Exploring the Significance of Malaysian Consumers' Intentions to Purchase Green Products
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/jibe.v8i2.23562Keywords:
SDGs, level of purchase intention, green products, Malaysian consumers, descriptive analysisAbstract
The trend toward environmental sustainability is already gaining traction, and it is becoming more common in developed and developing countries. Consumers are becoming more aware of sustainability's importance and making more conscious choices about the products they purchase. The Malaysian Government is also promoting green technology by offering incentives and subsidies to companies producing eco-friendly products, also known as green products. Additionally, the Government is introducing regulations to reduce the carbon footprint of businesses and industries. On the other hand, the Government has signed the SDGs and is struggling to achieve them by 2030. Consumption and production are the primary focus of the 12th Sustainable Development Goal. A limited number of studies have been conducted to investigate the consumers' intentions toward purchasing green products in the Malaysian context, particularly on SDGs. Green products are available in the open markets in Malaysia, but consumers' behaviors and their intentions toward such products are considered low. This study is therefore conducted with the aim to investigate the level of consumers' intention towards purchasing green products. Using a 7-point Likert, 385 valid responses were collected from respondents in Selangor, Perak, and Johor. The study found that Malaysian consumers have a medium level of intentions when it comes to purchasing green products. This could be due to the fact that green products tend to be more expensive than their non-green counterparts, and many people are not willing to pay the extra cost. Also, there could be various factors influencing consumers' intentions to buy green products, which future studies can investigate.
References
Al-Swidi, A., & Saleh, R. M. (2021). How green our future would be? An investigation of the determinants of green purchasing behavior of young citizens in a developing Country. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23(9), 13436–13468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-01220-z
Alqatawenh, A. S. (2018). Transformational leadership style and its relationship with change management. Business: Theory and Practice, 19, 17–24. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2018.03.
Ahmad, N., Ghazali, N., Abdullah, M. F., Nordin, R., Nasir, I. N. M., & Farid, N. A. M. (2020). Green marketing and its effect on consumers' purchase behaviour: an empirical analysis. Journal of International Business, Economics and Entrepreneurship, 5(2), 46-55.
Chakrabarty, A., & Das, U. S. (2019). Green Products in India as the Commitment towards SDGs: Initiatives, Prospects and Challenges. International Conference on Ubiquitous Energy Management for Green Environment, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1109/UEMGREEN46813.2019.9221546
Chekima, B., Chekima, S., Wafa, S. A. W. S. K., Igau, A., & Jr., S. L. S. (2016). Sustainable consumption: the effects of knowledge, cultural values, environmental advertising, and demographics. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 23(2), 210–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2015.1114043
Chen, J., & Lobo, A. (2012). Organic food products in China: determinants of consumers' purchase intentions. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 22(3), 293–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2012.682596
Chuah, S. C., & Lu, J. (2019). Green purchase behavior: A study on Malaysian and Chinese Millennials. Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics, 23, 149–172.
DOSM. (2018). The Initial Assessment of The Sustainable Development Goals Indicators for Malaysia 2018. https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/uploads/files/4_Portal Content/2_ Statistics/SDG/HTML/The Initial Assessment of The SDG Indicators for Malaysia 2018.pdf
DOSM. (2019). Sustainable Development Goals Malaysia 2019. https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=474&bul_id=OVpQNVJXMkxMbldxbTdLQXJKbXV5dz09&menu_id=WjJGK0Z5bTk1ZElVT09yUW1tRG41Zz09
EPU. (2020). Sustainable development goals. Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister's Department. https://doi.org/10.5005/jp/books/13071_5
Erdil, M. (2018). Understanding the drivers of Generation Y consumers green purchase intention: price sensitivity as a moderating variable. Pressacademia, 7(1), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.17261/pressacademia.2018.798
EU-Environment. (2019). Environmental cooperation: European Commission promotes circular economy and green partnerships in Singapore and Malaysia. European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/environmental-cooperation-european-commission-promotes-circular-economy-and-green-partnerships-singapore-and-malaysia-2019-jun-05_en
Hassan, M. A., Samah, B. A., Shaffril, H. M., & D’Silva, J. L. (2011). Perceived usefulness of ICT usage among JKKK members in Peninsular Malaysia. Asian Social Science, 7(10), 255–266. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v7n10p255
Jalil, M. H., & Shaharuddin, S. S. (2019). Consumer Purchase Behavior of Eco-Fashion Clothes As a Trend to Reduce Clothing Waste. International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering, 8(12), 4224–4233. https://doi.org/10.35940/ijitee.L2693.1081219
Kettha. (2017). Green Technology Master Plan Malaysia. https://www.pmo.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Green-Technology-Master-Plan-Malaysia-2017-2030.pdf
Khaled Saifullah, Kari, F. B., & Ali, M. A. (2017). Linkage between Public Policy, Green Technology and Green Products on Environmental Awareness in the Urban Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 4(2), 45–53. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2017.vol4.no2.45
Lee, E. J., Bae, J., & Kim, K. H. (2020). The effect of environmental cues on the purchase intention of sustainable products. Journal of Business Research, 120(January), 425–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.10.048
Lim, Y. J., Perumal, S., & Ahmad, N. (2019). The antecedents of green purchase intention among Malaysian consumers. European Journal of Business and Management Research, 4(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v8n13p248
Mei, N. S., Wai, C. W., & Ahamad, R. (2016). Environmental Awareness and Behaviour Index for Malaysia. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 222(07), 668–675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.223
Mohd Suki, N. (2018). Determinants of Consumers' Purchase Intentions of Organic Vegetables: Some Insights from Malaysia. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 24(4), 392–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/10454446.2017.1280717
Mohd Suki, N., & Mohd Suki, N. (2019). Examination of peer influence as a moderator and predictor in explaining green purchase behaviour in a developing country. Journal of Cleaner Production, 228, 833–844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.218
Myhijau. (2018). Myhijau Directory: Your purchasing guide for green products & services in Malaysia. https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/myhijau1/uploads/ebook/MyHIJAU-Directory-Ebook-december-2018.29.pdf
Naderi, I., & Van Steenburg, E. (2018). Me first, then the environment: young Millennials as green consumers. Young Consumers, 19(3), 280–295. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-08-2017-00722
Nezakati, H., & Hosseinpour, M. (2015). Green Products Purchasing Among Malaysian Consumers. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Policy, 4(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.26/2015.4.1/26.1.1.6
Noor, N. A. M., Muhammad, A., Kassim, A., Jamil, C. Z. M., Mat, N., Mat, N., & Salleh, H. S. (2012). Creating green consumers: how environmental knowledge and environmental attitude lead to green purchase behavior. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 5(1), 1–18.
