Can Public Environmental Concern Drive Changes in Residents’ Green Consumption Behavior?

Enhancing residents’ green consumption is essential to fostering high-quality economic advancement. This study constructs an indicator system for residents’ green consumption based on three subsystems: green manufacturing processes, sustainable lifestyles, and environmental ecosystems. A regression model analyzes how public environmental concern affects residents’ green consumption, using panel data from 30 provinces and cities in China over the period 2011–2023. Additionally, analyses of mechanisms and heterogeneity are carried out. The study results are presented below: First, public environmental concern (PEC) can significantly enhance residents’ green consumption (RGC), with an increase of 1% in PEC leading to a 0.261% rise in RGC. Second, green technological innovation (GTI) and market-based incentive environmental regulation (MER) mediate the relationship between PEC and RGC. However, the role of command-and-control environmental regulation (CER) as a mediator is insignificant. Third, there is heterogeneity in RGC based on region, pollution emissions, and innovation foundations. The impact of PEC is notably greater in central-western regions, areas with higher pollution emissions, and regions with better innovation foundations. Therefore, this study proposes policy recommendations from three aspects: improving public environmental concern, strengthening green technological innovation in enterprises, and formulating region-specific industrial upgrading paths to promote residents’ green consumption.