 Cypriot citizens better targeting information
issues, Worries about climate
Toma (2014) and Finance and 967 Swedish (especially on environmental
change, Perceived ability to
citizens impacts of specific
play a role in protecting the
behaviors) to different
environment, Consider
population groups, e.g., by
environmental aspects in
income and gender (in both
large expenditures
Cyprus and Sweden); and
improving labelling for
ecological products (more so
in Cyprus than in Sweden).
The results show that the
functional value is almost
always necessary but is not
sufficient by itself for
predicting green buying.
However, three “causal
recipes” formed with the
197 responses from
functional value are
students in executive
sufficient. These recipes use
courses at
Functional value, Social the emotional, conditional,
Portuguese
[31] Gonçalves et al. Journal of Business value, Emotional value, and social values combined
University and on
(2016) Research Conditional value, Epistemic individually with the
the Facebook page of
value functional value. Three
a supermarket chain
other combinations of
that sells biological
consumption values are also
products
sufficient for predicting
green buying. In contrast,
the absence of the functional
value is a sufficient
condition for not green
buying, as well as three
other “causal recipes”.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
Participants report higher
purchase intention for
products from high versus
low perceived
environmental performance
(PEP) companies, and that
participants’ environmental
involvement (EI) and
product price moderate this
relationship. Those with
high EI report greater
purchase intention for high
698 residents in Perceived environmental
[32] Grimmer and Journal of Business PEP companies and the
Hobart, the capital of performance of a company,
Bingham (2013) Research reverse for low PEP
Tasmania, Australia Environmental involvement
companies, indicating that
participants with high EI are
more positively influenced
by their perceptions of a
company’s environmental
performance. However,
participants are more likely
to favor a high PEP company
when the relative price of a
product is low versus high,
irrespective of their
level of EI.
The results show that
environmental protection
consciousness positively
affects green consumer
behavior. Cash discount
incentives have no effect on
the choice of hotel guests to
Environmental reuse their bed sheet or
International Journal consciousness, Cash towels; on the contrary,
[33] Huang et al. 458 hotel guests
of Hospitality discount incentives, environmental protective
(2014) (Shanghai, China)
Management Environmental protective alternatives are great
alternatives incentives for hotel guests to
maintain environmentally
friendly behavior.
Regarding the demographics
of hotels guests, female and
younger guests are more
inclined to be
environmentally friendly.
Green purchase intention
(GPI) was significantly and
directly driven by Attitude
towards green products
(AGP), Environmental
concern (EC), and Perceived
consumer effectiveness
Attitude towards green
(PCE) directly and indirectly
products, Environmental
Journal of Retailing via the mediating role of
[34] Jaiswal and Kant 351 Indian concern, Perceived
and Consumer AGP; however, perceived
(2018) consumers consumer effectiveness,
Services environmental knowledge
Perceived environmental
(PEK) was found to have an
knowledge
insignificant effect on both
AGP and GPI in this study.
Moreover, the measure of
GPI was found to be the
fundamental predictor of
green purchase behavior
(GPB) in the model.
Environmental concerns,
product attributes,
environmental knowledge
Review of 53 and subjective norms
International empirical articles on emerged as major drivers,
[17] Joshi and
Strategic green purchase N/A whereas high price, low
Rahman (2015)
Management Review behavior from 2000 availability, and lack of
to 2014 consumer trust in green
products emerged as major
barriers to purchase of
green products.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
Drive for environmental
responsibility, Spirituality, Results indicate that the
Perceived consumer drive for environmental
effectiveness, Attitude responsibility, spirituality,
425 young
[35] Joshi and towards sustainable and perceived consumer
Ecological Economics consumers from
Rahman (2019) purchasing, Perceived effectiveness are the key
India
marketplace influence, psychological determinants
Consumers’ knowledge of consumers’ sustainable
regarding purchase decisions.
sustainability-related issues
Attitudes, subjective norms,
perceived behavioral control,
and green consumer identity
each independently
predicted higher intentions
to purchase a
sustainability-certified
330 Australian dwelling, and altogether
residents who had accounted for 65% of the
recently purchased variance in intentions. Green
[36] Judge et al. Journal of Cleaner Attitudes, Subjective norms,
property were consumer identity also
(2019) Production Perceived behavioral control
recruited via an significantly moderated the
online panel effect of subjective norms on
provider intentions. In a separate
analysis, the two strongest
predictors of willingness to
pay for a sustainability
certification were familiarity
with current sustainability
certifications and
subjective norms.
The study revealed that
perceived consumer
effectiveness is the most
influential construct on
Consumer’s guilt, green purchase intention.
[37] Kabadayı et al. Procedia—Social and 172 university
Self-monitoring, Perceived Consumer guilt has been
(2015) Behavioral Sciences students (Turkey)
consumer effectiveness found to have both direct
and indirect enhancing
effects on green purchase
intention of
young consumers.
The analysis result confirms
that the ecological effect and
110 responses from
knowledge are significant in
[38] Kanchanapibul Journal of Cleaner young generation
Person’s effect, Knowledge determining young
et al. (2014) Production (less than 30 years
consumers’ green
old; UK)
involvement as well as their
actual purchase.
The results indicate that
functional value (price),
social value, and
environmental value have a
positive impact on green
product consumer choice
behavior, whereas
conditional value and
260 respondents
Functional value (price, epistemic value have a
(customers who
quality) Social value, negative effect. Functional
[39] Khan and Journal of Cleaner frequent a monthly
Conditional value, Epistemic value (quality) and
Mohsin (2017) Production organic produce
value, Environmental value, emotional value do not
market in Lahore,
Emotional value influence green product
Pakistan)
consumer choice behavior.
As a moderator, emotional
value has a significant effect
on the role of functional
value, social value,
conditional value, epistemic
value, and
environmental value.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
The study demonstrates that
materialism has a negative
effect on environmental
A random telephone Materialistic values,
[40] Kilbourne and Journal of Business beliefs, and these beliefs
survey of 337 US Environmental beliefs,
Pickett (2008) Research positively affect
adults Environmental concern
environmental concern and
environmentally
responsible behaviors.
The attitude towards
environmentally sustainable
products mediates the
relationship between
and purchase intention.
Next, this mediated
relationship is moderated by
environmental knowledge.
235 students
Third, the subjective norm is
pursuing
Journal of Retailing not significantly related to
[41] Kumar et al. postgraduate and Environmental knowledge,
and Consumer the purchase
(2017) doctoral studies in a Attitude, Subjective norm
Services intention—contrary to
leading management
established findings—in a
school in India
collectivistic culture
considered in this study.
Last but not least, the
direction of subjective norm
as a moderator on
and attitude is
not supported.
This study finds that
undergraduate students’
views of the importance of
green marketing practices
are primarily related to their
Green marketing practice,
environmental attitudes and
Consumers’ attitudes
266 responses from their perceived
towards the environment,
[42] Lai and Cheng The Social Science local undergraduate environmental responsibility
Perceived seriousness of
(2016) Journal students (Hong and the perceived
environmental problems,
Kong) seriousness of
environmental problems,
responsibility
whereas their attitudes and
perceived responsibility are
in turn related to their
willingness to purchase
green products.
The subjective norms and
interaction of knowledge
and confidence in green
products significantly
determined the green
Eurobarometer
purchase behavior in all
survey conducted in Knowledge of green
countries. According to the
2012 (covering all the products, Confidence in
[43] Liobikienė et al. cross-culture studies, all
Ecological Economics EU countries; due to green products, Subjective
(2016) cultural dimensions did not
lack of data, only norms, Perceived behavioral
have significant influence on
Luxemburg is control
green purchase behavior.
excluded)
However, cultural
dimensions are related to
factors which directly
influence green
purchase behavior.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
The results showed that
green purchase behavior
was significantly related to
environmentally friendly
behavior; however, the
2012
determinants were different.
Eurobarometer’s Gender, Environmentally
The environmentally
survey (868 friendly behavior,
[44] Liobikienė et al. Journal of Cleaner friendly social norms and
respondents from Environmentally friendly
(2017) Production gender had a significant
Lithuania and 857 social norm, Importance of
impact on both green
respondents from product price
purchase and
Austria)
environmentally friendly
behavior. Meanwhile, the
importance of product prices
negatively influenced only
purchase behavior.
positive attitude towards
green products affects
personal self-image, social
impacts, and willingness to
buy green products. The
willingness to buy green
products does not affect
environmental concerns and
Subjective norms, Personal
subjective norms; therefore,
naturalism, Social impacts,
279 women consumers’ willingness to
[45] Mobrezi and Procedia Economics Positive attitude towards
consumers living in buy green products
Khoshtinat (2016) and Finance green product,
western Tehran (Iran) increases with increasing
environmental concerns.
Personal self-image
However, positive attitude
towards green products does
not affect environmental
concerns, subjective norms,
and personal naturalism.
Willingness to buy green
products also does not affect
the social impact or personal
self-image.
Results show that
consumers care for the
environment and mirror
environmental attitudes in
their purchasing behavior
Journal of Retailing
German nationwide Attitude, Personal norms, (self-reported). In particular,
[46] Moser (2016) and Consumer
panel (N = 1760) Willingness to pay norms and willingness to
Services
pay are strong predictors of
self-reported purchasing
behavior (SRB). However,
SRB is not transferred to
actual purchasing behavior.
The results show that major
variables affecting green
consumption are related to
altruistic values,
environmental concern,
Expert Systems with 418 responses from knowledge, Environmental
[47] Mostafa (2009) environmental knowledge,
Applications citizens in Kuwait concern, Skepticism towards
skepticism towards
environmental claims
environmental claims,
attitudes towards green
consumption, and intention
to buy green products.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
The findings reveal that
biospheric values encourage
active engagement in
proenvironmental
purchasing behavior by
enhancing consumers’
Biospheric values, attitudes towards
Journal of Retailing 682 shoppers in large Environmental protection, environmental protection,
[48] Nguyen et al.
and Consumer electronic appliance Subjective norm, Perceived their subjective norms and
(2016)
Services stores (Vietnam) inconvenience, environmental self-identity,
Environmental self-identity and by mitigating their
perceived inconvenience
associated with eco-friendly
products. Additionally,
these findings were
moderated by consumers’
past purchasing behavior.
Consumer attitude and
perceived behavioral control
significantly predicts
purchase intention, whereas
subjective norm does not.
Findings also suggest that
TPB mediates the
Journal of Retailing Environmental concern, environmental concern and
521 Indian
[49] Paul et al. (2016) and Consumer Attitude, Subjective norm, green products purchase
consumers
Services Perceived behavioral control intention. An additional
construct in the new model
considerably contributes to
improving the
understanding of green
products purchase intention
formation and could become
a sustainable
mainstream variable.
The elements of information
and knowledge,
social context, and
337 respondents Quality of life,
environmental
from Porto Alegre, Environmental
[50] Ritter et al. Journal of Cleaner consciousness were strongly
the fourth most consciousness, Quality and
(2015) Production correlated with green
populated region in price, Information and
consumption. However, the
Brazil knowledge, Social context
quality and price of green
products has shown a
weaker relationship with
consumption.
Perceived consumer
582 adult consumers Perceived consumer effectiveness was found to
Journal of Business
[51] Roberts (1996) from a nationwide effectiveness, Environmental be the best predictor of
Research
survey concern ecologically conscious
consumer behavior.
The findings of the study
suggest that collectivism is
significantly related to all
three predictors (attitude,
subjective norms, and
internal perceived
behavioral control) of green
Journal of Retailing 452 educated Indian Attitude towards green
[52] Sreen et al. purchase intention, whereas
and Consumer consumers who are products, Subjective norms,
(2018) long-term orientation is
Services at least graduates Perceived behavioral control
insignificantly related to
attitude towards green
products while examining
the direct effects. Green
purchase intention is also
significantly related to
man–nature orientation.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
Empirical results disclosed
that social value has the
greatest impact on consumer
environmental concern, as
shown in the purchase of
Functional value (price, green products, and that
200 members of the quality), Social value, epistemic value and
Journal of Cleaner public in the Federal Emotional value, functional value quality
[53] Suki (2016)
Production Territory of Labuan, Conditional value, Epistemic come next. However,
Malaysia value, Environmental functional value price,
concern emotional value, and
conditional value make no
contribution to the purchase
of green products as a result
of consumers’
environmental concern.
At the individual level,
population factors and the
external environment have a
greater impact on green
consumer behavior, because
psychological factors,
environmental attitudes, and
environmental awareness
promote green consumption.
Environmental issues affect
green consumption
indirectly by affecting
environmental knowledge in
the external environment. In
the external environment,
environmental pressure and
have a positive impact on
Environmental knowledge, green consumption behavior.
Environmental concern, Media preferences influence
3356 observations in
Journal of Cleaner Environmental attitude, green consumption through
[54] Sun et al. (2019) China (30 provinces,
Production Environmental stress, environmental perception.
not including Tibet)
Environmental perceived Among demographic factors,
validity education affects green
consumption through
environmental perception;
age and urban or rural
household registration also
affect green consumption
behavior. At the level of
environmental pollution,
environmental tendencies
positively influence green
consumption. Of these,
urbanization has the
strongest impact on green
consumption. Consumption
levels and the rates of
greening and Internet
penetration have no
significant impact on green
consumption.
Researchers identified five
dimensions underpinning
consumers’ green
perceptions. These include
“product perception”, “hard
to be green”, “green stigma”,
“perceived sense of
5210 usable
responsibility”, and
Australasian responses from Consumers’ green
[55] Tan et al. (2016) “readiness to be green”. This
Marketing Journal Australia and 304 perception
paper demonstrates the
from New Zealand
explanatory power of
consumers’ green
perceptions in predicting
green consumption behavior,
in particular their likelihood
to purchase green household
products.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
attitudes and perceived
consumer effectiveness both
have a significant direct and
indirect positive influence
175 responses from Attitude towards
on ecologically conscious
[56] Taufique and Journal of Cleaner India (Hyderabad, environment, Subjective
consumer behavior.
Vaithianathan (2018) Production New Delhi, and norm, Perceived consumer
However, the subjective
Kolkata) effectiveness
norm seems not to have any
significant influence on
behavioral intention leading
to ecologically conscious
consumer behavior.
Findings demonstrate that
both everyday “green”
behavior and the acceptance
of an expansion of wind
Randomly selected power are rooted in
[57] Thøgersen and residents of Maine, environmental concern and
Energy Policy Environmental concern
Noblet (2012) USA, 18 years or that everyday “green”
older behavior gives a significant
contribution to predicting
acceptance of wind power
when controlling for
environmental concern.
Media influence, Ecological
inward environmental
concern, Inward
attitude and attitude
308 usable responses towards green packaging
[58] Trivedi et al. Journal of Cleaner Outward environmental
from Indian play a pivotal role in shaping
(2018) Production attitude, Perceived
consumers green purchase intention.
consumer effectiveness,
Surprisingly, outward
Attitude towards green
environmental attitude was
packaging
found to be nonsignificant.
One’s inward environmental
attitude positively affects
his/her green purchasing
behavior, and green
purchasing behavior
positively affects product
Inward environmental
[59] Turkyilmaz et al. Procedia—Social and 416 respondents satisfaction. Also, one’s
attitude, Outward
(2015) Behavioral Sciences (Turkey) outward environmental
environmental attitude
attitude positively affects
his/her general
environmental behavior, and
general environmental
behavior positively affects
life satisfaction.
The results showed that all
three independent variables
derived from TPB (Attitude
towards the behavior,
Attitude towards the
Kasetsart Journal of 1000 university Subjective norm, and
[60] Vantamay (2018) behavior, Subjective norm,
Social Sciences students in Thailand Perceived behavioral
control) can copredict the
intention to perform
sustainable consumption
behavior.
Environmental concern
among individuals and
attitude towards green
products were identified as
the main determinants of
360 young purchase intention towards
consumers, mostly green products among
[61] Yadav and Journal of Cleaner Environmental knowledge,
university and young consumers. Overall,
Pathak (2016) Production Attitude, Subjective norm,
college students from it can be inferred that young
India Indian consumers are
concerned about the current
environmental problems
and have a positive attitude
towards purchasing green
products for their future use.
Table 1. Cont.
Authors and Year of

