Green Marketing: A Study of Consumers’ Attitude towards Environment Friendly Products

This study explores the concept of green marketing and the relationship between consumer attitudes and green marketing. It covers the overall brand of marketing activities undertaken by companies in a manner that they promote manufacture of products which have a positive impact on environment or alternatively reduce negative impact on the environment.

Asian Social Science; Vol. 8, No. 12; 2012
ISSN 1911-2017 E-ISSN 1911-2025
Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education
117
Green Marketing: A Study of Consumers’ Attitude towards
Environment Friendly Products
Jacob Cherian1 & Jolly Jacob2
1 Department of Management, College of Business Administration, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2 Department of Applied Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Correspondence: Jolly Jacob, Department of Applied Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Abu Dhabi
University, Abu Dhabi, UAE. E-mail: [e-mail]
Received: June 13, 2012 Accepted: July 3, 2012 Online Published: September 20, 2012
doi:10.5539/ass.v8n12p117 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v8n12p117
Abstract
Increasing awareness on the various environmental problems has led a shift in the way consumers go about their
life. There has been a change in consumer attitudes towards a green lifestyle. People are actively trying to reduce
their impact on the environment. However, this is not widespread and is still evolving. Organizations and
business however have seen this change in consumer attitudes and are trying to gain an edge in the competitive
market by exploiting the potential in the green market industry. The current study introduces the concept of green
marketing and looks into the various ways in which the different consumer attributes are related to the concept of
green marketing. A conceptual framework is presented and the information is analyzed on the basis of the
framework.
Keywords: green marketing, green products, consumer attitude
1. Introduction
Today the concept of sustainability is almost ubiquitous by showing application in corporate strategy, consumer
choice, student education and academic research. The need for sustainable business practices by corporations
around the world is identified to be a result of overall increase in the consumer awareness of lack of
environmental protection and social inequities. Over the last decade environmentalism has emerged to be a vital
aspect due to increasing issues related to acid rains, depletion of the ozone layer, and degradation of the land and
many more pressing environmental issues. This resulted in increase in consumer concern with regards to
restoration of ecological balance by presenting demands for eco friendly products in countries around the world
(Doyle 1992; Vandermerwe and Oliff 1990). The research on environmental consumerism is a well researched
topic with the first research dating back to the 1970s (Henion and Kinnear, 1976). There has been extensive
growth in interest exhibited by marketing academics as well as practitioners with regard to the impact of
marketing on promoting and maintaining ecological balance (Chammaro et al., 2009; Bhattacharya, 2011). There
is a great deal of depletion of non renewable energy resources which accompanied by generation of non bio
degradable pollutants has lead to an increase in consumer and corporate awareness of green marketing issues.
The growth of green marketing research dates back to 1980s when there was emergence of concept of green
marketing. Early literature indicates green marketing to be an approach which indicated signs of shift in consumer
attention to green product. At that time green marketing research concentrated on the shift in consumer
consumption of green products. There was a great deal of empirical research carried out to identify interest among
consumers in using and purchasing green products (Mintel 1991). Green marketing approach was researched from
a corporate interest point of view in the early 90s. Research indicated that 92% of MNCs from Europe changed
their products to address growing concerns of environmental pollution. (Vandermerwe and Oliff, 1990). Green
marketing research has come a long way since then. Consumers from the developed countries including USA and
Western Europe were found to be more conscious about the environment (Curlo, 1999). Research in the last decade
(Lee, 2009, Rahbar and Wahid, 2011, Lee 2008; D Souza 2004) has indicated that consumer are aware and are
willing to pay more to "go green". There is limited research which has examined the impact of green marketing on
consumers from emerging economies like India (Bhattacharya, 2011; Prakash, 2002).
Most of the studies related to green consumerism have been conducted in well developed countries. It is to be

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acknowledged that when considered from a developing country context there is a lack in number of studies. It is
against this backdrop from the above discussion it is quite clear that there is a large research gap in terms
conceptually identifying those areas of consumer awareness impacting the concept of green marketing.
1.1 Aims
The main objective of the current study is to understand the concept of Green marketing and to review some of
the studies that have dealt with the concept of Green marketing and to identify the relationship between the
various consumer attitudes and green marketing.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Green Marketing and Green consumers
Environmental marketing, more popularly known as green marketing or sustainable marketing can be defined as
the effort by a company to design, promote, price and distribute products in a manner which promotes
environmental protection (Polonsky, 2011). Green marketing has be defined as 'all activities designed to generate
and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants such that the satisfaction of these needs
and wants occurs, with minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment' by Polonsky (2011).
