BELA FLORENTHAL, PH.D.ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MARKETING

&PRISCILLA A . ARLING, PH.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MIS

COLLEGE OF BUSINESSBUTLER UNIVERSITY

Do Consumers with Green Lifestyles Appreciate Green Attributes of Low

Involvement Products?

Research Purpose

Are all green products valued equally by consumers? Do low involvement green products appeal to consumers

with green lifestyle?

Are green attributes important to consumers with green lifestyles when choosing a low involvement product?

Is the relationship between green lifestyle and behavior mediated by green attitude toward the product?

Why calendar purchases were chosen as the product category? Recently consumers have looked more for calendars that

reflect their personal preferences

Proposed Framework

Relates four concepts in the context of low involvement product category (a calendar):

Green activities in everyday life

Importance of green attributes in a gift calendar

Importance of green attributes when buying a calendar

GreenLifestyle

GreenAttitude

Green Behavior

Gender

Demographics

Income

Theoretical Background & Hypotheses

Demographics & Green Lifestyle: Studies show that women are more likely to consume

healthier products, pay more attention to nutrition, and practice healthier diets (Divine and Lepisto 2005). H1: Women are more inclined to practice every day

green activities than men.

Consumption of healthier food (e.g., fruits and vegetables) has been positively associated with a higher income segment (Divine and Lepisto 2005). H2: Higher income consumers are more inclined to

practice every day green activities than lower income consumers.

Theoretical Background & Hypotheses

Green lifestyle & Green Attitude: Green lifestyle has been conceptualized in several ways:

health-related and/or environment-related activities, values, and perceptions (Divine and Lepisto 2005; Fraj and Martinez 2006).

Green lifestyle can be also viewed as everyday green activities (Divine and Lepisto 2005).

Green lifestyle has been related to product specific attitudes (Dembkowski and Hanmer-Lloyd 1994; Laroche et al. 2001) H3: Consumers who practice every day green activities

will value green attributes in a gift calendar.

Theoretical Background & Hypotheses

Green Attitude & Green Behavior: Positive attitudes toward green attributes are also

strengthened when individuals exhibit willingness for personal sacrifice and perceive an ecological relevance to their individual actions (Dembkowski and Hanmer-Lloyd 1994).

Product specific green attitudes will influence environmentally conscious purchases and consumptions (Dembkowski and Hanmer-Lloyd, 1994) H4: Consumers that value green attributes in a gift

calendar will perceive green attributes as important when buying a calendar.

Methodology

Questionnaires was designed based on exploratory research and were administered in-person via paper and pencil. Green Lifestyle: ‘actual commitment’ dimension of

Maloney and Ward’s (1973) ecological scale was used Green Attitude: singe-item measured the importance

of receiving a gift calendar printed on environmentally friendly paper

Green Behavior: singe-item measured choosing a calendar with green or environmental features

Sample Characteristics

Survey data were collected from 101 college graduates from both private (33%) and public (67%) universities.

Demographics: 49% married 48% live in a two member household 46% earn between $60,000 and $120,000

Analysis and Results

Two-step structural equation model was used (Anderson and Gerbing 1988): Nested model tested the fit of the hypothesized framework RSMEA = 0.00, GFI = 0.94, AGFI = 0.90, NFI = 0.90

GreenLifestyle

Income

Gender

GreenAttitude

GreenBehavior

0.24(2.23)

0.20(2.49)

0.67(5.64)

0.36(3.29)

0.48(4.49)

Analysis and Results

Relationship Argument Hypothesis ResultsDemographics and Green Lifestyle

Women are more inclined to practice every day green activities than men.

Higher income consumers are more inclined to practice every day green activities than lower income consumers.

H1

H2

Not Supported

Supported

Green Lifestyle and Green Attitude

Consumers who practice every day green activities will value green attributes in a gift calendar.

H3 Supported

Green Attitude and Green Behavior

Consumers that value green attributes in a gift calendar will perceive green attributes as important when buying a calendar.

H4 Supported

Conclusions

Green lifestyle varies by income: Higher income was related to greener lifestyle

Green attitude varied by gender: Females were more prone to care about green attributes of

a gift calendar than males Probably based on product category

Green attitude partially mediated the relationship between green lifestyle and green behavior May result from using a low involvement products domain

(calendars)

Managerial Implications

Developing promotions to strengthen attitudes of green lifestyle consumers toward these products will help in the purchasing decision

Companies with low involvement products should target high income green lifestyle consumers

These companies should also target their promotions more attentively toward the female segment in particular, with decorative low involvement products

Limitations

Sampling: Non-probability convenience method Geographic areas were not controlled

Measures: Two single-item measures

Product category: Only one low-involvement was tested

Demographic variables: Only two variables were tested

Thank you