Publication
The findings reported that
TPB fully supported the
consumers’ intention to buy
green products, which in
turn influences their green
Attitude, Subjective norm,
purchase behavior. Inclusion
[62] Yadav and 620 respondents Perceived behavioral control,
Ecological Economics of additional constructs was
Pathak (2017) from India Perceived value, Willingness
supported in the TPB as it
to pay premium
improved the predicted
power of the TPB framework
in predicting consumer
green purchase intention
and behavior.
Self-responsibility fully
mediates the relationships
between environmental
Psychological distance, ethics and purchase
1586 Taiwanese
Social responsibility, intentions and consumer
Journal of Cleaner university
[63] Yu et al. (2017) Environmental ethics, loyalty, which demonstrates
Production undergraduate
Self-responsibility, the importance of using
students
Consumer loyalty more environmentally
responsible strategies to
promote proenvironmental
behavior.
Results show mean
correlations between
consumers’ awareness,
knowledge, attitude, social
norms, and energy efficiency
labels with purchase
Environmental knowledge,
intention. Energy labeling
[64] Zainudin et al. 117 samples from Environmental awareness,
APCBEE Procedia shows a negative correlation
(2014) Malaysia Attitude towards behavior,
with green purchasing
Peer pressure, Energy labels
behavior. This finding
demonstrates that energy
labeling was fruitless in
delivering a good message
in encouraging consumer
buying decision.
The results indicate that
attitudes are the most
significant predictor of
500 valid responses Personal influence purchasing behavior. Using
from four urban (demographics, knowledge), behavior is mainly
Journal of Cleaner
[65] Zhao et al. (2014) districts, including Attitudes towards green determined by income,
Production
Shinan, Shibei, consumption (cognition, perceived consumer
Sifang, and Licang affection) effectiveness, and age, while
recycling behavior is
strongly influenced by
using behavior.
3. Hypotheses Development
Looking at the past decades, we can observe rapid economic growth and patterns of rising
consumer consumption worldwide, which are the main causes of environmental deterioration, derived
from overconsumption and overutilization of limited natural resources [66]. On one hand, sustainable
production emerged as a concept at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
in 1992 and is closely related to the concept of sustainable development [67]. On the other hand, we can
talk about sustainable consumption. However, unsustainable patterns of production and consumption,
which result in irrational production and consumption of products made from scarce and finite natural
resources, lead to continuous environmental deterioration. Sustainable production thus involves
companies and organizations that offer sustainable services and make sustainable products, whereas
sustainable consumption targets consumers [67]. It is clear and obvious that the development of
more environmentally sustainable consumption and production systems depends upon consumers’
willingness to engage in “greener” consumption behaviors [68]. Thus, to pursue sustainability and
sustainable development, we should try to find an equilibrium between production and consumption.
Eco-innovations, which focus on incorporating environmental sustainability practices at every stage
of creation of goods and services and green consumption, should thus be encouraged in order to
pursue sustainable development [67]. For almost two decades, researchers have focused on companies’
motives for adopting and investing in eco-innovation; however, less research has been done on the
subject of green consumerism. The reasons and objectives which explain the actions and practices of
ecologically oriented consumers (e.g., selecting, purchasing, and using eco-products) are myriad [69]
and thus require further research. A conceptual framework grounded in this study is based on The
Theory of Planned Behavior [70], which considers human beings as rational and postulates that
attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control determine intentions. Based on the
literature review, we have noticed that prior research works anchored their model in TPB. However,
considering prior research works, we extended the model to better fit the topic of green consumerism,
which differs from consumerism in general, in that it engages the environmental dimension as well
and thus puts environmental concern ahead of consumers’ familiarity with and consciousness of
eco-products and perceived sense of environmental responsibility, as it has been found that consumers’
environmental concern does not necessarily lead to purchase of eco-products, although it leads to other
behaviors related to green consumerism.
Many researchers [15] have, based on existing literature, deemed consumers’ environmental
concern to be a predecessor of environmental knowledge. In theory, environmental concern should
be positively associated with environmental knowledge, but prior research on this subject offers
inconclusive findings [15]. As researchers in their work use familiarity interchangeably with knowledge,
we refer to the construct related to knowledge of eco-products as familiarity with eco-products.
In addition, other researchers [16] have found environmental concern to be positively related to
individuals’ moral or ethical obligations and/or personal norms and sense of responsibility. It seems
that consumers who feel and exhibit a strong sense of responsibility towards green products will be more
likely to select green products [16]. True moral obligation, or a personal sense of responsibility, thus
enhances the attitude–behavior relationship, meaning that environmental concern translates into green
purchases if it is mediated by consumers’ sense of responsibility. In addition, environmental concern
exerts an influence not only on consumers’ familiarity with eco-products and their sense of responsibility,
but also on consumers’ consciousness of eco-products. Consumers that pay more attention and
importance to environmental and social consequences and thus express greater environmental concern
are also more conscious of eco-products and their features [17]. Based on the above discussion, we
formulate the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1. Consumers’ environmental concern positively affects their familiarity with eco-products.
Hypothesis 2. Consumers’ environmental concern positively affects their consciousness of eco-products.
Hypothesis 3. Consumers’ environmental concern positively affects their perceived sense of

