External Factors

1) Social norms

Extending from TPB, it is important to consider the presence of a significant referent group where individuals express strong in-group identification. Research has found the importance of personal identification to a social referent group in affecting green consumer behavior (Gupta & Ogden, 2009). Findings have shown that consumers with a sense of belonging to the referent group tend to have vested interest in the group’s well-being group and how other members perceived their actual purchase behaviors. Therefore, the presence of a significant social group will establish social norms, causing individuals to be more inclined to make collective-oriented buying behavior. Hence, the absence of this referent group affects the strength of the influence of subjective norms exerted upon consumers, hindering actual green purchase behavior among consumers.

Furthermore, presence of pro-environmental social norms also serve as to support consumers who have pro-environmental attitudes to engage in green purchase behavior that aligns to their attitudes (Gupta & Ogden, 2009). In the absence of pro-environmental social norm, green consumer purchase behavior may be deemed as the anomaly and going against the general social norms.

With reference to Singapore, the social pressure to comply with the majority exerts a strong influence among individuals due to the collectivistic nature of our culture (Hofstede & Bond, 1984). Thus, the absence of an established pro-environmental social norm would make it difficult for consumers to engage in green purchase behavior.

 

2) Perceived Reliability of Green products

Credits : Global Living Realty

Another external factor that can affect pro-environmental purchase behavior is the extent to which green product information that is available to the consumers. Studies have found that consumers are reluctant to commit to green purchases due to the limited perceived reliability of the products (Thogersen, 2000; Ozaki, 2009). Findings report that people are skeptical towards the effectiveness of these products in contrast to non-green products that are familiar to consumers. Thus, it is important for knowledge of the green products to be made available to the public so that they can make more informed green choices.

 

3) Availability of Green products

In order for consumers to engage in pro-environmental purchase behavior, it is essential for the relevant products to be made available to people.

Studies have found that it is crucial for green products to be made available and consumers to be able to identify green products (Thogersen, 2000; Ozaki, 2009). This can be achieved through the use of eco-labels or various green marketing efforts to bring awareness to the green products. Ozaki (2009) had also added that it is important to consider the degree of inconvenience of in making the green purchase behavior. Inconvenience such as low availability of the green products in conventional stores, lack of knowledge to use the green products and difficulty in recognizing eco-labels can serve to be obstacles to actual green purchase behavior.

 

Images credits to the following respectively:-

Power Reviews, Retrieved 3 April 2012, from, http://blogs.powerreviews.com/2010/06/16/powerreviews-integrates-facebook%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Clike%E2%80%9D-button-to-social-commerce-suite/

Urlaub J. from Taiga Comapany (2010), Consumer seeking more green information at the shelf. Retrieved 3 April 2012, from, http://blog.taigacompany.com/blog/sustainability-business-life-environment/consumers-seeking-more-green-information-at-the-shelf

Global Living Realty, Retrieved 3 April 2012, from, http://globallivingrealty.com/our-agents/attachment/round-stamp-with-text-100-eco-friendly/

Dishwashing liquid image from blogger