To conclude, the specific objectives are to gain a deeper understanding of how attitudes, social norms, Perceived Behavioral Control, Environmental Concern and knowledge drive Vietnamese
Trang 1Factors Affecting Vietnamese Consumers Purchase Intention of Green Products on
Huynh Minh Nghia CS160072
Do Nguyen Hoang SS160037
Huynh Minh Tien SS160167
Ho Chi Minh City, November 7, 2023
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1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background .1
1.2 Brief overview .1
1.3 Research Gap .1
1.4 Research question .2
1.5 Research objectives .2
1.6 Research outline .2
2 Literature review .3
2.1 Definitions .3
2.2 Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Development .4
3 Methodology .7
3.1 Research Method .7
3.2 Sample and Data Collection .7
3.3 Measures .9
3.4 Tools for Analysis .10
4 Finding 10
4.1 Testing of Reliability and Validity of the Measurement Model .10
4.2 Testing of the Structural Equation Model .14
5 Discussion and Conclusion .15
Reference 16
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1.1 Background
Nowadays, ice caps are melting due to global
warming, some animals are extinct, and pollution of
air, land, or water is more serious One of the reasons
leading to the severe environmental sustainability
issue is the unsustainable level of consumption
green consumption is being paid more attention by
customers due to the rising Environmental Concern
customers from different countries and generations
have changed their behavior to become more
sustainable in the previous five years (85% of
customers have changed their buying habits to be
"greener" if we count those who have also made small
adjustments) At the same time, the number of online
shoppers worldwide has increased significantly with
the development of e-commerce after the COVID-19
pandemic (Mo Chen & Rabia Bashir, 2022)
According to the statistics of Oberlo, there will be
about 2.64 billion digital buyers in 2023, accounting
for 33.3% of the population in the world In 2022,
global retail e-commerce sales were estimated to be
more than 5.7 trillion U.S dollars, and this number is
believed to reach a new peak in the following years
predicted to be a more potential future (Hui HeID,
1.2 Brief overview
The trend was the same in Vietnam, since the
Covid-19 pandemic broke out, consumers have tended
to buy goods online Now, they have a higher
awareness of their health and environment, therefore,
they prioritize good-quality, reliable products and
ones that are labeled "green or eco-friendly"
According to Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of the
High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Business Association, the
role of standards is becoming a competitive advantage
for businesses in both the domestic and export markets
Green Growth for the period 2021 - 2030, with a
vision to 2050, green consumption is determined as a
development Along with economic development, living standards are being improved day by day The demand not only for high-quality and sustainable products but also for services is increasing, especially
as they directly support people's daily lives (NIF, 2021)
Keeping up with that trend, sellers on commerce platforms are trying to build their sales channels and product quality to attract customers
mostly from China, Japan, the United States, and South Korea, are still expanding their E-commerce presence in Vietnam Notably, five of the most profitable Southeast Asian E-commerce platforms, including Shopee, Lazada, The Gioi Di Dong, Tiki, and Sendo, are based in Vietnam (Acclime, 2022) Many consumers do not hesitate to change their shopping behavior This survey also shows that Vietnamese consumers have changed their lifestyles and purchasing habits (VnEconomy, 2022) In fact, in
2022, the number of Vietnamese people buying online reach more than 51 million, an increase of 13.5% compared to the previous year, with total spending on online shopping reaching 12.42 billion USD
fashion, furniture, personal care, and electronics
Book on Vietnamese E-Business 2022, revenue from E-commerce platforms is 5 billion USD in 2019 and is forecast to reach 39 billion USD in 2026 (Ministry of
provide a broad environment for green product markets, enabling consumers to not only have a better online shopping experience but also protect the environment (Hui He, 2020)
1.3 Research Gap
The field of e-commerce and green consumption
is becoming a growing tendency of the modern economy There are different studies on green buying behavior towards green products, however, primarily focus on the developed countries context (Soomro et
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intrinsic mechanisms and influencing mechanisms that
affect the repurchase behavior of urban residents on
fresh product e-commerce platforms However, their
study only focuses on Chinese consumers’ activities
and limits to certain products In fact, green
consumption behavior has undergone different
changes based on culture, geography, and human
characteristics The findings of above studies do not
fully represent the Vietnamese consumer behavior
towards green products on e-commerce In the context
of Vietnam, studies of Lobo & Nguyen, (2017)and
urban consumers toward green purchasing along with
influencing factors However, recent studies only
discuss some ideas among Vietnamese consumers in
general, there is still a gap in terms of green buying
behavior and e-commerce platforms
1.4 Research question
1.4.1 Which factors influence green purchasing
behavior on E-commerce platforms?