Ogiemwonyi, O., & Harun, A. Bin. (2020). Consumption of Green Product as a Means of Expressing Green Behaviour in an Emerging Economy: With the Case Study of Malaysia. Environment and Urbanization ASIA, 11(2), 297–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0975425320938538
Osborn, D., Cutter, A., & Ullah, F. (2015). Sustainable Development Goals (Issue May). https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/1684SF_-_SDG_Universality_Report_-_May_2015.pdf
Pacheco-Blanco, B., & Bastante-Ceca, M. J. (2016). Green public procurement as an initiative for sustainable consumption. An exploratory study of Spanish public universities. Journal of Cleaner Production, 133, 648–656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.056
Pimentel, J. L. (2019). Some Biases in Likert Scaling Usage and its Correction. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research, 45(1), 183–191. http://gssrr.org/index.php?journal=JournalOfBasicAndApplied
Pyöriä, P., Ojala, S., Saari, T., & Järvinen, K.-M. (2017). The Millennial Generation: A New Breed of Labour? SAGE Open, 7(1), 307–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017697158
Rajadurai, J., Bathmanathan, V., & Azami, N. (2018). Gen Y green purchasing behavior in relation to YO energy conservation and environmental preservation products in Malaysia. International Journal of Engineering and Technology(UAE), 7(4), 810–818. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.35.23113
Rajadurai, J., Bathmanathan, V., & Azami, N. (2021). Online Purchasing Behavior of Green Products : A Case Study of Generation Y in Malaysia *. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8(6), 305–317. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no6.0305
Rashid, N. R. N. A., Jusoff, K., & Kassim, K. M. (2009). Eco-Labeling Perspectives amongst Malaysian Consumers. Canadian Social Science, 5(2), 1–10.
Rehman, Z. U., Shahbaz, M. S., Seman, N. A. A., & Mubarik, M. S. (2022). A Conceptual Action Plan for Reducing Environmental Pollution Through Sustainable Clothing Purchase Intention and Behavior: A Systematic Review. In Antecedents and Outcomes of Employee (pp. 219–242). https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-3621-9.ch015
Shumaila, Y., Foxall, G. R., & Pallister, J. G. (2010). Explaining internet banking behavior: Theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior, or technology acceptance model? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40(5), 1172–1202. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00615.x
Sidhu, B. (2020). Millennials have it tough. The Star. https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/11/27/millennials-have-it-tough
Taljaard, H., Sonnenberg, N. C., & Jacobs, B. M. (2018). Factors motivating male consumers' eco-friendly apparel acquisition in the South African emerging market. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 42(5), 461–468. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12441
Tan, C.-S., Ooi, H.-Y., & Goh, Y.-N. (2017). A moral extension of the theory of planned behavior to predict consumers' purchase intention for energy-efficient household appliances in Malaysia. Energy Policy, 107, 459–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.05.027
Vate-U-Lan, P., & Masouras, P. (2018). Thriving social network for communication on elearning: Exploring gender differences in attitudes. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1145/3279996.3280010
Wijekoon, R., & Sabri, M. F. (2021). Determinants That Influence Green Product Purchase Intention and Behavior : A Literature Review and Guiding Framework. Sustainability Review, 13, 1–40.
Yusliza, M. Y., Amirudin, A., Rahadi, R. A., Athirah, N. A. N. S., Ramayah, T., Muhammad, Z., Dal Mas, F., Massaro, M., Saputra, J., & Mokhlis, S. (2020). An investigation of pro-environmental behaviour and sustainable development in Malaysia. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(17), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177083
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Zahoor Ur Rehman, Noor Aslinda Abu Seman, Amran Harun
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
