A Qualitative Study to Explore the Determinants of Consumer Green Purchase Behavior in an Emerging Economy

Abstract

This study aims to understand the factors which are influencing the green purchase behavior of customers in the context of emerging economy. It focuses on the behavior of consumers towards environment-friendly products; green products interest in Pakistan has been increasing meaningfully due to the increased interest in green environment electronic products. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews with 12 professionals from the education and healthcare industry with at least half of the participants aged 42 and above. The transcripts were analyzed thematically through NVivo 14 with the coding process for generating main and sub-themes informed by TAM theory for interpretation. Four main themes emerged within the healthcare and educational institute's narratives. They identified with (1) The eco-friendly products, (2) the sustainable environment, (3) green purchase, behavioral intentions and (4) Social influence themes were made. This study shows that a narrative thematic analysis can be used to explore the factors which are influencing green consumer purchase intention. Further, the policy maker and strategist should plan green advertising for awareness among common users. This study is one of the first to focus on the impact of green purchase intentions towards eco-friendly products in Pakistan and best to our knowledge it is a novel contribution to qualitative research.