In this paper, green marketing covers the overall brand of marketing activities undertaken by companies in a
manner that they promote manufacture of products which have a positive impact on environment or alternatively
reduce negative impact on the environment. Today green marketing is a vital component of marketing research
which began due to increasing media exposure and pressure on firms to present eco friendly behaviour. The
growth in green marketing over the years has been promoted by adoption of product packaging and presenting to
the public these improvements. Over the years there has been a subtle shift from practicing environmental
marketing practices as a result of compulsion identified as a result of legislations and pressure from
environmental groups to genuine efforts to improve sustainable marketing plans and behaving in an eco
responsible manner (Polonsky and Rosenberger, 2001).
Consumerism can perhaps be identified as a movement which initially begun as a process which was presented
to protect consumers against practices of unethical marketing. Over time this has extended and become broader
in nature. When today's agenda with regards to consumer activism is taken into consideration it can be observed
that protection of the environment is the most vital aspect (Dono et al., 2010). There is a resultant increase in the
concern expressed towards environmental protection leading to "green consumerism" (Eriksson, 2002).
The growth of green marketing and green consumer is “perhaps the biggest opportunity for enterprise and
invention the industrial world has ever seen" (Cairncross 1992: 177). A green consumer can be identified to be
one who avoids any product which may harm damage to any living organism, cause deterioration of the
environment during process of manufacturing or during process of usage, consume a large amount of non
renewable energy , involves unethical testing on animals or human subjects (Elkington, 1994).
There have been a number of different factors which are instrumental in promoting green consumers to purchase
green products. Extensive research over the years identify that heightened awareness of green issues; increased
level of information availability on environmental sustenance; green advertising by corporations; increased
concern for the environment; increase in popularity of green products by social and environmental charities as
some factors. This overwhelming increase in the overall environmental consciousness among different consumer
profile there have been efforts undertaken by firms to "go green" by presenting the concept of corporate
environmentalism (Banerjee, 2003; Hay and Lichter 2000). Today green development are identified as
opportunities by business firms as opportunities to improve their marketing niche rather than just actions which
need to be carried out.
2.2 Global Scenario in Green Marketing
“Green’ is the buzzword that is gaining popularity among the current generation. A number of businesses right
from private entities such as Wal-Mart trying to push the concept of organic food to public entities like the
London governments congestion charge are all aimed at improving the environment by promoting ‘Green’
products and issues. 87% of people from various nations like Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, the
UK and the US have shown an interest in reducing their impact on the environment, according to a survey by
(McKinsey, 2007). However, showing interest and actually acting on the interest are two different deeds. This
fact is proved by a survey that was conducted on a global scale, which was repeated in 2008 with the help of
BBC World, which showed that not a lot of people were actually doing something to move their lifestyle to a
green lifestyle.

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The overall market for green marketing is said to be worth $ 3.5 trillion by the year 2017, according to a report
by Global Industry Analysts Inc. of 2011. The report also states that increasing awareness about the
environmental issues among the people, businesses and the governments is one of the main reasons for such
market potential. Another research study by Mintel, clearly showed that 12% of the American population
actively sought green products.
There is a growing need to switch over to green products and services by both marketers and consumers. Even
though the shift to ‘green’ will be expensive to both the consumers as well as businesses, it will most definitely
pay off in the long run. There are a number of literatures that focus on various aspects related to green marketing
and also delves into the various inter relationships between the customers attitudes and environmental strategies
in relation to the organizations use of marketing. Environmental issues are addressed in green marketing efforts.
The core idea of green marketing is to create awareness among people on the environmental issues and how
consumers would be helping the environment if they switch over to green products. Thus green marketing aims
to provide more information to people and also gives those more choices to switch over to green lifestyle.
