Environmental Knowledge and Green Purchase Intention and Behavior in China: The Mediating Role of Moral Obligation

The increasing global focus on environmental sustainability has led to a growing emphasis on green purchase behavior. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is one of the classical theories used to understand individual green purchase behavior from the perspective of psychology. Data are collected through an online survey, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) method is employed for analysis. The research findings demonstrate that consumers’ green purchase intention and environmental knowledge significantly and positively influence green purchase behavior. Moreover, moral obligation plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between green purchase intention and green purchase behavior, as well as in the relationship between environmental knowledge and green purchase behavior. By incorporating moral obligation and environmental knowledge into the TPB framework, this study advances the theoretical understanding of the drivers of green purchase behavior. Furthermore, this study reveals that green purchase intention, compared to environmental knowledge, exerts a greater influence on promoting consumers’ green purchase behavior. This finding underscores the crucial role of consumers’ internal motivation in driving sustainable choice. This study offers valuable implications for the design of green marketing strategies and have the potential to promote environmentally sustainable consumption behavior, thereby contributing to the global sustainability efforts.