InWestern societies, green consumption emerged during the 1960s and the early 1970s, with the increased awareness of the necessity toprotect the environment and people's health from the effects caused byindustrial pollutants and by economic and population growth. In the 1980s, the first Americangreen brands began to appear and exploded on the American market. During the 1990s, green products grew slowly, remaining a niche phenomenon. American interest in green products started to increase again in the early 2000s and have continued to grow.[2]
After theoil crisis of 1973, people in western countries began to consider the use ofgreen energy as an alternative tofossil fuels. Now green consumption is considered a basic point of environmental reform and it is also guaranteed by supra-national organizations like theEuropean Union. Somesociologists[who?] argue that increasingglobalization led people to feel more interconnected with others and the environment, which led to an increasing awareness of globalenvironmental problems, especially in western countries.
Greenconsumer behavior is a form of pro-environmental behavior, a form of consumption that harms theenvironment as little as possible or even benefits the environment.[3] Research providesempirical support to the claim that green or pro-environmental consumer behavior is composed of:[4]
"Private-sphere behavior" — the purchase, use, and disposal of personal and household products that have environmental impact,[5] such asautomobiles, public transportation, or recycling[4]
"Public-sphere behavior" — behavior that affects the environment directly through committed environmental activism or indirectly by influencing public policies,[5] such as active involvement in environmental organizations and demonstrations (direct impact) or petitioning onenvironmental issues (indirect impact)[4]
Contextual factors like monetary incentives, costs, regulations, and public policy norms, as well as subjectively perceived factors such as perceived resources available[6] influence consumer pro-environmental behavior and thus green consumption through the mediating effect of attitudes.[4] It is through attitude that subjectively perceived contextual factors such as the extent to which consumers perceive having more or less time, money, and power available, modulate pro-environmental behavior in general, and green consumption in particular.
Green consumer behavior has the following characteristics:
"purchase choice, product use and post-use, household management, collective, and consumer activism behaviors, reflecting some degree of environmental-related motivation";[7]
"purchase and use of products with lowerenvironmental impacts, such as biodegradable products, recycled or reduced packaging, and low energy usage";[8]
A green consumer is "one who purchase products and services perceived to have a positive (or less negative) influence on the environment…"[9]Green consumers act ethically, motivated not only by their personal needs, but also by the respect and preservation of the welfare of entire society, because they take into account the environmental consequences (costs and benefits) of their private consumption. Green consumers are more conscientious in their use of assets, for example by using their goods without wasting resources. However the Eurobarometer's survey of consumers’ behavior (2013) showed that consumers seem not to place importance on adopting a set of new behaviors that are more environmentally-friendly. That report[citation needed] stated that even though a very high proportion of citizens buygreen products (80%), more than half are classified as occasional maintenance[clarification needed] (54%), and only a quarter are regular buyer of green products (26%).This suggests that most people do not behave like green consumers continuously, probably because of social and economic constraints, such as the fact that green products can be more expensive than non-green ones, or because it is not always easy to find green goods for each category, and green retailers are not so widespread. Some researchers[who?] find that personal values are influential determinants of consumption and that pro-environmental behavior might serve as a signal ofpersonality dimension[clarification needed]. There are two types of consumers:
prevention-type consumers, who feel a moral duty towards a greener lifestyle
promotion-type, who are more focused on their aspirations and their dreams and don't strongly feel the pressure to quickly adjust their behavior in the direction of becoming more environmentally-friendly[10]
Another researcher finds an effect of gender andsocial identity on green consumption:[clarification needed]"female declared higher levels of sustainable consumption compared with male participants; however when social identity is salient, male increased theirsustainable consumption intentions to the same level as female.[8] In this research are identified two kind of people, that have more:
self-transcendent values, like women, that are more willing to engage insustainable consumption
self-enhanced values, like men, that are less interested in green behavior[clarification needed]
Sustainable consumption is, for men, a way to reinforce their social image, showing to others that they care about environment, whereas for women sustainable consumption is intrinsically important. The evidence is that green consumers are mainly female, aged between 30 and 44 years old, well educated, in a household with a high annual income.[8]
Demand for less environmentally-damaging food production leads people to buy moreorganic andlocal food.Organic food is produced through agriculture that does not use artificial chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and animals reared in more natural conditions, without the routine use of drugs, antibiotics, and dewormers common in intensive livestock farming. Consumers can also choose to buy local food in order to reduce the social and environmental impacts of "food miles" – the distance food travels between being produced and being consumed. This behavior can create a new sense of connection with the land, through a concern for the authenticity and provenience of the food eaten, operating as a social as much as a technological innovation.[11] Taste, health, and safety concerns can be other reasons behind this consumption practices.
