Factors Influencing Green Consumption in the United Arab Emirates

This project delves into the realm of green consumption, specifically focusing on consumer behavior within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The research begins with a comprehensive literature review, examining the global perspective of green consumption, factors influencing it, and the existing trends and challenges faced by the UAE. It explores motivational approaches towards green consumption, including the application of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to predict and explain consumer actions. The study defines the problem, formulates hypotheses, and outlines the methodology, including research design, data collection methods, and analysis plans. The project aims to understand the factors that influence UAE consumers' green consumption behavior and contribute to a deeper understanding of sustainable practices within the region. It also highlights strategic initiatives undertaken by the UAE government to promote green consumption. The analysis is underpinned by the TPB to understand the consumer's intention and perceived behavioral control. The project concludes by offering insights into how businesses can effectively develop and market green brands in the UAE, considering consumer consciousness and purchasing behavior.

TOWARD GREEN CONSUMPTION: WHAT MAKES US CARE?
Page 1 of 36

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
Page 2 of 36

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.
Page 3 of 36

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.
Page 4 of 36

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.
Page 5 of 36

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
Page 6 of 36

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
Page 7 of 36

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
Page 8 of 36

demands - now and for upcoming generation groups - whilst maintaining ecological limitations
and general values.
In the current scenario of the green consumption, industries also play an important role
apart from the extended societies. This is due to the reason that in the initial stage of green
consumption, only the individuals are being targeted in changing their existing trends and
preference patterns. However, according to Haws, Winterich and Navlor (2014), in the current
global scenario of green consumption, industries play the part of commercial consumption in the
most sustainable manner. The authors have also stated that majority of the sustainable business
organizations are following the concept of triple bottom. Through this concept, they are looking
after the society, planet and people simultaneously. This is becoming a common trend among
the leading companies around the world. Thus, the environmental considerations of the business
organizations are also getting as important as their economic considerations. This is one of the
major global trends in the recent time in terms of green consumption.
On the other hand, it is stated by Vergragt, Akenji and Dewick (2014) that in terms of
the current global perspectives, concept of green consumption will also determine the global
sustainable approach and the environmental orientation of the countries. This is due to the
reason that average level of green consumption will help the countries to enhance their
sustainable approach over others. In addition, it is also being stated by the authors that initiation
of the green consumption will also help the countries in reduction their average cost of resources
and thus the competitiveness of the countries may also get increased in the long term.
2.3 Factors influencing green packaging across the globe:
The outsized amount of ecological problems experienced by the global customers is the
fundamental object behind the swipe from traditional buying actions to greener procuring
patterns. It has been defined by Balasubramanian (2014) that the eco-friendly products are more
responsive and recyclable by nature that helps both the sellers and buyers to get facilitated from
the environment. Thus, the customers across the globe are aiming not only for green packaging
but also involved in purchasing more green products to get immediate benefits. In recent years
the UAE product market for healthy and sustainable existence is continuously increasing its
value and covers almost 80% of all consumers (Darkoa et al. 2017). It has been identified that
this market comprises construction services, energy-efficient products, solar panels, and eco-
tourism etc. that increases the customers’ responsibility towards green purchasing. In addition,
the consumer’s awareness of social responsibility for establishing self-identity is also
encouraging the majority to procure more green products in UAE. Similarly, Bhattacharya et al.
(2015) asserted that the ‘product-image congruity theory’ postulates that the global consumers
Page 9 of 36

are highly influenced by the pro-environmental self-image factor that actually measures
thecustomer’s effort and seriousness towards eliminating the environmental issue. Moreover, the
governmental protocols such as scattering prohibitions and green product subsidies have
inspired the customers to pay more attention towards the environment and green products.
2.4 The trend of Green Consumption in the United Arab Emirates
From 1972, the Global Environment Day has been hosted by different cities under the
sponsorship of United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP). This day epitomizes the
attempts of people and organizations all over the globe involved in addressing ecological
impacts and maintaining the environmental structure (Raouf, 2018). The UN Secretary General
publicly acknowledged the remarkable measures taken by UAE towards green environment
awareness, capacity development, and green consumption, amid other things, since thecountry
hosted the Worldwide Conference on Partnership for Action on Green Market inMarch 2018
according to a report provided by Stanley (2018). UN lauded all attempts towards the country's
vision2021and 'Green GrowthApproach'. The United Nations has also signed a contract with the
UAE to reinforce collaborative efforts in order to tackle ecological challenges effectively and
decisively. UAE strongly supports the phenomena of 'green consumerism' and celebrates the
National Environment Day on February 4 of every year. The key aim is to underline the
devotion of the UAE government and other stakeholder groups toward safeguarding the natural
environment and realising the gains provided by 'green' consumption patterns according to
(Raouf, 2018). More significantly, it is a day to create awareness regarding the significance of
protecting natural resources and moving towards a sustainable way of life.
Despite the country's copious petrochemical resources, the UAE government has
emphasised on shifting from non-renewable energy sources to renewable ones. Abu Dhabi aims
to generate 7 per cent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020 and Dubai is devoted to
generate 5 per cent of its total energy from renewable resources by 2030 (Shahbaz, Sbia, Hamdi
and Ozturk, 2014). This would be attained through projects like Sir BaniYas, which considers
the use of leading wind turbine of the world, Shams-1 solar energy plan which has the ability to
generate 100MW electrical energy and Al-Maktoum Solar Park which presently has a capacity
of 13MW but which would be increased further to 200MW in the near future. Dubai's Asif
(2016) opines thatExpo 2020 aims to promote the idea of 'green consumption' along with the
philosophy of bringing in sustainability in the construction sector as well. Reused materials
would be consumed in 30 per cent of the construction and 50 per cent of the Expo's operating
energy needs will cater from renewable resources on the site according to Asif (2016). Other
plans take account of initiatives to reprocess wastage water, recycle resources and manage the
carbon footprints onsite.
Page 10 of 36

