Value orientation, green attitude and green behavioral intentions: an empirical investigation among young consumers

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the relationships between two distinct value orientations, that is, the terminal and instrumental. The effects of these value orientations on green attitude and green behavioral intentions for green products among young consumers in an emerging market against the backdrop of a value–attitude–behavior cognitive hierarchical framework has also been focused on in this study.Design/methodology/approachThe study espouses a hypo-deductive research design and the measures were conceptualized and advanced based on an inclusive review of the research studies conducted in the past. Anderson and Gerbing’s two-step research approach was used for partial least square structural equation modeling to assess the measurement and structural models with SmartPLS (v 3.2.6).FindingsThe findings suggest that the functional value is constantly essential, but not enough by itself, for envisaging green purchase behavior. The results show that both the terminal and instrumental values have a significant impact on green attitude and in turn, green attitude has a significant impact on green behavioral intentions. The instrumental value displays greater impact on both green attitude and green behavioral intentions compared to the terminal value. Additionally, the research also discloses that green attitude acts as a mediator in the relationship between terminal/instrumental value and green behavioral intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper describes two broad, yet distinctive, value orientations (i.e. terminal versus instrumental) using cross-sectional data from the state capital of the country. Future research may scrutinize the findings’ (cross-cultural) generalizability using diverse data sets to assess value orientations and customers’ green behavioral intentions among young consumers.Practical implicationsThe research findings will enormously help green marketers and practitioners to recognize the roles of terminal and instrumental values in evolving green attitude and green behavioral intentions for green products among the young consumers, thereby helping to develop marketing strategies.Social implicationsThe current research provides evidence that in emerging markets such as India, young consumers exhibit value orientation toward environmental deterioration, holding a sense of responsibility in their consumption pattern. This may pave the way forward for sustainable businesses.Originality/valueThis study is objectively a pioneering one that attempts to explore the relationships between the value orientations in terms of instrumental and terminal values and their effects on green attitude and green behavioral intentions toward green products using Rokeach’s (1973) two-dimensional measure of values among young consumers, which is quite novel to the existing body of knowledge. Moreover, this paper has surveyed these relationships in a different research context, which can expand the knowledge about green consumer behavior in emerging markets.