According to (Rex and Baumann, 2007), those aspects will spur businesses to develop more products from an
environmentally friendly perspective. Green marketing is a part of marketing and therefore shares a number of
aspects with traditional marketing such as price, promotions, products and place. Even green marketing requires
that businesses develop and maintain a strong relationship with all their suppliers, their market intermediaries
and significantly with the consumers, according to (Chan et al., 2012). A number of businesses have
begun committing themselves to making their entire operation more environmentally friendly. Thus corporations
are becoming more aware of their responsibilities towards the environment. This has forced the law makers,
environment groups, consumers, financial institution, insurers and the organization's own employees to become
more aware of environmental aspects and this in turn has led to an increase in the number of policies and
schemes and regulations at both the national and international levels.
2.3 The Attitude-Behavior Link
It has always been believed by consumer behaviorists that an individual’s actions can be predicted by their
attitudes. There have been a number of attempts to improve the ability to predict an individual’s actions and a
variety of factors have also been suggested to involve factors which can be classified as either dispositional or
situational. Spruyt (2007) indicate that prediction of behaviour is directly dependent on attitude of the consumer
which is found to be associated with knowledge and personal experience they have (Davidson et al., 1985). The
impact of beliefs and attitude on consumer buying habits has been studied extensively (Fazio and Zanna 1981;
Ajzen 1989).
Furthermore research in this area has indicated that if attitudes are to be used in predicting the consumers
behavior’s then there are a number of methodological issues that have to be sorted out. According to (Ajzen and
Fishbein, 1977), behavior and attitudes have to be measured at the same correspondence level.
There are a number of theories that have been put forth to explain the process by which attitudes predict behavior.
According to (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980, p. 5), theory of reasoned action, “people consider the implications of
their actions before they decide to engage or not engage in a given behavior”. Thus according to the above theory,
people’s attitudes play a significant role when it comes to their forming an intention to act in a certain behavior.
The model primarily argues that people engage in processing that leads to the formation of attitudes, norms and
intentions prior to performing the behavior.
However, the theory of reasoned action is not the only theory that deals with people’s attitudes and behaviors.
Fazio (1986), proposed another theory in which he states that “attitudes guide behavior through an automatic and
spontaneous process instead of a deliberate one as argued by the earlier two theories”. Furthermore Fazio (1989)
also stated certain conditions in which behaviors and attitudes will be consistent. They are:
When the attitude influences perception. Thus when an individual forms a favorable (or unfavorable) attitude
towards an object then the object will automatically be seen as one that has many favorable (or unfavorable)
characteristics to the individual.
the attitude is accessed spontaneously by the mere presence of the object
In spite of the presence of theories that aid in prediction of behaviors from an individuals attitude, when it comes
to environmental consumerism, the predictive ability of attitude is still being debated by researchers. There have
been a number of attempts to provide a valid explanation to the presence of inconsistencies among behavior and
attitudes, effects of external variables and lack of measurement reliability and validity (Mainieri et al., 1997),
low correlations among environmental behaviors and different levels of specificity in the attitude behavior

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measures.
Previously done research studies have proven that there is no significant correlation between the pro
environmental behaviors performed by an individual (Tracy and Oskamp, 1983-1984). Thus these studies
showed that people who are into recycling may not be into carpooling. Therefore such inconsistencies exist
because researchers tend to focus on a generalized view instead of measuring a specific behavioral aspect,
according to (Mainieri et al., 1997). (Gadenne, 2011; Wulf and Schroder, 2003) recommended that in order to
predict specific behaviors the attitudes measured have to be directed at a specific environmental issue like
purchasing of green products. Furthermore, according to (Mainieri et al., 1997), the relationship between
environmental attitudes and behavior may be confounded by situational factors (social norms, other attractive
choices or economic constraints) and personal factors (knowledge, motivation or attitudes).
3. Research Methodology
The current research paper is a conceptual study in to green marketing. Therefore the researcher adopted a
qualitative research strategy. According to (Ader et al., 2008), there are no independent or dependant variables
involved in a qualitative study as a qualitative strategy is not experimental in nature. (Saunders, M, et al 2003),
states that when it comes to conceptual research, it is important to review previously done researches on the same
subject matter. A qualitative approach allows for an elastic process during which changes can be made and
incorporated into the research. The current study does adopt a purely qualitative strategy as this research involves
a dependent variable (Consumer perception of green marketing) and its impact on independent variable (attitude
and behaviour towards green consumerism).
