Toward Green Consumption: What Makes Us Care?

TOWARD GREEN CONSUMPTION: WHAT MAKES US CARE?
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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction...............................................................................................................................5
2.0Literature Review......................................................................................................................8
2.1 Overview of Green Consumption..........................................................................................8
2.2 Global Perspective of Green Consumption...........................................................................9
2.3 Factors influencing green packaging across the globe:.......................................................10
2.4 The trend of Green Consumption in the United Arab Emirates..........................................11
2.5 Existing issues faced by UAE:............................................................................................12
2.6 Motivational Approach towards Green Consumption.........................................................13
2.7 Planned Behaviour Theory..................................................................................................16
2.8 Strategic initiatives applied by the UAE government:........................................................20
3.0 Problem Definition.................................................................................................................21
4.0 Study Hypotheses...................................................................................................................22
4.1 Hypothesis Overview..........................................................................................................22
4.2 Conceptual Framework.......................................................................................................22
5.0 Study Methodology................................................................................................................24
5.1 Research Design..................................................................................................................24
5.2 Data Collection Method......................................................................................................24
5.3 Data Analysis Plan..............................................................................................................25
5.4 Sampling Frame..................................................................................................................25
6.0 Initial References....................................................................................................................26
Appendix:.....................................................................................................................................32
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1.0 Introduction
It is evident that the consumption rate of world’s resources is way out of the
recommended levels. Neither governments, organizations, nor citizens could igonre this reality.
Environmental concerns have pushed organizations and governments to shift their focus to use
biodegradable materials. Hamerman et al. (2017) note that climate change and other
sustainability issues of global interest has pushed global economies to come to an agreement
that there is need to contain the consumption levels that have negatively impacted the eco-
system. Individual need to be aware and pushed toward more responsible behvior or “
environmentally friendly” when it comes to consumption.
Green consumption is part of a sustainable consumer behavior. It represent the
consumer responsibility for resent environmental problems and taking the needs of their
descendants and next generation into consideration as well through the adoption of several
attitudes and behaviors such as: the consumption and use of organic products, clean and renue
and efficient use of energy, purchasing products of zero impact companies, recycling of
materials, protection of environment and preservation of species.The Green consumer behavior
also is known as the pro-environment behavior of people concerns with a kind of resource
utilization tendency, which would have little or no adverse impact on nature. Past studies have
suggested that the pro-environment behavior of consumers can have two spheres of construct
namely ‘Private-sphere’ and ‘Public-sphere’. The former refers to the purchasing, utilizing and
discarding of products for household and personal usage, impacting the environment(Axsen et
al. 2012). Whereas the latter corresponds to behaviors that can have direct effects on nature
manifesting through devoted environmental activism, restoration on nature by being a part of an
organization and influencing government policies through petitions on issues.
Green consumerism in the broader society can be established through individual actions
and change of perception. For this purpose, an individual must act ethically, not stimulated
solely on personal needs and preferences but, by preserving the well-being of the society and be
accountable for the environmental consequences as a result of the actions taken in everyday life.
Researchers even argue that the act of Green consumption does not limit only to the consume
organic food and choosing zero impact products, but extends to efficient energy utilization,
environment-friendly organic apparels, rejuvenating nature and spreading the awareness among
other members of the society too (Bailey & Caprotti, 2014).
Contrary to this aspect, surveys conducted in the European Union during 2013 have
shown that of the 80% of citizens that buy green products only 26% are regular buyers.
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Thisimplies that people are not aware of the noteworthiness of Green consumerism and opt for it
not as a change in behavior but as an impetuous decision in most of the cases. The reluctance in
consumer behavior could be a result of economic and market constraints. It is a fact that organic
products are much high-priced than the non-organic products. At the same time, the green-
retailer are scarce and the organizations that produce and market organic goods in various
categories are not very widespread (Harbo et al. 2017). Multitude of such factors pose a
significant challenge in moulding consumer behavior towards Green consumption and
marketing.
This paper reviewsthe literature on green consumption behavior and the motivational
approach towards green consumerism with a focus on the social environment and individual
decision making using the theory of planned behavior TPB as theoritical background to predict
and explain the green consumption behavior among consumers in the United Arab
Emirates.TPB can be used to explain the behavioral self-efficacy of the consumer to undertake
the actions required to establish the mechanism of Green Consumerism. At the same time, the
theory can explain the expectancy of the consumers of UAE towards the outcomes and the
positive effects of such a behavioral change in regards to Green consumption.
