ABSTRACT
Conceptually, there is a common agreement that consumers at present are conscious regarding green. Consumers with green consciousness exhibit higher green purchasing decisions (Sharma and Kesharwani, 2015; Sharma and Sharma, 2013; Schlegelmilch et al., 1996), leading to the creation of what has come to be known as green competitive advantage. Companies are trying to underline the concept of green marketing to attract customers by undertaking sustainable initiatives in their corporate goals, operations, and management. Hence, green marketing by companies is used by featuring “eco,” ‘‘environment-friendly,’’ ‘‘green,’’ ‘‘earth-friendly,’’ and ‘‘sustainable’’ As a result both practitioners and academicians are paying much attention to examine the concept of green purchasing intentions (GPI) in green marketing through different lens, as such, to gain prominence in the competitive market. The study has comprehensive literature which states that green consumerism leads to green buying decisions, behavior, and/or intentions
via sociodemographic variables, psychographic variables (Sharma and Sharma, 2013; Akehurst et al, 2012; Diamantopoulo et al, 2003; Straughan and Roberts, 1999), environmental knowledge, environmental motivation, and environmental value and attitude (Sharma and Kesharwani, 2015). Further, Chen (2010) proposed novel constructs of the green brand image, green brand equity, and green trust (GT) and found that there is a positive and significant relationship between these constructs and buying intentions. In addition, the study affirmed that brand associates/attributes positively affect consumers’ buying intentions. Furthermore, many researchers have also reported that brand associates have a positive influence on consumer’s choice, preferences, and intention of buying (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001; Yoo et al., 2000; Agarwal and Rao, 1996). Although previous studies have paid significant attention to examine the pertinent issues in brand image, equity and/or association, it may be asserted that broader dimension of green brand association (GBA) and GPI remain under-researched. The present study argues that the exploration of GBA has been limited explored with GPI. Hence, by empirically investigating the extent to which or how, GBA influences consumers’ intentions of green purchasing, the present chapter addresses the important research gap to gain a green competitive advantage.
