Materialistic values and green apparel purchase intention among young Vietnamese consumers

Purpose Nowadays, the issues related to pro-environmental, sustainable and green consumption behaviors are attracting significant attention from both scholars and practitioners. However, in the context of emerging countries, less research effort has been invested in this topic, especially in investigating young consumer purchase behavior. The purpose of this study is to investigate factors driving young adult Vietnamese consumers’ purchase intention toward green apparel products with emphasis on the role of materialistic values. Design/methodology/approach In this research, a conceptual framework is proposed integrating the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model with an important consumer value, materialism. To test the research model and hypotheses, a survey of a sample of 245 young adults (under 25 years old) was conducted in Hanoi, the capital city and one of the two most populous cities in Vietnam. All the scales used in this study were established in the literature, and the scales’ reliability and validity were assessed through Cronbach’s alpha and confirmatory factor analysis. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the proposed model and hypotheses. Findings In this study, six hypotheses were tested and five out of six received support from the data. Specifically, the results of SEM showed that all three antecedents from the TPB model (i.e. attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control) were positive contributors to green apparel purchase intention, of which subjective norms were found to be the most influential predictor of purchase intention. With regard to the roles of the three components of materialism, the findings provided empirical evidence for supporting the positive impact of “success” and the negative impact of “centrality” on the attitude toward green apparel purchase, while “happiness” component was not found to have a significant impact on attitude. In this study, income as a control variable was found to be positively related to purchase intention toward green apparel products. Originality/value There is a little research on the relationship between specific values and environment-friendly behaviors, especially in the context of emerging economies such as Vietnam. In addition, it has been suggested that the relationship between materialistic values and green purchase behavior is still unclear. Thus, it is important to have a deeper understanding of the role of materialistic values in green apparel purchase among young adult consumers in the context of Vietnam, an Asian emerging country where only modest research effort has been given to explore this important topic.