The Impact of Consumers’ Green Skepticism on the Purchase of Energy-Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Products

Abstract

Interest in and acquisition of energy-efficient items and pro-environmental products and the scale of these purchases depend on consumer attitudes, especially those related to beliefs that such products are usually more expensive than their nonenergy-efficient counterparts. However, green skepticism is a phenomenon that weakens the willingness to buy both energy-efficient and pro-environmental products. This skepticism is enhanced by the phenomenon of greenwashing, which has become a popular way of competing, whereby companies strive to appear to be more environmentally friendly than they are. Therefore, we wanted to investigate consumer attitudes toward energy-efficient products and environmentally friendly purchases. We conducted a survey using a computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) technique throughout Poland. The research sample included 1000 individuals and was representative of gender, age, and place of residence. The results of our study showed that women, people with a higher education, and people in better financial situations accept higher prices for products that do not cause environmental damage. Moreover, willingness to pay higher prices for products that do not cause environmental damage correlates negatively with a negative assessment of producers’ social responsibility and with a negative assessment of consumers’ social responsibility. We proposed theoretical and practical implications.

The influence of skepticism on the university Millennials’ organic food product purchase intention

“…In fact, skeptical consumers may unconsciously give up opportunities to help the environment by purchasing truly organic products (Bursan et al, 2022). For this reason, companies continually offer products in compliance with environmental standards to attract the attention of ecological consumers (Zarei and Maleki, 2017;Kreczma nska-Gigol and Gigol, 2022). However, people's distrust of the environmental benefits mentioned on product labels leads to ecological communication efforts that organizations sometimes go unnoticed (Zhang et al, 2020).…”

Is scepticism a barrier to green purchase behaviour? Testing a comprehensive model in the Indian context

“…The results of a recent meta-analysis emphasized that consumer behaviour is influenced by personal attitude (Zaremohzzabieh et al , 2021; Zhuang et al , 2021). However, consumer scepticism is one of the critical antecedents which drives the motive and develops an attitude toward green purchase (Bali et al , 2022; Deb et al , 2021; Farooq and Wicaksono, 2021; Hendy and Sutikno, 2015; Leonidou and Skarmeas, 2017; Zarei and Maleki, 2018). Few attempts to investigate the causes and consequences of green scepticism (GS) were evident (Bali et al , 2022; Leonidou and Skarmeas, 2017), but they needed more in the Indian context.…”

“…However, consumer scepticism is one of the critical antecedents which drives the motive and develops an attitude toward green purchase (Bali et al , 2022; Deb et al , 2021; Farooq and Wicaksono, 2021; Hendy and Sutikno, 2015; Leonidou and Skarmeas, 2017; Zarei and Maleki, 2018). Few attempts to investigate the causes and consequences of green scepticism (GS) were evident (Bali et al , 2022; Leonidou and Skarmeas, 2017), but they needed more in the Indian context. For instance, Leonidou and Skarmeas (2017) comment that consumers’ scepticism increases “information search”, but Bali et al (2022) found that consumer scepticism diminishes the credibility of advertising messages, i.e.…”

“…Few attempts to investigate the causes and consequences of green scepticism (GS) were evident (Bali et al , 2022; Leonidou and Skarmeas, 2017), but they needed more in the Indian context. For instance, Leonidou and Skarmeas (2017) comment that consumers’ scepticism increases “information search”, but Bali et al (2022) found that consumer scepticism diminishes the credibility of advertising messages, i.e. information utility.…”

The Influence of Social Crowding on Consumers’ Preference for Green Products

“…Previous literature mainly focus on individual factors influencing the decision and perception of green consumption ( Kautish and Sharma, 2019a ). For example, demographic variables ( Chekima et al, 2016 ; Sreen et al, 2018 ), consumer personality ( Lu et al, 2015 ), past consumption experience ( Kumar et al, 2017 ), pro-social self-concept ( Johnson et al, 2018 ), a desire for status ( Griskevicius et al, 2010 ), environmental awareness ( Kautish et al, 2019 ), political orientation ( Watkins et al, 2016 ), terminal value and instrumental value ( Kautish and Sharma, 2018 , 2019b ; Kautish et al, 2020 ), green skepticism ( Kreczmańska-Gigol and Gigol, 2022 ), cosmopolitanism, global self-identity ( Khare and Kautish, 2020 ) and so on. Few studies explore the effect of contextual factors on consumers’ buying of green products.…”