How "Green" thinking and altruism translate into purchasing intentions for electronics products: The intrinsic-extrinsic motivation mechanism

"Green" antecedents and consequences have been widely explored recently. Despite the prominence of antecedents of green behavior, literature provides little attention to how green thinking and altruism may translate into purchasing intentions for green electronics products. This research investigates two main questions: first, whether green thinking and green altruism directly predict green purchasing intention, second, how green intrinsic and extrinsic motivations can explain these relationships. Based on the cognitive-affective behavior model and collection of 2021 samples of buyers from the electronics industry in China, the results show that: both green thinking and green altruism have a substantial impact on green purchasing intention. Notably, green intrinsic motivation mediates these relationships, while green extrinsic motivation moderates the effect of green thinking and green intrinsic motivation on green purchasing intention. Thus, this research advocates that marketers and policymakers should focus on cognitive and affective elements of green stimuli as well as the intrinsic motivation (enjoyment) of consumers for the success and adoption of green electronics products. While care should be taken when using green extrinsic motivation as it reduces the impact of green altruism and green intrinsic motivation on green purchasing intention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (c) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.