The perceived behavioral control as explained in the theoretical model is a strength that
can be used to establish a relationship between the intention of a consumer regarding sustainable
habits, and actually undertaking such behavior in practice. However, the limitation of this theory
as criticized by many scholars is the exclusion of ‘need’ of the consumer to take an action. Need
can significantly affect the change of behavior despite the intentions or underlying behavioral
efficacy of the consumer in regards to a pro-Green consumption attitude(Hargreaves, 2011).
Nonetheless, the application of TPB in health and nutrition related behavior can be a strong tool
in the present context.
Establishing policies and increasing awareness on various environmental issues and
problems has led to a change in consumers attitudes towards a green lifestyle and purchases.
Over the last few years as a part of United Arab Emirates vision 2021, the government with the
help of private sector have outlined plans for long-term sustainable environmental issues
(infrastructure, trasportation and energy). Some of those projects are The Royal ‘Green’
Decree,Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Ecological Footprint Initiative,
Estidamaregulations,Green Building Code and Masdar City. Soon more plans will be annonced
for additional sustainable projects. That resulted in increasing consumer concern with regards to
green products to ensure sustainability of resources.
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Nowadays, consumers in United Arab Emirates should shift to show higher interests
with environmentally friendly products. Consumers have a critical role to play in environmental
protection and there are a significant increase of green product awareness among consumers in
many industries. Companies should understand the underling factors that motivate consumers to
adopt a green behavior in order to be able to successfully develop and sell green brands.
A very few studies addressed the subject of green consompation the United Arab Emirates. The
purpose of this research is to analyse the green consiciouness of consumers and the way it
affects their purchasing behavior. Particularly, the present study builds on the well established
theory of planned behavior and propose and test a theoretical model of the potential factors that
may explain green consumption behavior among UAE consumers.
The following sections provide a brief literature review, problem definition and study
methodology.
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2.0Literature Review
2.1 Overview of Green Consumption
The notion of Green Consumption is directly related to concepts like sustainable development or
sustainable customer behaviour according to a study done by Elliott (2013). It is a kind of
consumption pattern that is in agreement with the environmental protection for the existing and
future generations. The idea of 'Green Consumption' attributes with customers' responsibility or
co-accountability for dealing with environment-based challenges while adopting eco-friendly
measures as opined by Bleda and Valente (2008). This can be done by using organic goods,
renewable energy sources, and looking for products that have minimal or zero environmental
impact. In Western countries, in the 1960 and 1970, the requirement to safeguard the
environment and the population wellbeing from the impacts caused by industrial wastes has
originated this newfound idea of 'Green Consumption'. In accordance with the study of Peattie
(2010), in the 1980 first US 'green' products started to launch in the market and exploded the
global marketplace. In 1990, green brands had a slow and moderate growth, remaining a niche
trend. US interest in green brands begun to rise again in early 2000 with improved speed and,
irrespective of the current financial crisis, it has been growing at a constant rate.
This literature review highlights the conceptual framework of the research . Thus it
contains the expectations, assumptions, theories, and systems of concepts that support the
research. The review is therefore thorough as it combs major literaturethat tries to expound on
green consumerism. This review is not only descriptive but digs deeper to bring out the need for
research and information about green consumerism and the “motivation approach” towards
green consumption. The review highlights issues with previous research and shade light on
critical questions that have not been sufficiently dealt with in past literature. It, therefore,
constructs an argument of how the study will make a valuable contribution to the knowledge of
motivation approach towards green consumerism in the United Arab Emirates.
Green consumption values and responses to environmentally friendly products has been
a challenge for most governments and policymakers. Jacopo et al. (2018) note that the
challenge being faced by government and pressure group in motivating citizens to adopt green
consumption behavior is due to a number of reasons, among them the fact that while
governments gather resources to educate and inform its citizens on the benefits of green
consumerism and its positive impact on the environment, other marketing and profit-oriented
organizations continue to promote a materialistic and unsustainable lifestyle that leads to
overconsumption of available resources. This culture of over-consumption has a negative impact
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on the environment and detrimental to the gains made in conserving the environment through
Green consumerism.