1.4.2 How is the consumers’ purchase behavior of
green products on E-commerce platforms influenced
by these factors?
1.5 Research objectives
The primary objective of this research is to
identify and thoroughly examine the key factors
influencing Vietnamese consumers' intention to
purchase green through e-commerce platforms
Achieving this aim plays an important role in
providing valuable insights to promote green
consumerism and sustainable e-commerce adoption in
the Vietnamese market More specifically, the
research also aims to:
Study the role of Environmental Concern in
translating to greater intention and action towards
green e-commerce purchases of Vietnamese
consumers
Examine how Vietnamese consumers'
Environmental Knowledge indirectly impacts their
green buying intentions through influences on attitude
and other variables
attitudes toward purchasing online green products and determine the drivers that shape these attitudes Evaluate the impact of social influences from family, friends, society, and demographic factors like age, education, and income on Vietnamese consumers' willingness to buy green products on e-commerce platforms
Assess how behavioral control factors like consumer abilities, access to resources, and other constraints affect Vietnamese consumers' perceived ease or difficulty of buying green online
To conclude, the specific objectives are to gain a deeper understanding of how attitudes, social norms, Perceived Behavioral Control, Environmental Concern and knowledge drive Vietnamese consumers' intention to buy green products on e-commerce platforms
Chapter 2: Literature Review
The second chapter will define the factors affecting the intention to purchase green products on E-commerce platforms, the hypotheses, empirical research, and the conceptual framework
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
The third chapter will provide methodologies to conduct research on appropriate topics such as research philosophy, methods, strategies, selection of sample size, sample location, time and sample analysis method
Chapter 4: Finding
The fourth chapter will present the research results in detail and give brief comments for each
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study are presented in the form of data
Chapter 5: Conclusion
This final chapter will outline the limitations in
doing process, provide incentives to use this research
paper as a reference for other articles related to the
topic of future research and conclude the research
paper
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Definitions
2.1.1 Green products
Green products are defined as products that exhibit
significantly improved environmental and societal
performance throughout their life cycle, compared to
conventional or competitive products This definition
encompasses the different life cycle phases during
which a product can demonstrate its environmentally
friendly features, as highlighted by (Prothero, 1998)
Green products encompass not only those that
have a reduced environmental impact but also those
that offer greater environmental advantages when
compared to conventional products (Porter and
the concept of "green products" or "environmental
products" is frequently used in business to refer to
consumer goods that aim to safeguard or improve the
natural environment While it is acknowledged that no
consumer product can have a completely zero impact
on the environment, these terms are commonly
employed to describe products that strive to conserve
energy and/or resources, as well as reduce or eliminate
the use of toxic agents, pollution, and waste This
definition of green product development encompasses
various environmental aspects, including energy
consumption, resource utilization, pollution reduction,
and waste management
In conclusion, "green products" also known as
sustainable products or eco-friendly products, are
defined as goods and services that minimize the use of
and prevent waste generation from the initial conception stage These products are designed to meet the needs of consumers while minimizing the negative impacts on the environment and conserving resources for future generations
2.1.2 Online Purchase Intention
According to Pavlou (2003) theory, an online purchase intention is a customer's willingness and desire to engage in an online transaction Additionally, online transactions may be viewed as a process that involves the acquisition of information, the transmission of information, and the purchase of goods Web merchants must investigate the influence
of shopping orientations on the customer's intention to make an online purchase in order to activate that
intention
The degree of a consumer's intention to engage in
a certain purchasing behavior over the Internet will be determined by their customer's online purchase intention in the web-shopping environment (Salisbury
et al., 2001)
This phrase refers to a customer's readiness to browse, choose, and buy things online Online purchase intention was first described by (Khalifa,
based their definition of this word on an earlier definition of consumer behavior and intention by Fishbein & Ajzen(1975)
(Haan, 2023)
According to Chan and Hawamdeh (2002), commerce is the process of developing and transforming business partnerships through the use of networked computers E-commerce is predicted to
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approach to business transaction completion It is
frequently related to online transactions including the
purchase and sale of goods and services
To sum up, e-commerce platforms are digital
marketplaces that facilitate the buying and selling of
products, services, and documents over the Internet
These platforms provide customers with the ability to
search for products, manage orders, and make
payments online
2.2 Theoretical Background and Hypotheses
Development
A popular hypothesis that attempts to explain
human behavior is the TPB (Ajzen, 1991) In addition,
it has been used to plan and assess behavioral change
