Environmental awareness and perceived utility shape the value-intention gap in green consumption

Area of Science:

• Consumer Behavior
• Environmental Psychology
• Marketing Science

Background:

• The value-action gap highlights a disconnect between consumers' environmental values and their purchasing intentions.
• Understanding the value-intention gap in green consumption is crucial for promoting sustainable behaviors.
• Existing theories like the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) provide frameworks but require refinement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factors influencing the translation of environmental values into green consumption intention.
• To examine the moderating roles of environmental awareness and perceived utility in this value-intention relationship.
• To propose and test a dual moderation mechanism explaining the value-intention gap.

Main Methods:

• A theoretical framework was developed integrating TPB and VBN theories.
• Survey data were collected from 618 consumers.
• Hierarchical regression and PROCESS macro analyses were employed to test the proposed model.

Main Results:

• Environmental values significantly predict green consumption intention.
• Environmental awareness enhances the value-intention link by improving cognitive connections.
• Perceived utility demonstrates a stronger moderating effect, improving cost-benefit evaluations for green products.

Conclusions:

• A cognition-utility dual moderation mechanism explains the conditional translation of values into intentions.
• The study refines existing TPB-VBN applications by offering a nuanced understanding of the value-intention gap.
• Findings provide theoretical insights and practical strategies for encouraging green consumption.