However, Souriet al (2018) posits that widespread campaigns on the advantages of
conserving the environment has gain traction over the years.This, in turn, has led some
consumers to reduce their level of consumption and make more sensible decisions that favor
green consumption behavior. Moreover, the rise of postmodern movement which champions for
environment conservation has pushed consumers to become socially conscious and attempt to
make it their moral obligation to conserve the environment by adopting green consumption
behavior.
On the other hand, it should also be noted that green consumption should be well aligned
with that of the concept of sustainability. This is due to the reason that green consumption
process will not be effective enough if it is not sustainable in nature. According to Murray
(2013), trend of green consumption will be more among the targeted customers only when it is
sustainable in nature. In this case, the concept of sustainability is focused with the return and
interest of the customers. Thus, as per the authors, if the customers are not having positive
returns from the green consumption, then the concept will not be succeed. It is concluded by the
authors that even though the concept of green consumption is part of attaining sustainability but
the concept itself should provide some sort of value proposition for the customers. This will
ensure the larger effectiveness of green consumption.
It is stated by Yang et al., (2015) that green consumption also refers to lower level of
exploitation of the natural resources. This is due to the reason that with the help of the concept
of the green consumption, the rate of using of natural resources will get down along with the
reduction in the generation of wastages. The less will be the wastage of the natural resources,
the more will be the sustainability of the concept of green consumption. In addition, it is also
being stated by the authors that larger coverage of green consumption concept will ensure that it
will have more possibilities in the long term.
2.2 Global Perspective of Green Consumption
Green consumption has become a prominent strategy to move towards eco-friendly
societies and combat poverty at the global level. Where earlier environmentalist groups
considered surplus consumption as central to the dilemma, green consumerism now puts
consumption pattern at the centre of the solution (Haws, Winterich, and Naylor, 2014). On the
other hand, Haller et al (2017) opine that green and sustainable consumption are also imperative
to maintain the class distinction. Considering the global standpoint, the challenge of ‘green
consumption' emerged first time as a central issue in 1992 at the UN Conference on
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Environment and Growth. After ten years, at the Worldwide Summit on Sustainable Growth in
Johannesburg, the global community was invited to enhance international living conditions and
to 'support and advocate the development of a 10-year framework of initiatives on 'Green
Consumption and Production' in favour of local and nationwide programs to increase the speed
towards green consumption as reported by Elliott (2013) in his study on green consumption.
The global outlook for green consumption refers to the use of products and services that respond
actively to fundamental needs and yield an improved lifestyle, whilst minimising the
consumption of natural assets, harmful materials and releases of wastage and other lethal
elements over the product lifecycle, so as not to jeopardize the need of upcoming generations as
evident in the study of Gilg, Barr and Ford (2005).
Green Consumption involves businesses, governments, societies, and customers
contributing actively to preserve natural surroundings by means of effective production and use
of natural assets and the optimisation of goods and services. The World Business Council for
Sustainable DevelopmentWBCSD (1997) recognises the need for global companies to assume a
leadership role in supporting 'green' patterns of production and utilisation that cater to social
demands within environmental limitations. Organisations can work towards such objectives
through socially responsible ecological management, improved competitive strength and cost-
effective operations. The Green Development Strategy implemented by the European Council in
2006 integrated the task of formulating an action plan for 'green' production and consumption
across Europe (WBCSD, 2008). This action program considers using innovative measures
through quality leadership and global networks; leveraging dynamic performance requirements,
sustainability level, environment friendly design tools, and standardisation to bring about the
production of 'green' products; initiatives to promote cleaner production procedures. Moreover,
the action plan allowed the businesses to work in the best interest of international markets that
support first-movers who support sustainable products and green consumption patterns.
Present global consumption patterns seem unsustainable. Based on the emerging trends,
it is becoming perceptible that efficiency gains and technological advancements alone would not
be enough to bring global consumption to a sustainable degree; changeovers would also be
needed to customer lifestyles, together with the manners in which they prefer and utilize
products and services according to a study done by Peattie (2010). To deal with the challenge of
'green consumption', global leaders can assist to promote more sustainable and green levels of
consumption across different industrial sectors. There is a great opportunity for global leaders to
support customers decide and consume their products in a 'green' manner (Gilg, Barr and Ford,
2005). In order to perform so, it is essential for global companies to generate sustainable value
for customers by offering goods and services that cater their functional and psychological
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