2. Background
Nowadays, consumers and companies are faced with a big challenge →
protecting and preserving the environment.
The production/ consumption behavior directly impacts the environment.
– Lots of pollution, garbage, waste of materials and energy → consequences of
consumers’ consumptive behaviors
Preferred mechanisms for preserving the environment → to modify
producers and consumer’s practices:
– Environmental standards: the polluter is obliged to pay principle, penalties and
environmental taxes
– Eco-labeling (green labeling) → effective tool in reducing environmental problems.
______________
• Laroche, M., Bergeron, J., & Barbaro-Forleo, G. (2001). Targeting consumers who are willing to pay
more for environmentally friendly products. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18(6), 503-520.
• Gan et al. (2008). Consumers’ purchasing behavior towards green products in New Zealand.
Innovative Marketing, 4(1), 93-102.
3. A Green Product, Definition
A green (eco-friendly) product is defined
as “a product which is supposed to
reduce the impact of its consumption
on the environment due to the use of
making-processes, components and
recycling techniques which are less
harmful for the environment than those
of conventional products”.
– Typically non toxic, minimally packaged,
durable, or made of recycled materials.
_________.
• Durif, F., Boivin, C., & Julien, C. (2010). In search of a green
product definition. Innovative Marketing, 6(1), 25-33.
4. However,
Consumers’ positive attitude towards environmental issues
does not necessarily lead to green products’ purchasing
behavior.
Consumers DO NOT purchase green products based on the
environmental issue only.
They are usually not willing to trade-off other product
attributes for a better environment.
_____________
• Laroche et al. (2001). Targeting consumers who are willing to pay more for
environmentally friendly products. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18(6), 503-520.
• Gan et al. (2008). Consumers’ purchasing behavior towards green products in New
Zealand. Innovative Marketing, 4(1), 93-102.
5. Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty →“the extent
to which a consumer is
faithful towards a specific
brand and this being
expressed by repeat
purchasing and other
positive behaviors such as
word of mouth, regardless
of the marketing pressures
generated by the other
competing brands”.
Brand loyalty influences
consumers purchasing behavior.
Brand loyal consumers are LESS
LIKELY to substitute current brands
or to buy new products such
as environmentally
friendly products.
Kotler, P et al. (2009). Marketing an introduction. England: Pearson Education.
6. Aim of the Research
• To examine Environmental Consciousness
and Brand Loyalty as factors impacting
Consumers’ Purchasing Behavior towards
Green Cosmetics Products.
• The product category was chosen to be
cosmetic products:
– it is highly related to green branding
strategies;
– significant financial contribution of this
industry;
– value of strong brands building within it.
Guthrie, M. F., & Kim, H. S. (2009). The relationship between consumer involvement and brand
perceptions of female cosmetic consumers. Journal of Brand Management, 17(2), 114-133.
7. Model and Hypotheses Development
Environmental
Consciousness
Consumer
Purchasing
Intention towards
Green ProductsBrand Loyalty
H1
H2
Hypothesis 1: Environmental consciousness (EC) has a positive
impact on consumer purchasing decisions towards green
cosmetics products.
Hypothesis 2: Brand loyalty (BL) has a negative impact on the
consumers decision to purchase green cosmetics products.
• Demographic characteristics (gender, age, marital status,
education) were also taken into consideration in our research.
8. Sample and Data Collection
Data were obtained through a structured,
Internet mediated questionnaire.
– The questionnaire was divided into three
groups: questions regarding environmental
consciousness, brand loyalty and customers’
intention to purchase green cosmetics
products.
• 160 surveys were distributed, over 120
were completed (response rate of over
75 percent).
• After our data collection we included
our findings in SPSS Statistics.
9. 1 2 3 4 5
Q1 Do you use biodegradable soaps or detergents
Q2 Do you avoid aerosol products
Q3 Do you read labels to see if contents are environmentally
safe
Q4 Do you buy products made or packaged in recycled
materials
Q5 Do you buy products in packages that can be refilled
Q6 Do you avoid buying products from companies who are not
environmentally
responsible
Q7 Do you recycle bottles, cans, glass or newspapers
Q8 Take your own bags to the supermarket
Q9 Do you cut down on car use
Q10 Volunteer for an environmental group
Table I Past Environmental Behavior questions (1=never/ 5=always)
Ottman, J. (1998), Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation, NTC-McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
10. 1 2 3 4 5
Q1 Brand names indicate the quality of the cosmetics product
Q2 Brand names indicate how “cool” a cosmetic product is
Q3 The brand name is the most important information to me when I am
considering a cosmetic product
Q4 I am willing to pay more money for a cosmetic product because of its
brand name
Q5 Brand name cosmetic products that cost a lot of money are good quality
Q6 Brand names of cosmetics products are more important than product
features in my buying decisions
Q7 Brands of cosmetics indicate social status
Q8 I feel emotionally connected towards brands of cosmetics products
Q9 I trust certain cosmetics brands
Q10 As long as some cosmetic brand exists, I do not choose any other brand
out of this product category
Q11 I will not purchase any other cosmetic brand when my favorite brands
are out of stock temporarily
Table II Brand Loyalty (1=strongly disagree/ 5=strongly agree)
LaChance, Beaudoin, & Robitaille, 2003; Nelson & McLeod, 2005
11. 1 2 3 4 5
Q1 How often do I purchase green cosmetics products
Q2 I am more likely to purchase green cosmetic
products next time going shopping.