environmental responsibility.
Peattie [68] stressed that environmental knowledge is frequently assumed to drive green
consumption behavior. Based on a literature review of 53 empirical articles on green purchase
behavior conducted by Joshi and Rahman [17], we can observe that knowledge, or familiarity in our
case, was the most studied variable when exploring the factors that influence green purchase behavior.
Joshi and Rahman [17] found that out of 18 studies, 15 found knowledge of environmental issues to
exert a positive effect on consumers’ purchase intention and actual purchase of eco-products. Three
studies found no connection between the previously mentioned constructs, while two other studies
found a negative effect of lack of information on green purchase behavior [17]. Furthermore, a study
conducted on a sample of Kazakhstani consumers found that consumers’ environmental concern,
knowledge, belief, and attitude towards renewable power positively affected their willingness to pay
a premium price for renewable energy [15]. Moreover, other researchers [15] found that consumers’
knowledge of renewable energy drives the connection between consumers’ sense of social responsibility
and attitude towards renewable energy, and this relationship enhanced the consumers’ willingness to
pay more for such energy. Also, sense of responsibility has been found to have a positive effect on
green purchase behavior [71]. Based on previous findings, the following hypothesis is deduced:
Hypothesis 4. Consumers’ familiarity with eco-products positively affects their purchase intention.
Researchers [18] found that consumers’ environmental consciousness may influence their purchasing
decisions. They stress that consumers’ environmental consciousness often explains more than 20% of the
variation in the purchasing measures. Consumers’ consciousness also involves favorable functional and
ethical attributes and high quality, which act as strong motives for actual purchase of eco-products [17].
Researchers [17] stress that consumers generally make a trade-off between environmental concern and
product attributes when purchasing eco-products. Consumers tend to evaluate various environmental,
social, and individual consequences of an eco-product purchase. Consumers that deem environmental
and social consequences as more important than individual consequences will look for green attributes
of products (i.e., will exert greater consciousness of eco-products), whereas those that deem them less
important will seek functional attributes [17]. That means that consumers that do not express consciousness
of eco-products and seek mostly functional attributes will likely not purchase eco-products, despite having
high environmental concern. In sum, consciousness of eco-products channels the effect of environmental
concern into purchase intention of eco-products.
Hypothesis 5. Consumers’ consciousness of eco-products positively affects their purchase intention.
According to Lin and Syrgabayeva [15], consumers who consider themselves environmentalists
and feel responsible for protecting the environment are more inclined to use renewable energy. Moral
obligation or personal sense of responsibility thus affects consumers’ environmental behavior and
works as an important factor in the environmental behavior of consumers [66,72]. Likewise, Prakash
and Pathak [73] stressed that strong personal norms have the strength and ability to affect/change the
consumption patterns of consumers and thus facilitate eco-friendly behavior (i.e., intention to buy
eco-products). The results of prior research conducted by Prakash and Pathak [73] demonstrate that
personal responsibility emerged as the strongest predictor of the purchase intention of eco-friendly
packaged products among other important predictors of the purchase intention of eco-friendly packaged
products. Their results thus suggest that young consumers possess strong ethical motives and high
moral values which favor protection of the environment. As personal responsibility is significantly
and positively related to purchase intention, researchers [73] conclude that individual and social
consequences are in association with green product purchase. Consumers thus seek to fulfill their
personal satisfaction and act in compliance with their personal responsibility towards the environment,
which ultimately affects their purchasing decisions. In conclusion, a personal sense of responsibility
(consumers’ personal norm or moral obligation) was found to be the most important determinant of
consumers’ attitudes towards green products [66].
Hypothesis 6. Consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility positively affects their purchase intention.
Figure 1 depicts all the hypotheses and thus illustrates the conceptual model, which has also been
empirically tested.
Hypothesis 6. Consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility positively affects their
purchase intention.
Figure2019,
Sustainability 1 depicts
all the hypotheses and thus illustrates the conceptual model, which has
11, 4308 also
17 of 29
been empirically tested.
Figure 1. Conceptual
Figure 1. Conceptual model.
model. H—Hypothesis.
H—Hypothesis.
4. Materials and Methods

