Why Do Consumers Make Green Purchase Decisions? Insights from a Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Consumer Behavior Studies
• Marketing Research

Background:

• Growing emphasis on sustainable development necessitates understanding green purchasing.
• Existing research on green marketing and purchases shows progress but requires further exploration.
• Empirical studies on green purchase behavior have significantly increased between 2015 and 2020.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review empirical research on green purchase behavior published between 2015 and 2020.
• To analyze the application of consumer theory in the context of green purchasing.
• To identify and categorize the key factors influencing green purchase behavior.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of 97 empirical studies on green purchase behavior (2015-2020).
• Analysis of widely used consumer theories and their extensions.
• Categorization of influencing factors into individual, product/marketing, and social aspects.

Main Results:

• Consumer theory and its applications in green purchasing have been widely explored.
• Key influencing factors identified include individual characteristics, product attributes, marketing strategies, and social influences.
• A comprehensive overview of the current state of research provides a foundation for future studies.

Conclusions:

• Future research should focus on reducing data subjectivity and employing longitudinal designs.
• Cross-cultural studies and exploration of diverse green products are recommended.
• Integrating multiple consumer theories and novel research methods can advance the understanding of green purchase behavior.