Q3 I am willing to pay extra for green cosmetic products
Table III Purchase Intention (1=never/ 5=always)
Akehurst, et al. (2012). Re-examining green purchase behaviour and the green
consumer profile: new evidences. Management Decision, 50(5), 972-988.
• Questions related to demographics were given at the end of the
questionnaire.
• Ethical issues were taken into account.
• The participation in the survey was voluntary, keeping anonymity
and confidentiality of the participants.
• Only adult audience was questioned.
• No financial reward was offered to the respondents.
13. Demographic Characteristics,
Relationship status and Education of the participants
2%
34%
63%
1%
Relationship status
Divorced
Married
Single
Widowed
49%
19%
26%
6%
Education
Bachelor
degree
High
school
Master
degree
14. Reliability- Cronbach’s Alpha
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items
,636 ,643 10
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items
,878 ,878 9
We calculate the reliability by using the statistical methods such as the
Cronbach’s Alpha as we are using multiple item measures.
Cornbach’s Alpha for Environmental consciousness (0.636) and Brand
loyalty (0.878) were above 0.60 and therefore, we prove the
reliability of the constructs.
In the previous literature, it was suggested that reliability
in the range between 0.50 and 0.60 is acceptable.
15. Descriptive statistics
Mean
Standard
Deviation
Q11 Brand names indicate quality of the
cosmetics product
2.97 0.94
Q12 Brand names indicate how “cool” a
cosmetic product is
3.14 0.89
Q13 The brand name is the most important
information to me when I am considering a
cosmetic product
2.90 1.05
Q14 Sometimes I am willing to pay more money
for a cosmetic product because of its brand
name
2.92 1.05
Q15 Brand name cosmetic products that cost a
lot of money are good quality
2.92 1.05
Q16 Brand names of cosmetics products are
more important than product features in
my buying decisions
2.43 0.99
Q17 Brands of cosmetics indicate social status 2.46 1.11
Q18 I feel emotionally connected towards
brands of cosmetics products
2.58 1.04
Q19 I trust certain cosmetics brands 3.38 1.02
Q20 As long as some cosmetic brand exists, I do
not choose any other brand out of this
product category
2.67 1.01
Q21 I will not purchase any other cosmetic
brand when my favorite brands are out of
stock temporarily
2.58 1.04
Mean
Standard
Deviation
Q1 Do you use biodegradable soaps or
detergents
2.83 0.95
Q2 Do you avoid aerosol products 2.75 0.97
Q3 Do you read labels to see if contents
are environmentally safe
2.47 1.12
Q4 Do you buy products made or
packaged in recycled materials
2.95 0.90
Q5 Do you buy products in packages that
can be refilled
3.03 0.92
Q6 Do you avoid buying products from
companies who are not
environmentally
responsible
2.61 0.96
Q7 Do you recycle bottles, cans, glass or
newspapers
2.31 1.09
Q8 Take your own bags to the
supermarket
2.44 1.16
Q9 Do you cut down on car use 2.78 1.12
Q10 Volunteer for an environmental
group
1.73 0.91
Mean and Standard Deviation for Environmental Consciousness and Brand Loyalty
16. Descriptive statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean
Standard
Deviation
Q22
How often do I purchase
green cosmetics products
120 1 5 2.66 0.92
Q23
I am more likely to purchase
green cosmetic products
next time going shopping
120 1 5 3.38 0.94
Q24
I am willing to pay extra for
green cosmetic products
120 1 5 2.99 1.10
Mean and Standard Deviation of Purchase Intention Questionnaire
17. Multiple Regression Analysis
In order to understand which of the factors have the most
important effect on purchase intention we used a multiple
regression.
The obtained R Square of 0.443 means that our model composed
of two independent variables (Environmental Consciousness and
Brand Loyalty) could explain 44.3% of the variance of the purchase
intention of green cosmetics products.
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
1 ,666a ,443 ,434 ,5766864879
a. Predictors: (Constant), Environmental consciousness, Brand loyalty
18. The coefficient of EC is positive (β = 0.510) and p-value is
lower than 0.05 (p = 0.00). Consequently, the impact of EC
on consumer’s purchase intention is positive – thus, the
hypothesis 1 is supported.
The coefficient of BL is negative (β = -0.304) and p-value is
lower than 0.05 (p = 0.00). Consequently, the impact of BL
on consumer’s purchase intention is negative – thus, the
hypothesis 2 is supported.
Model
Unstandardized Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1
(Constant) 1,859 ,405 4,593 ,000
EC ,783 ,111 ,510 7,075 ,000
BL -,320) ,076 -,304) -4,222) ,000
a. Dependent Variable: INTENTION TO BUY
19. Multiple Regression Analysis
Multivariate regression equation:
• where,
• PI – Purchase intention towards green cosmetics products,
• EC – Environmental consciousness,
• BL – Brand loyalty
• e – error
ezbxbаY 21
eBLECPI 304.0510.0859.1
20. Conclusions
This research supported the hypotheses that environmental
consciousness and brand loyalty have significant impact on green
product purchasing behavior.
However, this research has a few limitations.
– Firstly, the model will benefit with the addition of other independent
variables, such as: product quality, price, convenience and availability as
significant determinants in consumers’ purchasing decision process.
– Secondly, the data obtained in this research could not be easily
generalized as the sample is not quite representative. Most of the
respondents belong to the student female population.
Our suggestion for the future studies is that they should use
samples which are equally distributed and that more reliable
conclusions could be drawn.
