The effects of environmental concern on environmentally friendly consumer behavior: An exploratory study

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the relative effects of environmental concern (a general attitude) and social norms pertaining to concern for the environment on three consumer behaviors and six behavioral intentions. Our primary research question war 'Which has the strongest effect on environmentally concerned behaviors and behavioral intentions: attitude, the injunctive norm, or the personal norm?'' Answers to this basic research question have important implications for marketers and public policy makers. A mail survey was administered to a sample of consumers who were the primary shoppers in their household. Confirmatory factor analysis was wed to determine unidimensionality of measures. Hypotheses were tested using multivariate and univariate analysis of variance (MANOVA/ANOVA). MANOVA analysis indicated significant main effects of environmental concern, the personal norm, and the injunctive norm on the behaviors and behavioral intentions. There were no significant interactions. ANOVA results indicated that the personal norm had the primary influence on the behaviors while the attitude had the primary influence on behavioral intentions. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.