The Effects of Environmental Concern on Environmentally Friendly Consumer Behavior: An Exploratory Study

Examined the relative effects of environmental concern (a general attitude) and social norms pertaining to concern for the environment on 3 consumer behaviors and 6 behavioral intentions. The primary research question was "Which has the strongest effect on environmentally concerned behaviors and behavioral intentions: attitude, the injunctive norm, or the personal norm?" A mail survey was administered to a sample of consumers who were the primary shoppers in their household. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine unidimensionality of measures. Hypotheses were tested using MANOVA and ANOVA. MANOVA analysis indicated significant main effects of environmental concern, of the personal norm, and of 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.