4. Materials and Methods
This section consists of research context description (Section 4.1), questionnaire development for
data collection (Section 4.2), and data collection and presentation of sample characteristics (Section 4.3).
4.1. Research Context Description

We often hear Slovenia referred to as a “green” country. This characterization is one way that
Slovenia brands itself as a country. With the development of the national brand “I feel Slovenia” in
2007, Slovenia established a foundation for its green orientation and its implementation in everyday
life [74]. The community-based branding approach [75] was used in brand development, as several
influential stakeholders were invited to be part of the country branding. A community-based branding
approach should encourage greater commitment of people to be part of the branding process and to
truly live the brand in daily life. The “I feel Slovenia” brand focuses on the theme of nature and natural
concepts [74,76].
There are various aspects of being green. Slovenia has many green areas and is quite active in
environmental activities pertaining to companies’ environmental performance. The country ranks
5th out of 123 countries in environmental performance, and 19th out of 126 in the number of
ISO14001 environmental certificates issued [77]. The latter aspect, which regards good environmental
performance, is also supported by the results gathered by Eco-Innovation Observatory [78], which
show that in 2016, Slovenia took the 8th place out of 25 (and ranks above the EU average) in reference
to the Eco-Innovation Index. The Eco-Innovation Index covers eco-innovation performance of the
EU Member States and thus demonstrates how well individual Member States perform in different
dimensions related to eco-innovation compared to the EU average. It encompasses various aspects of
eco-innovation, represented by 16 indicators grouped in the following five dimensions: eco-innovation
inputs, eco-innovation activities, eco-innovation outputs, resource efficiency, and socio-economic
outcomes [78]. Moreover, in 2016, Slovenia became the world’s first country to be declared a green
destination, based on an assessment by Green Destinations; in the same year, its capital, Ljubljana, was
chosen as the European green capital of 2016. In 2017, additional important recognition was announced
by the National Geographic, which recognized the efforts of Slovenia and rewarded it with the World
Legacy Award in the Destination Leadership category. The World Legacy Award is given to countries
that demonstrate the following efforts/practices: environmental best practices, protection of cultural
and natural heritage, benefits to local communities, and educating travelers.
Because this green aspect of Slovenia is closely related to “I feel Slovenia” [79], it is also reflected
in the mind and consciousness of Slovenians. In recent years, much has been done in the country with
regard to the environment, above and beyond the government’s regulations and companies’ reactions
to them. Many startups have begun their entrepreneurial path in the field of environmental protection
or building/creating products or services that are environmentally friendly. Thus, we can see that
companies do not only react to the regulations imposed by the government, but also strive to find
ways to protect the environment with their activities or new businesses. However, when we discuss
the pathway to sustainability, we cannot leave out the mindset of consumers, which has been affected
heavily by the media exposure of natural disasters all over the world and products that are safer for
the environment and the end-user. Consumers thus prefer products that are environmentally friendly
and are more environmentally responsible.
4.2. Questionnaire Development for Data Collection

