Green Attributes in Young Consumers’ Purchase Intentions: A Cross-Country, Cross-Product Comparative Study Using a Discrete Choice Experiment

• Main Authors: Chi Thao Dinh, Takuro Uehara, Takahiro Tsuge
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: conditional logit model; discrete choice experiment; environmental Kuznets curve; green attributes; green consumption; green products
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9825

As consumption behavior is one of the key human activities destabilizing the Earth system, green consumption is expected to increase. However, although consumers often show interest in green consumption, they tend to choose non-green alternatives. Presuming that one of the reasons for their inconsistency lies in the trade-offs between green attributes and other attributes (e.g., brand, performance, and price), this study adopted a discrete choice experiment to understand how green attributes play a role in consumers’ purchase decisions. To obtain a deeper understanding, the study conducted a cross-country (young Japanese [<i>n</i> = 370] and Vietnamese [<i>n</i> = 403] consumers) and product (water bottles and T-shirts) comparative analysis. The findings showed that for both products, Japanese respondents were less appreciative of green attributes in both relative and absolute terms than Vietnamese respondents. Furthermore, the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for a low environmental impact was the highest among the other attributes in both products for Vietnamese respondents, while this was not the case for Japanese respondents. Utilizing the findings obtained from the conditional logit models and MWTP, this study proposes several policy implications for the promotion of green purchases suitable for each country’s unique situation.