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Drivers to green consumption: a systematic review

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Testa

    (Sant’ Anna School of Advanced Studies)

  • Gaia Pretner

    (Sant’ Anna School of Advanced Studies)

  • Roberta Iovino

    (Sant’ Anna School of Advanced Studies)

  • Guia Bianchi

    (Sant’ Anna School of Advanced Studies)

  • Sara Tessitore

    (Sant’ Anna School of Advanced Studies)

  • Fabio Iraldo

    (Sant’ Anna School of Advanced Studies)

Abstract

Environmental degradation is increasingly attracting the attention of public opinion; however, the rise in environmental concern is not accompanied by a parallel growth of green product consumption. This paper aims to detect and classify all the main drivers to green consumption in an attempt of systematizing previous research results and identifying the most relevant drivers for pushing the transition toward a greener economy. The paper systematically analyzes 113 articles published from 2000 to 2018 within major peer-reviewed English-language scholarly publications in management, economics, environmental, agricultural and biological, decision and social sciences, energy and psychology that adopted a survey-based quantitative approach to measure drivers to green consumption. The research is identified using the keywords green, sustainable, environmental or pro-environmental behavior/intention/purchase or consumption/consumer. The analysis highlights the identification of seven categories of drivers to green consumption: behavioral factors, socio-demographic variables, intrapersonal values—environment, intrapersonal values—non environment, personal capabilities, products and producers-related factors and context-related factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Testa & Gaia Pretner & Roberta Iovino & Guia Bianchi & Sara Tessitore & Fabio Iraldo, 2021. "Drivers to green consumption: a systematic review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 4826-4880, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:23:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s10668-020-00844-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-020-00844-5
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    3. Uma Shankar Singh & Małgorzata Rutkowska & Paweł Bartoszczuk, 2022. "Renewable Energy Decision Criteria on Green Consumer Values Comparing Poland and India Aligned with Environment Policy for Sustainable Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-26, July.
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    5. Alencar Bravo & Darli Vieira & Thais Ayres Rebello, 2022. "The Origins, Evolution, Current State, and Future of Green Products and Consumer Research: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-25, September.
    6. Takumi Kato & Katsuya Hayami & Kenta Kasahara & Minami Morino & Yui Ikuma & Ryosuke Ikeda & Masaki Koizumi, 2023. "Environmental vs. labor issues: evidence of influence on intention to purchase ethical coffee in Japan," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Alsaad, Abdallah & Alam, Md. Moddassir & Lutfi, Abdalwali, 2023. "A sensemaking perspective on the association between social media engagement and pro-environment behavioural intention," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Bhardwaj, Seema & Sreen, Naman & Das, Manish & Chitnis, Asmita & Kumar, Sushant, 2023. "Product specific values and personal values together better explains green purchase," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. Murtaza Haider & Randall Shannon & George P. Moschis, 2022. "Sustainable Consumption Research and the Role of Marketing: A Review of the Literature (1976–2021)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-36, March.
    10. Jun Fan & Lijuan Peng & Tinggui Chen & Guodong Cong, 2024. "Mining the impact of social media information on public green consumption attitudes: a framework based on ELM and text data mining," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, December.
    11. Mirjam Visser & Ab Stevels & Jan Schoormans, 2021. "Comparing the Recommendations of Buyers of Energy-Efficient and Inefficient Vacuum Cleaners," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.
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    17. Guia Bianchi & Francesco Testa & Sara Tessitore & Fabio Iraldo, 2022. "How to embed environmental sustainability: The role of dynamic capabilities and managerial approaches in a life cycle management perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 312-325, January.

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