We collected data using an online survey. We designed the questions based on already-existing
measures, which we have adapted to some extent. All scales were measured with several items,
by adopting a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1—strongly disagree to 7—strongly agree. Certain
scales (such as consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility) contained items that
were reverse scored during the data analysis. We measured five constructs in total, which are as
follows: environmental concern, consumers’ familiarity with eco-products, consumers’ consciousness
of eco-products, consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility, and consumers’ purchase
intention. The construct of environmental concern was measured with five items adopted and
adapted from Thøgersen and Noblet [57], whereas consumers’ familiarity with eco-products was
measured with five items adopted from Maniatis [80]. Furthermore, we used six items adapted
from Maniatis [80] to measure consumers’ consciousness of eco-products, and consumers’ perceived
sense of environmental responsibility was adapted from Tan et al. [55] (three items). Lastly, we used
three items adapted from Prakash and Pathak [73] to measure consumers’ purchase intention. We
modified items of only two constructs, namely, Environmental concern and Consumers’ perceived
sense of environmental responsibility. In each one, we removed one item (item “The so-called
‘Ecological Crisis’ facing humankind has been greatly exaggerated” for the construct Environmental
concern and item “Environmental issues need immediate attention” for the construct Consumers’
perceived sense of environmental responsibility). The items were removed, because in each construct,
one item was lowering the KMO value of the construct and demonstrated low communality value.
The exact measures (names and items of all scales) used in the questionnaire with their measurement
characteristics are presented in Table 2.
4.3. Data Collection and Sample Characteristics

In order to collect the data, we sent out the questionnaire to 9927 random e-mail addresses of
people aged 18 or older. We addressed only consumers living in Slovenia, and the questionnaire was
sent out in the Slovenian language. The data collection took place between 14 July and 20 July, 2017,
during which period 705 questionnaires were completed. Therefore, a total of 705 usable responses
were considered/used in further analysis for testing the proposed conceptual model.
Despite engaging a large sample of Slovenian consumers, the consumer group involved in this
study is unique due to country-specific factors, which are explained in more detail in Section 4.1.
Deriving from this, we may infer that Slovenian consumers are keener on eco-products and more likely
to demonstrate environmentally friendly attitude and behavior.
With regard to demographic characteristics (see Table 3), the respondents included 351 males
(49.8%) and 354 females (50.2%). Concerning the age of respondents, 109 respondents (15.5%) were
between 18 and 34 years old, 118 (16.7%) were between 35 and 44, 145 (20.6%) were between 45 and 54,
147 (20.9%) were between 55 and 64, and 179 respondents (25.4%) were 65 or older. Regarding the
respondents’ education, 481 had completed elementary high school, seven only elementary school,
190 had received a bachelor’s degree, and 26 respondents had a higher educational degree (e.g.,
specialization, MBA, master’s degree, or PhD).
Table 2. Measurement model.
Latent Variables and Their Completely

p Composite Reliability AVE Cronbach’s Alpha
Measurement Items Standardized Loading
Consumers’ environmental concern
We are approaching the limit of the number
0.55
of people the earth can support.
If things continue on their present course,
we will soon experience an 0.79 *
ecological catastrophe. 0.845 0.525 0.842
The earth is like a spaceship with very
0.65 *
limited room and resources.
I am concerned about the effect of
0.81 *
global warming.
I am concerned about air quality. 0.79 *
Consumers’ consciousness of eco-products
Please rate your consciousness about presence of:
ecological labels in the eco-products 0.86
environmental certification of
0.87 *
the eco-products
nonpolluting ingredients in the eco-products 0.85 * 0.928 0.682 0.925
recyclable packaging of the eco-products 0.80 *
opportunity for cost reduction using the
0.76 *
eco-products
nice and clean appearance of
0.81 *
the eco-products
Consumers’ familiarity with eco-products
Please rate your familiarity of:
environmental issues 0.80
environmental solutions 0.89 * 0.929 0.724 0.923
ecological (green) labeling/standards 0.81 *
environmental benefits of eco-products 0.90 *
economic benefits of eco-products 0.85 *
Consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility
I cannot help to slow down
0.64 *
environmental deterioration.
I do not need to do anything because the 0.710 0.449 0.674
environment is not a major concern 0.68 *
in Slovenia.
I do not feel responsible for the environment. 0.69 *
Consumers’ purchase intention of eco-friendly packaged products
I would buy eco-friendly packaged products
0.89
in the near future.
I plan to buy eco-friendly packaged
0.85 * 0.923 0.799 0.925
products on a regular basis.
I intend to buy eco-friendly packaged
products because they are more 0.94 *
environmentally friendly.
Note: * p-values are significant at the 0.05 level.
Table 3. Sample data demographic characteristics.
Sample Data Demographic Characteristics Frequency Percentage (%)

Male 351 49.8
Gender
Female 354 50.2
18–34 years 109 15.5
35–44 years 118 16.7
Age 45–54 years 145 20.6
55–64 years 147 20.9
65 years and above 179 25.4
Elementary school 7 1.1
High school 481 68.3
Education
Bachelor’s degree 190 26.9
Specialization, MBA, master’s degree, or PhD 26 3.7
5. Results and Discussion

In this section, we will first present the construct validity of the measurement model (Section 5.1),
followed by analysis of the conceptual model and hypotheses testing (Section 5.2).
5.1. Construct Validity of the Measurement Model

