Factors affecting the relationship
between environmental concern
and behaviors
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the mediating factors affecting the relationship
between environmental concerns and sustainable behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors survey 467 respondents and use a structural
equation modeling approach to assess environmental involvement and willingness to pay more for
green products as mediating variables between a multi-dimensional measure of environmental concern
and sustainable behaviors.
Findings – The findings suggest that environmental involvement and willingness to pay more for green
products mediate the relationship between environmental concern and sustainable behaviors. But of the
three dimensions of environmental concern, only concern for energy is statistically significant in the model.
Research limitations/implications – The results empirically validate the multi-dimensionality of
the environmental concern construct and its relationship with consumers’ sustainable behaviors. Both
involvement and willingness to pay more for an environmentally friendly product play an important
role in linking environmental concern to actionable behaviors.
Practical implications – To reach green consumers who are willing to pay more for environmentally
friendly products and ultimately engage in sustainable behaviors, marketers should target those
consumers who are most concerned with energy and more involved with the environment.
Originality/value – This paper is the first to study the gap between environmental concern and
sustainable behaviors by utilizing involvement and willingness to pay more for an environmentally
friendly product as mediators. Results provide critical insight into this often elusive gap. The authors
also fill an important gap in the literature by including psychological factors driving consumers’
willingness to pay more for green products.
Keywords Consumer marketing, Sustainable development, Green marketing