Psychological Make-up of Korean Green Consumerism: A Path Model Analysis

한국록색소비심리구성(韩国绿色消费心理构成):일개로경분석모형(一个路径分析模型)

As consumers' concern for the environment has continued to increase, many firms have actively engaged in environmental marketing to achieve their objectives. However, consumers' high concerns about the environment are not always reflected in their purchasing behavior. This indicates the need for an in-depth understanding of the development of green consumption within the individual's belief system. In consideration of psychological approaches, a large body of research has examined the factors underlying ecologically conscious "green" consumer behavior and the interrelationships of these factors. However, most previous studies have concentrated on Western countries. Using a sample of Korean consumers, this study attempts to understand the basis of Korean green consumerism and find universal values that are cross-culturally important in guiding consumers' environmental attitudes and behaviors. To this end, this study relates Schwartz's 10 universal values (Schwartz 1992) to environmental behaviors in a hierarchical model of value-attitude-behavior. With reference to the value-attitude-behavior framework, the conceptual model developed for the study explains what motivations can be manifested in Korean consumers' environmental attitudes, and subsequently how the attitudes affect their green choices. Using the pattern of relationships among values that can be related to environmentalism, the first hypothesis holds that there would be particular relationships between motivational value types and environmental attitudes. Hypothesis 2 assumes that environmental attitudes predict environmental behaviors. On the basis of the claim that favorable attitudes toward the environment may be expressed in many different behaviors, the assumption is that consumers' favorable attitudes toward the environment would be linked to a variety of environmental behaviors because people with high environmental attitudes can be more interested in and knowledgeable about environmental actions. Consistent with H2, H3 hypothesizes that there would be a positive relationship between different types of environmental behavior. A total of 564 university students participated in the study. The sample included 308 men, 254 women, and two participants who did not indicate their gender. The average age of the participants was 22.5 years, with a range of 19 to 39. Regarding majors, special efforts were made to draw the participants from different departments of the university. Data were collected by a survey administered via self-completion questionnaires., which assessed the participants' value priorities, environmental attitudes, and behaviors. Path analysis conducted to test the proposed model found the overall fit to be ${\chi}^2$=72.01 (p=0.00), GFI=0.983, CFI=0.982, NFI=0.970, RMR=0.070, and REMSEA=0.050. Thus, most of the fit measures indicated a good fit of the model with the data, and a hierarchical relationship from values to environmental attitudes to environmental non-purchasing behavior to environmental purchasing behavior was confirmed. An assessment of all the predicted paths by path coefficients led to several major hypothesized effects being confirmed. Out of the ten value types, universalism and power were significantly but conversely related to environmental attitudes. In line with the other studies, these findings confirm that environmental attitudes are an important factor in leading to a variety of green behaviors. Finally, significant relationships were found between environmental purchasing and non-purchasing behaviors. The path analysis supported the idea that universalism values provide a motivation for Korean consumers' greenness and indirectly promote environmental acts through favorable attitudes toward the environment. Participants with high environmental attitudes were found to actively engage in diverse forms of green consumer behavior. This research provides an opportunity to examine cross-cultural differences with respect to values leading to environmentalism, and, further, to verify previous findings. The study also examined the attitude-behavior relationship with respect to three distinct types of environmental behaviors. The different strengths of paths between green attitudes and behaviors suggest that researchers should consider the specificity of behavior explained as an effort to improve the low attitude-behavior correlation. Finally, the findings here illustrate that with increased environmental concerns among people, they come to include more such behaviors in their green portfolios.

随着消费者对环境的关注不断增加, 许多公司都积极从事环境营销来实现其目标. 不过, 有关环境的消费者的高度关注并不总是反映在他们的购买行为. 这表明需要有一个绿色消费的范围内个人的信仰体系的发展有深入的了解. 考虑到心理学的方法, 大量的研究机构已测试的基本因素和生态意识的消费者行为, 这些因素的相互关系. 然而, 以往的研究大多数集中于西方国家. 本研究使用韩国消费者为研究样本, 试图了解韩国绿色消费的基础, 发现跨文化在指导消费者的环保态度和行为的重要的普遍价值. 为此, 我们联系了Schwartz在1992年提出的10个普遍价值和价值-态度-行为层次模式的环境行为. 参照价值-态度-行为的框架, 我们提出的概念模型可以解释韩国消费者的环保态度中表现出了什么动机, 以及后来此态度如何影响他们的绿色选择. 其中, 可利用相关的环保价值的关系模式, 我们首先假设激励价值类型和环境态度之间存在特定的关系. 在假设2中, 环境态度被假定用来预测环境行为. 这个假设的基础是对环境有利的态度可能会产生许多不同的行为, 我们认为消费者对环境的有利的态度和各种环保行为是相关的. 因为有环保态度的人们会对环保行动方面的知识更感兴趣. 与假设2一致, 我们推测在不同的环保行为之间存在正相关关系. 564名大学生参加了这项研究. 样本包括308名男性, 254名女性, 2名参与者没有注明性别. 参加者的平均年龄为22.5(标准差=2.11)岁, 年龄范围从19岁到39岁. 至于专业, 我们作出了特别努力使得参与者来自于大学的不同学科. 所收集的数据是通过自我完成问卷调查. 问卷评估参与者的价值优先, 环境态度和行为. 我们进行了路径分来测试所提出的模型. 观测的模型的整体适配度为x2=72.01(p=0.00), GFI的=0.983, CFI=0.982, NFI=0.970, RMR=0.070, 和REMSEA=0.050. 大部分适配值表明了数据与模型拟合良好. 因此, 环境态度价值, 环境的非购买行为和环境的购买行为的层级关系得到了确认. 所有的预测路径被路径系数评估, 几个主要影响假设被确认. 在10个价值类型之外, 普遍性和力量是显著的但是与环境态度的关系是相反的. 与其他研究一致, 我们的结果证实了环境态度是引导各种关注环境的行为的一个重要因素. 最后我们发现环境非采购和购买行为之间有显著关系. 路径分析支持普遍性价值为韩国消费者的绿色意识提供了动机而且他们通过对环境的有利态度间接的支持了环保行为. 我们发现拥有高环境态度的参与者积极的投入到各种关注环境的消费者行为中. 在本研究中, 考虑到价值导致环保主义和进一步证实先前的结果我们提供了测试跨文化差异的机会. 此外, 我们已测试了关于三个不同类型的环境行为的态度与行为的关系. 环境的态度和行为之间的路径的不同优势, 研究人员建议, 应考虑行为的特异性, 努力改善低的态度-行为的相关性. 最后, 本文阐明了随着对环境不断增长的关注, 人们生活中的绿色行为也不断的增加.