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine reliability and validity of the
measurement model (Table 2). We used multiple fit criteria to assess the overall fit of the model.
The model showed good fit (chi-square 500.928; df 199; NNFI 0.966; CFI 0.971; IFI 0.971; RMSEA
0.046) and reliability, as the Cronbach’s alpha of the model was 0.920. Results imply that the model fit
indices suggest an acceptable fit to the data and a usable model that ensures the data and results are
interpreted reliably. Moreover, Table 2 illustrates factor loadings; it can be noted that all factor loadings
for each item are above 0.50, and significantly associated with their respective constructs (all p-values
are significant at the 0.05 level). This confirms that the convergent validity is ensured [81]. In addition,
reliability of measured constructs is acceptable, as the composite reliability of all the constructs is
greater than 0.70 [82]. Furthermore, we calculated the square root of average variance extracted (AVE)
for each construct to examine the convergent validity of the measurement scales. We can see in Table 2
that the value of AVE for each construct is greater than the threshold limit of 0.50, which implies that
the convergent validity is achieved (with the exception of the construct of Consumers’ perceived sense
of environmental responsibility, which is slightly lower). Overall, the results depicted in Table 2 imply
that the reliability and construct validity of the measurement model are adequately supported.
Table 4 depicts correlations between five latent variables, which are comprised in the measurement
model. We can see that all correlations among the different constructs (consumers’ environmental
concern, consumers’ consciousness of eco-products, consumers’ familiarity with eco-products,
consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility, and consumers’ purchase intention)
are statistically significant.
Table 4. Correlations between latent variables comprised in the measurement model.
EC CC CF CPER PI
EC 1
CC 0.56 * 1
CF 0.39 * 0.62 * 1
CPR 0.27 * 0.23 * 0.14 * 1
PI 0.48 * 0.63 * 0.49 * 0.29 * 1
Note: EC = consumers’ environmental concern; CC = consumers’ consciousness of eco-products; CF = consumers’
familiarity with eco-products; CPER = consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility; PI = consumers’
purchase intention; * p-values are significant at the 0.05 level.
Common Method Variance

As we collected the data with a cross-sectional research design, we thus conducted a common
method variance (CMV) assessment, starting with a Harman’s single factor test. Researchers [83]
stressed that if CMV exists, a single factor will emerge from the factor analysis of all survey items.
Therefore, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis in SPSS by using all survey items from the 705
questionnaires. The unrotated principal components factor analysis results demonstrate that no factor
accounted for the majority of variance, thus indicating that the data do not appreciably suffer from
common method bias. The first factor captures 40.11% of the variance, which suggests the absence of a
CMV problem.
5.2. Analysis of Conceptual Model and Hypotheses Testing

All constructs were assessed by using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Construct
validity and reliability of the measurement model have also been assessed, and the results related
to the construct validity for the green consumerism model have been presented (see Section 5.1).
From Table 2, we can observe that reliability statistics were over the threshold of 0.70 for all constructs
with the exception of one (i.e., Consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility), and thus
we can conclude that all constructs demonstrate acceptable reliability statistics. The only construct
that demonstrated somewhat poor psychometric characteristics is Consumers’ perceived sense of
environmental responsibility, but this was only slightly below the threshold; therefore, we have kept
this construct in the final model, because it represents an important part of the model. The lower results
for this construct can be partly explained by the small number of variables (three) included in the
Consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility construct. For scales that consist of a small
number of items, Pedhazur and Schmelkin [84] have suggested that the acceptable Cronbach’s alpha
limit is as low as 0.60 or 0.50 to still be acceptable for further analysis. Regarding the goodness-of-fit
measures, we can conclude that these also show good results and imply that there is an acceptable
model fit for all constructs comprised in our measurement model.
In Section 5.1, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis to assess the quality and adequacy of
our measurement model. As the reliability and validity of comprised constructs were adequate, we
focus in this section on testing the structural model and causal relationship. To examine the proposed
model, we applied structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to examine the structural model
and causal relationships. Structural equation modeling simultaneously evaluates multiple related
dependent and independent relationships (in our case, relationships between several determinants,
such as consumers’ environmental concern, consumers’ consciousness of eco-products, consumers’
familiarity with eco-products, consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility, and
purchase intention). We deemed the use of structural equation modeling the most appropriate because
it allows us to test the hypothesized relationships and takes into account measurement error (estimates)
in the evaluation process [85]. In brief, SEM examines the structure of interrelationships expressed in a
series of equations, similar to a series of multiple regression equations, and in this way attempts to
explain the relationships between several variables [82]. These multiple regression equations depict all
of the relationships among constructs (such as dependent and independent variables, which can be
unobservable or latent factors represented by multiple variables) involved in the analysis [82].
The resulting model of green consumerism with estimated relationships (i.e., standardized solution)
is illustrated in Figure 2. The model’s goodness-of-fit indices are as follows: chi-square 689.144; df 198;
NNFI 0.944; CFI 0.952; IFI 0.952; RMSEA 0.059; Cronbach’s alpha 0.920. Based on the obtained results,
we can infer that the model demonstrates a moderate fit to the data. Following the depicted model, we
can conclude that we found the empirical evidence to support our hypotheses; thus, all the posited
hypotheses are empirically supported, demonstrating positive and significant relationships among the
constructs. Figure 2 illustrated the tested structural equation model, encompassing the standardized
coefficients of each path; the asterisk (*) means that the significance of the relationships between
constructs is significant at the 0.05 level (p < 0.05). The results of the structural equation modeling offer
obtained results, we can infer that the model demonstrates a moderate fit to the data. Following the
depicted model, we can conclude that we found the empirical evidence to support our hypotheses;
thus, all the posited hypotheses are empirically supported, demonstrating positive and significant
relationships among the constructs. Figure 2 illustrated the tested structural equation model,
encompassing
Sustainability 2019, the standardized coefficients of each path; the asterisk (*) means that the significance
11, 4308 22 of 29
of the relationships between constructs is significant at the 0.05 level (p < 0.05). The results of the
structural equation modeling offer empirical evidence obtained on the basis of 705 consumers and
empirical evidence obtained on the basis of 705 consumers and thus provide support for all of the
thus provide support for all of the hypotheses (H1–H6), indicating that all of them are supported.
hypotheses (H1–H6), indicating that all of them are supported.
Figure 2. Structural equation model result for the conceptual model. Note: * p-values are significant at
Figure 2. Structural equation model result for the conceptual model. Note: * p-values are significant
the 0.05 level.
at the 0.05 level.
The results of the present study suggest that the environmental concern of consumers exerts
The results of the present study suggest that the environmental concern of consumers exerts a
a positive impact on consumers’ familiarity with eco-products, on consumers’ consciousness of
positive impact on consumers’ familiarity with eco-products, on consumers’ consciousness of eco-
eco-products, and on consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility, thus lending
products, and on consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility, thus lending support
support to Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3. In sum, we found a positive effect of consumers’ environmental
to Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3. In sum, we found a positive effect of consumers’ environmental concern
concern on consumers’ familiarity with eco-products, which offers support to Hypothesis 1, even
on consumers’ familiarity with eco-products, which offers support to Hypothesis 1, even though the
though the findings of previous research are not always consistent and offer inconclusive findings,
findings of previous research are not always consistent and offer inconclusive findings, as noted by
as noted by researchers [15]. Moreover, pertaining to Hypotheses 2 and 3, we found that consumers’
environmental concern positively affects their consciousness of eco-products as well as their perceived
sense of environmental responsibility, which is consistent with the research of Doran [16], who
found that individuals’ moral or ethical obligations and personal sense of responsibility enhance
the attitude–behavior relationship. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that consumers’
familiarity with eco-products positively affects their purchase intentions (Hypothesis 4), which is in line
with findings of other researchers [17,68]. In addition, we found support for Hypothesis 5, which states
that consumers’ consciousness of eco-products positively affects their purchase intention. This finding
is consistent with the prior research of Schlegelmilch et al. [18] and Joshi and Rahman [17]. Finally,
the results also indicate a positive effect of consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility
on their purchase intention (Hypothesis 6), which is in line with the research of Makatouni [71], who
found that a sense of responsibility exerts a positive effect on green purchase [15,66,72]. According to
the research of Prakash and Pathak [73], personal responsibility emerged as the strongest predictor
among other important predictors of the purchase intention of eco-friendly products. Likewise, our
findings demonstrate a positive effect of perceived sense of environmental responsibility on purchase
intention of eco-products, whereas the strongest mediator (in our case) has been shown to be consumers’
consciousness of eco-products. In sum, we conclude that consumers’ familiarity with eco-products,
their consciousness of eco-products, and the perceived sense of environmental responsibility translate
the effect of environmental concern into purchase intention of eco-products.
5.3. Differences between Genders