The trend of green consumption and development has become significant in the UAE in
the past five years, from Dubai stating its goal of being one of the most 'green' regions across the
world to sustainability is one of the key themes of the EXPO 2020 plans. Federal Law 24 of
1999 lays downs the legal grounds for ecological protection and conservation of natural
resources within the UAE. This ruling requires businesses conducting developmental projects in
the country to think about the ecological impacts of their operations and makes it illegitimate to
damage the surroundings (Asif, 2016). The main philosophy behind this rule is 'the polluter pay
fines' referring that the individual who pollutes the surroundings would be legally responsible
for the clean-up cost and subject to other punishments as per the law (which vary from penalties,
detention centre, and even the capital punishment in response to break the nuclear
requirements).
Progressively recognized as a trendsetter in 'green' energy consumption and other
sustainable measures, the UAE's attempts exist in different forms. Whilst development of Dubai
Green City is underway, the Abu Dhabi has initiated 150 new natural gas driven vehicles to its
fleet service. Such vehicles are equipped with a GPS tracking scheme with a viewpoint to
decrease consumption and make certain the efficient use of vehicles (Mokri, Ali, and Emziane,
2013). Moreover, 20 stations giving compressed natural gas and 9 conversion work stations are
to be developed by coming years. Dubai, on the other hand, follows the plan of cutting
unnecessary power and water consumption by 30% in near future. A report of Stanley (2018)
confirms that Dubai's Supreme Body of Energy has articulated that around 30,000 of the
emirate's 130,000 buildings can be subject for effective modifications at a total expense of 3
billion Dirhams.
United Arab Emirates is one of the leading countries in terms of the green consumption
and sustainable development. It is identified that green consumption in the Middle Eastern
countries is difficult to initiate due to the reason of their extreme weather conditions. However,
it is reported that among all the countries in the Middle Eastern region, United Arab Emirates is
leading in terms of green consumption. LEED registered buildings are one of the coming trends
in the country with the drastic reduction of energy consumption. According to different reports,
United Arab Emirates is having the highest number of LEED certified buildings in the country
and this is one of the major trends for them. According to AI Dakheel, Tabet Aoul and Hassan
(2018), United Arab Emirates is one of the most oil rich economies in the world and sustainable
approach is being taken by the government under the scheme of Green Growth Strategy 2030.
Under this activity, green and renewable sources of energy are being given the major focus. This
is helping them in reducing the unsustainable consumption of the non renewable sources of
energy and promoting the green consumption.
Page 11 of 36

Under the green growth strategy 2030, fuel price is also being deregulated in the United
Arab Emirates in order to take off the cover of subsidy from it. This is causing increase in the
price and reduction in the demand. On the other hand, green energies are becoming more
affordable for the customers. This is also being done in promoting the green consumption in the
country. According to Alsalmi, Elkadi and Leao (2013), water is also one of the major resources
being consumed in most unsustainable manner. In the case of the United Arab Emirates, it is
having more impact due to their shortage of water. Thus, process of water recycling is being
initiated in order to have sustainability in the water consumption. This includes the reuse of
rainwater and recycling the used water along with having sustainable irrigation system and
landscapes with low water consumption. The authors have also stated that effective water
management is helping United Arab Emirates in having green consumption process of water. In
addition, this trend is being maintained in extensive manner due to the reason that increase in
the awareness regarding green consumption of water will help to reduce the usage of water by
about 50 percent.
According to Balasubramanian and Shukla (2017), construction sector of the United
Arab Emirates is one of the most unsustainable consumers of the natural resources and thus the
major focus is being given in enhancing its sustainability. The authors have also stated reducing
the energy consumption of the buildings, consumption of natural resources and water are the
major trends of green consumption being followed in the country. This is due to the reason that
water is having shortage in the United Arab Emirates and buildings are the major consumer of
energy and mitigating their intensity will help to promote the green consumption.
2.5 Existing issues faced by UAE:
The main issue faced by the UAE population is a distressing level of pollution that actually
blocks the global impression of this country in terms of managing environmental performance.
The rising percentage of UAE’s carbon footprint due to using the non-degradable mix of
materials has forced the government to bring new modification in improving the waste
management process. Supporting that Diabata&Govindan (2011) added that the conventional
buildings and the huge energy consumption are the prime reasons for increasing environmental
and sustainability issue in UAE that enforced the government to bring most viable approach of
green buildings. However, the country’s energy and water sector are reducing its performance
by making excessive uses by the customers. Additionally, the product market of UAE is also
struggling for misusing the multi-layered packaging system (Nada Al Taher, 2018). There are
several industries in UAE who are incompetent to use the advanced recycling technology in the
product packaging. As a result, the biodiversity sector is losing its global position due to lack
Page 12 of 36