Green Consumption Behavior: Influential Factors on EMU Students’ Behavior toward Green Products

Consumerism is one of the attributed adjectives for the recent humankind generation. Population growth and demand for more material and resources in addition to increasing pollution and wastes are the results of this concept. Since 2000 the green consumer behavior which briefly means inclining towards environmentally friendly products has become the main concern for scholars, governors, and businesses to encounter this problem. This study focuses on identifying factors that affect green consumption attitudes and measures the impact of these factors on green consumer behavior among Eastern Mediterranean University students. The model of the study included constructs such as demographic traits, attitudes toward green products, internal and external moderators in analyzing their influences on the three aspects of green consumer behavior; more specifically on purchasing, using, and recycling behaviors. Correlation and multiple linear regression analyses are conducted on the data that is collected from the Eastern Mediterranean University students through a questionnaire. The results identified relationships between demographic traits and attitudes. The attitude, internal and external moderators all had effects on EMU students’ green behavior. The purchasing behavior is found to be influenced by attitude, consumer environmental concerns, and external factors. The using behavior is influenced by purchasing behavior, attitude, and consumers’ perceived self-effectiveness while attitude and using behavior are found to be the most influential factors affecting the recycling behavior. When the factors influencing the overall green consumption behavior is analyzed, it is found that attitude, internal moderators, external moderators, education and income levels of consumers can all influence Eastern Mediterranean University students’ green consumption behavior.