In order to test if there are any differences between female and male consumers concerning the
constructs we adopted, analysis of variance (ANOVA), using SPSS, was conducted. We tested for
differences between genders regarding the constructs encompassed in our study. Table 5 demonstrates
that the differences between gender occurred in the following constructs: environmental concern,
consciousness of eco-products, and perceived sense of environmental responsibility. However, no
statistically significant difference has been found between female and male consumers regarding their
environmental familiarity or green purchase intention. Female consumers seem to be more concerned
about the environment. Furthermore, they express greater consciousness of eco-products than male
consumers and, lastly, female consumers have a greater perceived sense of responsibility towards
environmental issues (these differences have been found to be statistically significant at p < 0.05).
Table 5. Mean differences by gender.
Consumers’ Perceived Sense of

Environmental Consciousness Green Purchase
Environmental Environmental
Gender Concern of Eco-Products Intention
Familiarity Responsibility
M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD
Female 5.593 1.165 5.450 1.308 4.674 1.330 5.797 1.309 5.708 1.298
Male 5.297 1.311 4.987 1.366 4.483 1.389 5.531 1.243 5.526 1.362
F ratio 10.059 * 21.072 * 3.482 7.620 * 3.289
Sig. (0.002) (0.000) (0.062) (0.006) (0.070)
Note: M = mean value; SD = standard deviation; * p < 0.05.
Our findings related to the differences in gender are in line with previous studies [25,44], which
found that green purchase intention motivational factors are greater among female consumers,
indicating that women behave in a more environmentally friendly way. In our case, this concerns
environmental concern, consciousness of eco-products, and a perceived sense of environmental
responsibility. However, we have found that, regarding green purchase intention, no significant
differences occurred between female and male consumers, which is not consistent with the findings
of prior research [44], which found that female consumers had higher purchase intention than
male consumers.
6. Conclusions
In this section we present the summary of findings (Section 6.1), followed by policy and
managerial implications (Section 6.2), theoretical implications, contributions, and limitations of
the study (Section 6.3), and future research directions (Section 6.4).
6.1. Summary of Findings

The main aim of this paper was to explore the role of consumers in the transition to sustainability.
We aimed to examine what drives Slovenian consumers to purchase eco-products. Based on the
responses of 705 consumers, we confirmed all six hypotheses. Our main findings demonstrate that
consumers’ environmental concern leads to consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility,
their consciousness of eco-products, and their familiarity with eco-products. That means that consumers
that have greater environmental concern will express a higher level of consciousness of and familiarity
with eco-products and will also have a greater level of perceived sense of environmental responsibility.
Moreover, all three of the previously mentioned constructs (i.e., consciousness of eco-products,
familiarity with eco-products, and perceived sense of environmental responsibility) exert positive
effects on purchase intention of eco-products. This means that consumers that have a higher level of
consciousness of eco-products, familiarity with eco-products, and a perceived sense of environmental
responsibility are likely to exhibit a greater intention to purchase eco-products. In addition, we tested
for differences concerning female and male consumers. The findings of ANOVA revealed that female
consumers express greater environmental concern, consciousness of eco-products, and perceived
environmental responsibility than male consumers, although no differences between female and male
consumers have been found for green purchase intention and environmental familiarity. In addition,
an extensive literature review was conducted, and the main findings of 47 prior research works were
presented in Section 2.
6.2. Policy and Managerial Implications

Our most important finding, on which we wish to place particular emphasis, is that consumers’
consciousness of eco-products has the greatest effect in channeling environmental concern into purchase
intention of eco-products. That means that the key to transition to sustainability from the point of
view of consumers is to enhance the level of their consciousness about environmental problems and
also solutions, behaviors, and attitudes that can help to preserve our environment and not lead to
further deterioration. More emphasis should be placed by governments, policymakers, companies, and
other relevant stakeholders on ecological labels, environmental certification, nonpolluting ingredients,
environmentally friendly packaging, and encouraging eco-design—designing the product from the
start to be environmentally friendly and educating consumers on opportunity for cost reduction when
behaving in an environmentally responsible way. Government support and its informational role for
the importance of sustainable behavior on a national level is extremely important. This is evident in
the case of the country of Slovenia and its brand, “I feel Slovenia”, as sustainable development was
recognized as an important issue in managing and marketing the country. As the brand was developed
with the help of the most influential stakeholders in the country (using the so-called community-based
branding approach), this significantly helped the government to spread an awareness of the importance
of sustainability among its inhabitants—the Slovenians who live the brand. A community-based
branding approach should encourage greater commitment in people to take part in transitioning to
sustainability and to truly live in harmony with the environment in their daily life. The transition to
sustainability should follow the same approach by engaging all stakeholders and building a community
for which the basic values would be protecting our environment and living in it without compromising
the needs of future generations. A change in behavior resulting from consciousness in humans is a
lengthy process that needs to be constantly communicated and promoted through proper actions and
small steps that finally result in more sustainable behavior.
The main implication for governments and companies is the need to dedicate more effort to
building awareness of eco-products and the importance of sustainable behavior. Environmental actions
deriving from government, which banned the use of plastic bags for groceries and motivate consumers
to buy environmentally friendly bags that can be used for each purchase, is one of the steps that helps
consumers realize how they can contribute to act more environmentally friendly. Moreover, campaigns
on television, journals, social networks, radio, and other channels that raise awareness of environmental
issues should be promoted to a greater extent. In addition, as found by Liu et al. [86], governments can
make good use of eco-labeling schemes to increase public awareness of the environmental benefits of
eco-labeled products, thereby stimulating consumers’ environmental motivation and further behavior.
Consumers’ environmental concern is not enough in and of itself to spur green consumerism or,
in our case, the purchase intention of consumers for eco-products. The findings of our study clearly
indicate that consumers’ consciousness of eco-products has the greatest effect in channeling consumers’
environmental concern into their purchase intention. That means that consumers’ consciousness
should be enhanced, both by the government and by companies promoting and investing more in
raising awareness of ecological labels and environmental certification of eco-products, the presence of
nonpolluting ingredients in eco-products, recyclable packaging of eco-products, opportunities related
to cost reduction when using eco-products, and the attractive and clean appearance of eco-products.
Consumers need to be equipped with information about eco-products, labels, and certifications and
other information that can raise awareness of eco-products. Furthermore, consumers need to be
informed about sustainable actions and how they can behave in a more sustainable way, so that they
can contribute to society and to saving not only their own country but also our common planet. More
conscious consumers are more likely to purchase eco-products and act more sustainably in their lives.
6.3. Theoretical Implications, Contributions, and Limitations of the Study

