Purpose-Despite research studies indicating strong support for labelling information, uncertainty remains with respect to how labels influence consumers. This paper attempts to empirically investigate how consumers who differ in terms of environmentalism respond to labels. Design/methodology/approach-The data were collected on an Australian sample using a structured questionnaire administered on the phone using quantum research (CATI) data collection services. A total of 155 questionnaires were completed and used for data analysis. The data were analysed using both descriptive measures and correlations between variables. Findings-There appears to be a proportion of consumers that find product labels hard to understand. The research found that there are consumers who will buy green products even if they are lower in quality in comparison to alternative products, but would look for environmental information on labels. With respect to price sensitive green consumers, there appears to be a relationship between price sensitivity and "always" reading labels as well as indicating that there is "sufficient" information on product labels to make informed purchase decisions. Research limitations/implications-It was beyond the scope of the research to account for some of the utilitarian approaches to interpretation or in-depth comprehension of label information. The sample size of 155, although selected using a probability method, may, to some extent, limit the overall accuracy of the results. Practical implications-The research offers some important information on different green consumer segments that would alert managers on how best to position environmental labels. Findings such as "Satisfied with labels" correlates with "Labels are accurate", which suggests that businesses need to provide a clear, accurate and easily legible label design to encourage satisfaction with the accuracy of content and the communication aspects of a label. Originality/value-The paper contributes to better understanding of green customers purchase intentions and the usefulness of ecological product labels. It offers some insights and assistance to businesses in planning their green product/labelling strategies.

This research examined the demographic profiles of Australian green consumers in relation to their satisfaction of environmental labelling. It examined consumers’ understanding of labelling and empirically investigated the association of demographic profile of consumers with their attitudes towards such labels. The results indicated that some of the demographic variables were significant, which is largely consistent with earlier findings by other researchers in this area. Label dissatisfaction was higher in the older and middle age respondents. However, some respondents disagreed that labels were accurate while commenting that labels were easy to understand. The key issue arising from the findings is that in order to provide perception of accuracy in labels, it is an option to use Type I or Type III labelling on products. These labels are, arguably, more credible because they are endorsed by third party labelling experts. This would come at a cost and for green products that use third party labelling, they will also have to bear in mind to keep the prices competitive.

Purpose -The purpose of the study is to examine the influence of multiple factors on the green purchase intention of customers in Australia. Design/methodology/approach -A conceptual model is proposed and was subjected to empirical verification with the use of a survey of metropolitan and regional households in Victoria, Australia. The data were analyzed using both descriptive measures and exploratory factor analysis to identify and validate the items contributing to each component in the model. AMOS structural modeling was used to estimate the measure of respondents' overall perception of green products and their intention to purchase. Findings -The results indicate that customers' corporate perception with respect to companies placing higher priority on profitability than on reducing pollution and regulatory protection were the significant predictors of customers' negative overall perception toward green products. The only positive contribution to customers' perception was their past experience with the product. Other factors including the perception of green products, product labels, packaging, and product ingredients did not appear to influence customers' perception. The results also indicate that customers are not tolerant of lower quality and higher prices of green products.Research limitations/implications -The knowledge of the overall perception formation about green products and its predictors provides management with the facility to identify and implement strategies that may better influence the change of attitude by customers. Corporations can also benefit from the identification of the types of information required to enable management to influence this process of perception formation. Originality/value -The present findings contributes to an understanding of the antecedents of green purchasing and highlight that green customers rely more on personal experience with the product than the information provided by the marketer.

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Research indicates that the environment has had a defi nite impact on consumer behaviour whereby suggesting to target consumers according to their environmental beliefs. This study investigated the consumers ' green purchase behaviour using price and quality attributes as contributors to the formation of purchase intention. It attempts to construct a model that may facilitate the better understanding of green consumers ' market segments through the use of an intelligent soft computing model. The model is designed to incorporate knowledge, beliefs, demographic profi les and situational variables. This potentially provides a more direct method for companies to gauge consumers ' intention to purchase green products. The results showed strong preference for companies to place higher priority on reducing pollution than on increasing profi tability. It highlighted different clusters that demonstrate various levels of the strength of intention to purchase and market segment profi les.