Ethical clothing refers to clothing that takes into consideration the impact of production and trade on theenvironment and on the people behind the clothes we wear. Eco clothing refers to all clothing that has been manufactured using environmentally friendly processes. It includes organic textiles and sustainable materials such ashemp and non-textiles such asbamboo orrecycled plastic bottles. It also includes recycled products (clothes made from recycled clothing including vintage, textile and other materials and can also be termed re-used) and is not necessarily made from organic fibers. Organic clothing means clothes that have been made with a minimum use of chemicals and with minimum damage to the environment and fair-trade is intended to achieve better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms for farmers and workers in the developing world.[12]
Three reasons that motivate the purchase of organic cloths are:
Environmentally-friendly protection;
Health impact;
Ethical concerns.
The textile andclothing industry generates much pollution and consumes manyresources. Improper use and disposal of clothing products make the problems much more severe. Consumers who are concerned about these (environmental) issues, are best motivated to change their behaviors viaphilanthropic or environmental-friendly actions that adapt with their financial and sustainability interests. An intuitive and sustainable strategy is clothing reuse.Textile recycling is a method of reprocessing used clothing, fibrous material, and clothing scraps from the manufacturing process. This can reduce manufacturing pollution andresource consumption.[13]Consumers may pay attention to the origin and the materials of the clothes they buy and whether they are harmful to the environment.[14]Consumers often have a lack of information ofgreen fashion or are unaware of the existence of green fashion alternatives to traditional adult fashion.[original research?]
^Connolly, John; Prothero, Andrea (March 2008). "Green Consumption: Life-politics, risk and contradictions".Journal of Consumer Culture.8 (1):117–145.doi:10.1177/1469540507086422.S2CID146265463.
^Elliott, Rebecca (June 2013). "The taste for green: The possibilities and dynamics of status differentiation through 'green' consumption".Poetics.41 (3):294–322.doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2013.03.003.
^abStern, Paul C. (January 2000). "New Environmental Theories: Toward a Coherent Theory of Environmentally Significant Behavior".Journal of Social Issues.56 (3):407–424.doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00175.S2CID5018908.
^abcCosta Pinto, Diego; Herter, Márcia M.; Rossi, Patricia; Borges, Adilson (September 2014). "Going green for self or for others? Gender and identity salience effects on sustainable consumption: Gender, identities and sustainable consumption".International Journal of Consumer Studies.38 (5):540–549.doi:10.1111/ijcs.12114.
^Haws, Kelly L.; Winterich, Karen Page; Naylor, Rebecca Walker (July 2014). "Seeing the world through GREEN-tinted glasses: Green consumption values and responses to environmentally friendly products".Journal of Consumer Psychology.24 (3):336–354.doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2013.11.002.S2CID154557555.
^Miniero, Giulia; Codini, Anna; Bonera, Michelle; Corvi, Elisabetta; Bertoli, Giuseppe (September 2014). "Being green: from attitude to actual consumption: Being green".International Journal of Consumer Studies.38 (5):521–528.doi:10.1111/ijcs.12128.S2CID143158022.
^Seyfang, Gill (May 2007). "Growing sustainable consumption communities: The case of local organic food networks".International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.27 (3/4):120–134.doi:10.1108/01443330710741066.
Banbury, Catherine; Stinerock, Robert; Subrahmanyan, Saroja (April 2012). "Sustainable consumption: Introspecting across multiple lived cultures".Journal of Business Research.65 (4):497–503.doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.02.028.
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Costa Pinto, Diego; Herter, Márcia M.; Rossi, Patricia; Borges, Adilson (September 2014). "Going green for self or for others? Gender and identity salience effects on sustainable consumption: Gender, identities and sustainable consumption".International Journal of Consumer Studies.38 (5):540–549.doi:10.1111/ijcs.12114.
Connolly, John; Prothero, Andrea (March 2008). "Green Consumption: Life-politics, risk and contradictions".Journal of Consumer Culture.8 (1):117–145.doi:10.1177/1469540507086422.S2CID146265463.
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Elliott, Rebecca (June 2013). "The taste for green: The possibilities and dynamics of status differentiation through 'green' consumption".Poetics.41 (3):294–322.doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2013.03.003.
Haws, Kelly L.; Winterich, Karen Page; Naylor, Rebecca Walker (July 2014). "Seeing the world through GREEN-tinted glasses: Green consumption values and responses to environmentally friendly products".Journal of Consumer Psychology.24 (3):336–354.doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2013.11.002.S2CID154557555.
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Thongplew, Natapol; van Koppen, C.S.A. (Kris); Spaargaren, Gert (July 2014). "Companies contributing to the greening of consumption: findings from the dairy and appliance industries in Thailand".Journal of Cleaner Production.75:96–105.Bibcode:2014JCPro..75...96T.doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.03.076.
