The Impact of Eco-Label on the Young Chinese Generation: The Mediation Role of Environmental Awareness and Product Attributes in Green Purchase

Abstract

Environmental surroundings are highly shaped by consumer choice. Eco-label has been discussed as an effective tool for promoting such environmental product information from the producer to the consumer in relevant literature; however, the young generation has seldom been examined in previous research. Additionally, studies on the structural process of eco-label’s impact on green purchase remain limited, especially the mediation effects within the process. Regarding this research gap, the current study empirically tested the effects of eco-label on product attributes, environmental attitude, environmental concern and consequent purchase behavior from the young Chinese generation perspective. The intermediary role of product attribute is first investigated in the labeling-driven purchase, and the environmental attitude and concern are tested respectively to better understand the young generation’s awareness, compared to previous relevant studies. Based on the appropriate sample collection (N = 699), a structural equation model (SEM) was used, and results statistically showed the impact of eco-label mediated by product attributes on environmental attitude and environmental concern, and how green purchase behavior was influenced through this process significantly. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are also discussed in this study.

Food Purchasing Decisions and Environmental Ideology: An Exploratory Survey of UK Shoppers

“…An eco-label serves as an immediate cue to the consumer that a product has environmental credentials allowing environmentally motivated consumers to choose apposite foodstuffs without having to read the small print on the label. Indeed eco-labels have been shown to have a direct impact on consumer perceptions of a product's attributes [35]. Furthermore, in the context of purchases of environmentally labelled products (animal welfare, food quality and organic), consumer knowledge of value-based-labels has been shown to be important in guiding consumer purchasing decisions [36].…”

The Sacred Power of Beauty: Examining the Perceptual Effect of Buddhist Symbols on Happiness and Life Satisfaction in China

“…The theory of semiology has been studied as a fundamentally non-verbal tool and approach to communicating human knowledge [42][43][44]. Symbols, as one main category of the symbolic sign system, can signify a specific meaning shaped in society [45].…”

How Chinese Consumers’ Intentions for Purchasing Eco-Labeled Products Are Influenced by Psychological Factors

“…According to corresponding researches, there are many factors that can have an influence on consumers' green purchasing behaviors. For consumers, these factors can be divided into internal factors and external factors, of which external factors include influences from the government, the enterprise, and the news media [38,41], and the internal factors include the demographics factors and psychological factors [17,42].…”

“…Though it has been a consensus that eco-labeling schemes are helpful for making a change towards more eco-friendly consumption patterns [15,16], eco-labels could be effective only if they have actual effects on consumer's decision-making process [17]. With regard to researches about influential factors of consumers' purchasing intentions for eco-labeled products in developed countries and some developing countries, many researchers have proved that environmental awareness plays an important role when consumers purchase eco-labeled products [8,[18][19][20].…”