4. Green Marketing: Consumer Attitude–Behavior Link
4.1 Consumer Attitude towards the Environment
Environmental attitude is identified as the judgment an individual has towards the protection and promotion of
the environment. Conflicting results have been published with regards to the relationship that currently exists
between attitude towards the environment and the resultant behaviour (Kotchen and Reiling, 2000). There has
been other empirical research which has concluded that the relationship is moderate at best (Davis, 1995). Green
marketing depends on the consumer’s attitude towards the environment. If there is no strong demand for such a
shift in consumer attitude, businesses will not put in the extra effort to move towards introducing green products
and services. Based on this evidence three different aspects can be arrived at in terms of identifying the
relationship between environmental attitude and behaviour:
1) Need for more specific studies identifying the relationship between attitude and behaviour.
2) Need to identify other variables which have a mediating effect on both these attributes.
4.2 Perceived Seriousness of Environmental Problems
There have been a number of studies that have dealt with the topic of perceived seriousness of environmental
problems. According to (Dunlap, 1994), most of these studies concentrated on determining the subjects view of
the problem, its seriousness and how is differs from the numerous cultures. The studies found that some of the
most common problems were air quality, sewage treatment and water quality. People living in the Asian nations
were found to be more concerned with such problems when compared to their counterparts from other Western
nations. One reason for this is that the Asian community tends to perceive their local communities in a negative
manner than their Western or European counterparts (Dunlap, 1994).
In recent times a lot of attention has been paid to the effect that mass media has on the audience’s perceived
seriousness of environmental hazards. An example of one such study is the research done by Moser and Uzzell
(2003). In that study, the authors stated that the audiences are influenced by the way the mass media interprets
the pollution levels. A study on perception of environmental risks by (Bord and O’Connor, 1997) revealed that
women were more perceptible to the risks involved in global warming and other related hazardous wastes when
compared to the males. Furthermore the study also found that women were more worried about the various
negative impacts that global warming could have on their health on their family’s health. Businesses have started
to understand consumer’s attitude towards environmental problems and have therefore started to provide ‘Green’
products/services that provide an alternative to consumers. Green marketing is done by businesses to increase
awareness levels and to show that people worried about the environment can do something to solve some of the
issues.
4.3 Perceived Environmental Responsibility
According to a study by (Lai, 2000), the citizens of Hong Kong were found to be much more literate when it

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comes to issues regarding the environmental problems over the past few years. This clearly shows that people
living in Hong Kong are more responsible when it comes to protecting their environment. However the study
also determined that even though they were more aware of the problems their sense of individual duty towards
taking corrective measures was significantly weak. On one hand they expected their government to take full
responsibility of ensuring that all environmental related issues were solved through more proactive public
policies and on the other hand they were not ready to follow through with the proposals that the government was
suggesting in a bid to improve the environmental quality (Lai, 2000). Zelezny et al. (2000) have evidenced in
their study that compared to males, females had higher levels of perceived personal responsibility towards
environmental protection.
This difference in gender when it comes to the subject of environmental responsibility is explained mostly by the
norm activation model that originated from the social psychology context (Schwartz, 1977). According to this
model, most individuals are more likely to develop a helping behavior only when they become aware of the
dangerous consequences that arise from global warming and when they actually feel responsible for their part in
perpetuating this damage to the environment. In a sense, environmental behavior carries an altruistic meaning,
whereby individuals may need to have a strong “other” orientation and willingness to sacrifice their time for
preferred activities to protect the environment for the long-term benefits of the earth and human race. According
to a study by (Gough, 1994), females tend to have a better ability to take control and take the responsibility for
alleviating problems in the world and also they are the ones who have a stronger sense of ethics.
4.4 Consumer Behavior towards Eco Labeling
One important tool of green marketing involves the promotion of eco labels on environmentally friendly
products (D Souza et al., 2006). Eco labeling is an effective measure which helps in bridging the gap between
sellers and buyers by providing information on two aspects: Information function presenting intangible quality
measures including product quality and Value function which presents the recyclability and CSR related brand
prestige (Sammer and Wustenhagen 2006). Empirical research has concentrated on the need to look for ways by
which eco labels will directly impact consumer purchase intention of products which are deemed to
environmental safe (D Souza et al., 2006; Sammer and Wu¨stenhagen 2006). There is a need to identify the
impact eco labeling will have directly on the consumer environmental attitude in terms of decision making. The
consumer awareness of eco labeling and its impact on consumer intent to purchase an eco friendly product has
been researched and conflicting views have been expressed (D Souza, 2004; Rashid 2009; Lyer 1999).
