The role of the new ecological paradigm scale on the willingness to pay and willingness to wait for e-commerce deliveries

Amidst the rise of e-commerce, understanding the interplay between consumer behaviors and environmental considerations has become pivotal. This study examines how environmental awareness impacts e-commerce consumers’ preferences for sustainable versus express delivery options. To contribute to the literature in this field, we investigate the behaviors of a sample of 299 e-commerce consumers, particularly in light of growing environmental concerns. Leveraging the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEPS), we compute an ecological score, offering a comprehensive insight into its influence on varied consumer decisions. Principal Component Analysis of the NEPS items reveals that the first four components account for nearly 50% of the variance, highlighting significant dimensions of environmental perspectives. Additionally, Cronbach’s alpha analysis indicates that the NEPS scale is reliable and has good internal consistency, justifying the use of a summated scale to reflect overall ecological positioning. We then contrast two primary delivery types: sustainable and express. The key metrics under scrutiny include the willingness to wait and the willingness to pay for sustainable delivery and willingness to pay for express delivery. Our findings affirm that NEPS affects positively willingness to pay and willingness to wait for sustainable delivery and negatively WTP for express delivery.