Predictors of young consumer’s green purchase behaviour

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors that predict green purchase behaviour of young educated consumers in Delhi. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was carried out on a sample of 1,502 young educated consumers. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the predictive power of considered variables towards green purchasing. Findings – Results indicate that the variables under study predicted green purchase behaviour of young educated consumers of Delhi in the following descending order: social influence, attitude towards green purchase, perceived environmental knowledge, recycling participation, ecolabelling and exposure to environmental messages through the media. Research limitations/implications – The sample considered in the study was restricted to Delhi only. Further, the predictive power of only a few variables was examined. Practical implications – The paper identifies key predictors of consumers’ green purchase behaviour, enabling practitioners to understand which factors influence young educated consumers in their decision making regarding green purchases. This knowledge will help marketing managers design effective strategies to encourage green purchase behaviour among such consumers. Social implications – Policy makers and government organizations may use the findings of this study to run awareness campaigns for disseminating information and promoting green purchase behaviour among larger sections of society. Such initiatives may help in minimizing the negative consequences of irresponsible consumption practices on environment and society. Originality/value – The present study is the first which applies reciprocal deterministic theory to predict green purchase behaviour of educated young consumers in India. Moreover, this is the first study to investigate the influence of consumers’ exposure to environmental messages through the media on their green purchase behaviour.