Rashid (2009) has identified that when consumers are aware of eco labels they react more positively towards
knowledge of green marketing and the purchase of green products. The research by Kuhn (1999) also adds value
to his research by identifying that the promotion of eco friendly product manufacturing will definitely help
improving a company's market share due to the ability of the company to present sustainable marketing
strategies. Conflicting view was presented by Leire and Thidell (2005) who identified that consumer awareness
of eco labeling does not necessarily lead to their green purchase decisions. This is further augmented by the
research of Bleda and Valente (2008) indicated that eco labelling schemes have been linked to negative firm
performance. D Souza (2004) on the other hand identified that there is not enough empirical evidence available
to identify the relationship between the use of eco labels on products and its ultimate impact on eco friendly
labels. The reason behind this maybe due to lack of trust among consumers (Lyer, 1999) with regards to the
effectiveness of eco labels which is result of their ignorance of the concept of eco labeling.
The reason behind this consumer cognition has not been very well understood. Overall the understood perception
is that eco labels are instruments which draw consumers by explaining their impact on the environment. The first
eco labeling scheme Blue Anger eco label was introduced in Germany and today 30 different eco labeling
methods are available. Countries in Asia have recently begun implementing labeling schemes which are uniquely
their own as seen in India, Thailand, China and Japan.
4.5 Consumer Behavior towards Environmental Advertisements
Along with the process of labeling their products, arriving at measures which promote manufacturing of eco
friendly products and reduction of environmental pollution there is a growing trend among corporations across
the world to present environmental advertisements. This process is identified to be a major factor influencing
green marketing. The main aim of presenting green advertisements is to present to the consumer that the
company is eco centric while at the same time making an effort to influence the purchase behaviour of the
consumers by presenting them with choices of availability of products which do not cause harm to the
environment and directing their attention to positive consequences of purchase behaviour. There are three
elements which form the core of environmental advertising. These include presentation of the corporation's

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mission statement with regards to environment protection, presentation of the procedures adopted by the
company to go green and finally one specific CSR activity which has been adopted by the corporation (Davis,
1994). The creation of a consumer value and the subsequent translation into purchase of products is strongly
identified by the impact of environmental advertisements (Baldwin, 1993).
As stated by Chase and Smith (1992), “environmental messages in advertisements and product labeling was
found to ‘sometimes’ influence the purchasing decisions of 70 percent of the respondent. In the same study, more
than half of the respondents indicated that they paid less attention to such messages due to excess usage, and
most respondents reported that environmental advertisements were not credible”. Chan (2004) states the main
reasons for the low perceived credibility of environmental claims in environmental advertisement. The reasons
are:
“The vague arguments to substantiate the environmental claim, the source country of the advertised product do
not bear an eco-friendly image, the manufacturer (advertiser) of the advertised product does not bear an
eco-friendly image and the alleged eco-friendliness of the advertised product does not match with the
respondent’s previous consumption experience” (p. 431).
Consumer behaviour towards pro-environmental marketing
The formation of attitude and action is found to be dependents on the development of values (Rokeach, 1973)
however the impact these may have on behaviour in a real life condition. Thoughts (cognitive function) and
feelings (affective function) are directly impacted by the attitude people show hence impacting their overall
perception of purchase related behaviour (Hoyer and MacInnis, 2004). This identifies with the idea that there is a
need to change the overall attitude consumers have towards a product thereby impacting their decision making.
This scenario will apply to a green marketing context also. If one were to consider the Theory of Reasoned
Action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) into account then it can be postulated that marketers of green products change
their method of evaluation of consumer attitude and intention to understand exactly what consumers really want.
The new beliefs and normative beliefs of consumers can be identified in this manner.
An effective brand management strategy involves a principle wherein companies convert rational reasoning to
emotional ones (Travis, 2000). If enough effort is taken by the brands then there should be a shift in consumer
attitude towards suitable measures of sustainable consumption. It can be noted that if affective marketing
concepts are promoted then it is possible to shift consumers who are passive towards concepts of “green” to
active ones who are willing to go the extra mile and pay premium price in order to arrive at products which are
pro environmental in nature thereby promoting effective green consumption behaviour (Ottman, 1998). A
number of consumers have an ideal concept of being environmentally responsible but may not necessarily
implement this concept thereby taking no efforts to move towards a lifestyle which is green. Thus any company
which presents active measures of affective marketing may be supported by consumers as it presents an actual
way of implementing the proposed concept as observed from the conceptual framework in figure 1.