The most important theoretical contribution of this paper lies in the extensive literature review of
the topic of green consumerism from the aspect of consumers, which covers this topic in an up-to-date
and thorough way. We have conducted a literature review of research papers, containing as keywords
the following phrases: “green consumerism” or “environmentally responsible consumption”. We
employed the Science Direct database and enriched our search with Google Scholar. In total, our
search for the above-mentioned keywords in Science Direct produced 1237 results. We focused only
on research papers and presented the main findings of 47 papers, which are presented in Table 1.
This study thus offers an important insight into the topic of green consumerism and, specifically,
based on empirical research, also into the conduit between consumers’ environmental concern and
their purchase intention by exploring how consumers’ consciousness of eco-products, their familiarity
with eco-products, and their perceived sense of environmental responsibility translate the effect of
consumers’ environmental concern into their purchase intention. In addition, it explores gender-based
differences related to green consumerism and environmental behavior.
Although this study covers some important aspects of green consumerism and adds to previous
research, some limitations remain, and further research is thus required to better understand and
enhance knowledge of green consumerism. This study offers valuable findings using a sample of
consumers from Slovenia, which is unique due to country-specific factors, and it should thus be
replicated in other countries in order to understand consumers’ patterns of purchase behavior or green
consumerism. However, we believe that the findings of this study can be generalized to some extent
to other economies and countries with similar customs, culture, and other relevant characteristics
pertaining especially to the green orientation of a country and its consumers, expressed in high
environmental consciousness of the consumers and consequently environmentally friendly behavior.
One of the study’s limitations, which offers a path for future research, is that we measured consumers’
purchase intention and not actual purchasing behavior, which could be interesting to address in future
research. Moreover, the present study focused on eco-products in general; to obtain a more precise
understanding, future research could consider different or more specific types of eco-products and
explore how the drivers of purchase intention vary for different types of eco-products. Moreover, it
would be especially interesting to compare the findings of the present study with findings of research
conducted or replicated in developing economies. As an important limitation, we need to stress that
we aimed to explore the role of consumers in transition to sustainability; however, our research has
covered only a small fragment of transition to sustainability, from the point of view of consumers,
as this is a broad concept. Moreover, we focused on what drives Slovenian consumers to purchase
eco-products from the point of view of what channels the effect of environmental concern on purchase
intention and thus covering the research gap that has been identified in the literature/previous research.
Nonetheless, this study sheds light on the importance of raising awareness of eco-products among
consumers, which seems to be the starting point for changing the mentality and affecting the behavior
of consumers.
6.4. Future Research Directions

Summing up, future research on this topic including actual purchase behavior could provide strong
evidence to support/resolve the purchase intention versus actual purchase behavior debate persisting
in the literature. It would be meaningful to test this model in other countries that are either equally
green-oriented (having environmentally conscious consumers) or less green-oriented (less environmentally
conscious consumers) in order to explore the differences in consumer behavior. It would be meaningful
to test this model for specific types of eco-products and services in order to see whether, for different
eco-products or services, the consumers’ attitude/behavior differs. For more commercially oriented
research, it would be important to include the price sensitivity of consumers—how much more are
consumers willing to spend for an eco-product and under which conditions are they willing to swap a
conventional product for an ecological one. In addition, a multigroup analysis which would examine
whether female and male consumers differ in respect of the effect of consumers’ environmental concern on
consumers’ perceived sense of environmental responsibility, their consciousness of eco-products, and their
familiarity with eco-products would be valuable as future research. Moreover, do female consumers differ
from male consumers in terms of the effect of the above-mentioned constructs on purchase intention?
In future research, it would also be beneficial for eco-producers to test different samples (social status,
financial status, education level, location, personality traits) of consumers in more detail in order to
better determine the green consumer market and more easily target it when entering the market with an
eco-product or expanding the market.
Author Contributions: All authors equally contributed to this work. All authors wrote, reviewed, and commented
on the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Funding: This research was supported/funded by the Slovenian Research Agency [grant number 1000-17-1988].
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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sustainability

Keywords: literature review; environmental concern; consumer’s familiarity with eco-products;

Sustainability 2019, 11, 4308; doi:10.3390/su11164308 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

Table 1. Literature review of “green consumerism” or “environmentally responsible consumption”.

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Authors and Year of

Hypothesis 2. Consumers’ environmental concern positively affects their consciousness of eco-products.

Hypothesis 3. Consumers’ environmental concern positively affects their perceived sense of

Hypothesis 5. Consumers’ consciousness of eco-products positively affects their purchase intention.

4. Materials and Methods

4.1. Research Context Description

4.2. Questionnaire Development for Data Collection

4.3. Data Collection and Sample Characteristics

Table 2. Measurement model.

Latent Variables and Their Completely

Table 3. Sample data demographic characteristics.

Sample Data Demographic Characteristics Frequency Percentage (%)

5. Results and Discussion

5.1. Construct Validity of the Measurement Model

Table 4. Correlations between latent variables comprised in the measurement model.

Common Method Variance

5.2. Analysis of Conceptual Model and Hypotheses Testing

5.3. Differences between Genders

Table 5. Mean differences by gender.

Consumers’ Perceived Sense of

6.1. Summary of Findings

6.2. Policy and Managerial Implications

6.3. Theoretical Implications, Contributions, and Limitations of the Study

6.4. Future Research Directions

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