RESEARCH BRIEF | Consumers pay more for green products when they perceive personal connection and good value
Suggested audience: Corporate citizenship professionals, top leaders, sales and marketing departments, supply chain professionals
Keywords: behavior, consumer, customer experience, environment, green, market, sustainability, transparency
Takeaway: Consumer purchase satisfaction, willingness to pay a premium price, and purchase frequency of environmentally friendly products all increase when they perceive personal responsibility and value for the money.
Researchers analyzed responses to a questionnaire completed by more than 700 consumers who had purchased environmentally friendly products to determine which factors influence purchase satisfaction, willingness to pay a premium price for green products, and frequency of green product purchase.
Key findings:
- Feelings of personal obligation to adopt environmentally friendly behavior and value-for-money are the best predictors of purchase satisfaction, willingness to pay a premium price, and frequency of purchase.
- Purchase satisfaction is the strongest predictor of purchase frequency and explains the effects of personal norms and value-for-money.
| Factor | Dimension of environmental purchase behavior | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase Satisfaction | Willingness to pay premium price | Frequency of purchase | |
| Materialism (i.e. how acquisitive is the shopper?) | The more materialistic, the less satisfied the purchaser is likely to be. | Not enough evidence to support | The more materialistic, the less likely repeat purchase |
| Environmental concern | The more concerned with environmental issues, the more likely the consumer will be satisfied with the purchase | Not enough evidence to support | Not enough evidence to support |
| Curious (i.e. how often is the consumer likely to be willing to try new things?) | The more frequently the purchaser tries new things, generally, the more likely they are to be satisfied with their purchase. | Not enough evidence to support | The more frequently the purchaser tries new things, generally, the more likely they are to repurchase |
| Green practices (i.e., does the purchaser, recycle, compost, etc.) | The more environmentally involved the consumer is, the more the more likely they are to be satisfied with their purchase. | Not enough evidence to support | The more environmentally involved the consumer is, the more the more likely they are to repurchase |
| Functional performance | The better the product delivers on its functional | Not enough evidence to support | The better the product delivers on its functional performance |
| Value-for-money | The more the product is judged to be priced appropriately in its category, the higher the satisfaction with the purchase. | The more the product is judged to be priced appropriately in its category, the more likely a willingness to pay a premium. | The more the product is judged to be priced appropriately in its category, the higher the likelihood of repurchase. |
| Personal norms (i.e. how often does the purchaser buy green products) | The “greener” the consumer in purchases generally, the more likely to be satisfied with the purchase. | The “greener” the consumer, the more likely to be willing to pay a premium | The “greener” the consumer, the more likely to purchase again. |
If citing, please refer to original article: Dangelico, R.M., Nonino, F., & Pompei, A. (2021). Which are the determinants of green purchase behaviour? A study of Italian consumers. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30, 2600-2620. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2766.