There is not a lot of conclusive evidence on how the intention to buy can be developed under the context of
environmental thinking and maintained within an integrated framework. Therefore the above framework strives
to form a link between the consumer’s attitudes and their behaviours in order to start the building process of
environmental management towards green products. Thus the framework determines the relationships between
consumer’s attitudes and behaviour when it comes to the purchasing of green products. The concept of green
marketing is still a new concept and it there are still far too much to be explored, according to First and
Khetriwal (2008). However, a number of studies that have been mentioned above clearly indicate an increasing
awareness among consumers on environmentally friendly brands and products. Brands have the capability to
cause a change in consumer’s attitudes. Similarly effective advertising strategies have the ability to cause a shift
in consumers who are willing to pay a premium price for environmental products to green consumption patterns.

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Figure 1. Conceptual framework
Lack of communication is considered to be a major reason for commercial failures of environmentally
sustainable products mainly because communication is a major step in the development of a positive behaviour
towards consumer’s consumption patterns. A number of studies have dealt with the value perception of a specific
set of environmental attributes. Moreover, previous researches carried out in western nations supported that
consumers have positive green perceptions on eco-branded products. However a number of studies have also
depicted that people tend to have a negative view towards green products that according to them shows a marked
tradeoff between its effects on the environment and the functional performance of the brand. Emotional brand
benefits can therefore be stated as being an important factor in encouraging consumers to alter their actual
buying behaviours and purchase eco friendly items.
5. Conclusion and Implications
One thing that is being reiterated is that the current consumption levels are too high and are unsustainable.
Therefore there is a need for green marketing and a need for a shift in the consumer’s behavior and attitude
towards more environmental friendly life styles. The current study is a compilation of various aspects related to
green marketing. It is clearly evident from review of literatures and the conceptual model that the majority of the
consumers still lack ‘green’ knowledge and because of such low awareness towards green products organizations
are still not pushing towards developing more green products nor are they working hard on green packaging.
Organizations still believe that marketing aspects such as developing a proper supply chain, packaging, pricing
etc take precedence over green marketing initiatives. However, this is all changing. People are beginning to
realize their role and responsibilities towards the environment. Although this change is not happening quickly, it
is happening. Businesses are looking towards gaining an edge in the green market industry by trying to
re-package their products into a more environmental friendly product. They are cutting down on extras and
wasted materials and turning their operations into more efficient and green operation. Companies are also
starting to educate the masses with an increase in advertising that puts emphasis on green products and how they
are more beneficial for the consumers. This kind of advertising goes a long way in educating the masses and
promoting the concept of green products among the people. With more and more consumers willing to pay a
little extra towards green products, organizations are taking notice of the demands and behavior and attitude of
the consumers.
6. Recommendations
Green marketing is a continuous process that requires constant inputs from the suppliers, government legislations
and policies and the people. This is required so that the businesses green marketing strategy can be aligned to the
target markets and so it can gain a sustainable competitive advantage. It is important that strategies and policies
in relation to green products be developed and implemented so as to guide and help the retailers and customers
towards a green change. Businesses should concentrate on focusing on developing a green product that have a
demand from the general public and which also aligns to the company’s core positioning. Furthermore
businesses should also present efforts in a manner that reduces the risk related to costs. In conclusion, creating
and implementing a green marketing strategy is not straight forward because it is not only complex, but also a
relative concept that continuously varies over time.
The framework that is presented in the current paper is based on the need to explain inconsistencies in attitudes
and behaviors that have been revealed in past researches. The current framework will be framing the gap
between the attitudes and behaviors as a social dilemma and also attempts to understand the gap by trying to

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identify individual factors by using the reference group theory. Furthermore the framework also tries to
recommend certain ways to cover the research gap. The current study will provide a valuable insight to both
practitioners and theoreticians who want to understand environmentally conscious individuals. Since the success
of green products depend on the consumers adopting or changing their attitude and behavior towards such
products, it is imperative that green marketers identify all the factors that encourage cooperation. Thus the
current study will also be of benefit to the green marketers as it aids in developing a marketing strategy that
persuades consumers to seek the value of collective gain over self-interest.
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