initiatives across a range of fields (Steinmetz et al.,
intention to engage in a particular action determines how likely it is that they will do so Three factors—attitude toward the conduct, subjective norm, and Perceived Behavioral Control—have an impact on intention According to the TPB, each of these three constructs is influenced by a corresponding set of easily available beliefs, including behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs
We use the structure of the proposed framework to investigate the Purchasing Intention of Green Products which is shown in Figure 1 In our study, there are 11 hypotheses drawn from six factors, including, Attitude towards Purchasing Green Products, subjective norm, Perceived Behavioral Control, environment concern, environment knowledge and Purchase Intention for
Green Products
2.2.1 Attitude towards Purchasing Green Products
(ATT)
Attitude, as defined by Ajzen (1991), represents
an individual's assessment of products or services,
which subsequently shapes their positive or negative
feelings towards a specific situation The relationship between attitudes and purchase intentions for green products has been supported by various studies conducted across different cultural and demographic segments (Dilotsotlhe, 2021 Marvi et al., 2020; ;
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a responsible attitude toward sustainable products are
more likely to exhibit a positive mindset and make
environmentally conscious decisions Also, the
intention of individuals to purchase green products is
likely to be more favorable when they hold positive
attitudes towards green products (Bulsara & Trivedi,
2023) Hence, in this study, a similar association
between attitudes and the intention to purchase green
products can be stated in the following hypothesis:
H1: There is a positive association between Attitude
towards Purchasing Green Products and Purchase
Intention for Green Products
2.2.2 Subjective Norms (SN)
Subjective Norms are a set of rules that social
groups impose on their members, and individuals
consider these rules in their behavioral decisions
Norms are systematic adherence to rules for
individuals in a particular group or society
to the study of Park (2000), Subjective Norms are
individuals’ opinions that can influence their
decision-making process Research by Zukin and Maguire
(2004) has shown that social norms have a significant
impact on green consumption and are foundational to
various theories and models related to consumption
Subjective Norms (as well as consumer attitudes and
Perceived Behavioral Control) are important factors
that influence consumers' consumption intentions
Sethi and Jain (2020) believed that Subjective Norms
have a positive influence on the purchase intention of
green products Positive attitudes and more positive
Subjective Norms boost the purchase of organic food
products (Fishbein and Ajzen, 2010 Vermeir and ;
claim that people are more likely to intend to stay in
green hotels if they have a positive attitude and
Subjective Norms toward doing so Based on these
views, we propose:
H2: There is a positive association between
Subjective Norms and Purchase Intention for Green
Products
2.2.3 Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC)
In many previous studies, Perceived Behavioral Control is widely believed as an important determinant of behavioral intention (De Leeuw et al.,
control refers to an individual's belief about the easiness or difficulty of behavior toward a particular situation (Maichum et al., 2016) It is influenced by both external barriers (including price and availability)
factors (including consumption pleasure, skill, and ability) (Kidwell & Jewell, 2003) The concept of Perceived Behavioral Control has been added to solve the situation that people may not have enough complete volitional control over the behavior of interest (Ajzen, 2002) For example, despite the convenience and affordant price of non-eco-friendly products, you believe in your ability to protect the environment You might avoid using this kind of product and try to consume greener According to the theory of planned behavior, Perceived Behavioral Control is one of three types of beliefs that is essential
to develop Perceived Behavioral Control before generating behavioral intention Furthermore, Perceived Behavioral Control plays a direct and significant role in the intention of purchasing green products (Moser, 2015 Aitken et al., 2020; ) So we
propose the next hypothesis:
H3: There is a positive association between Perceived Behavioral Control and Purchase Intention for Green Products
2.2.4 Environmental Concern (EC)
Environmental Concern is always viewed as a person’s concern level for the environmental issues in the environment behavioral study (Hines et al., 1987)
It is defined as the measure by which people are aware
of environmental issues and take part in solving environmental problems (Maichum et al., 2016b) When a consumer stays away from goods and services that might seriously harm the environment, their level
of Environmental Concern is greater (Ogiemwonyi et
Concern is often cited as a strong motivator for green
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of Environmental Concern on green product
purchasing intention was examined via several
previous research articles (Indriani et al., 2019;
(2013) demonstrated that those who are more
concerned about the environment used more green
products and paid greater attention to environmental
issues since they thought that humans were to blame
for the rise of these issues Indriani et al (2019) also
investigated that there was a positive relationship
between the results of Environmental Concern and
green purchase intention among Indonesian university
students The notion is that the higher the
Environmental Concern of the consumers, the more
directly associated with their positive attitude toward
green products which in turn increases their high level
of purchasing intention for such products Hence, this
study proposes the following hypotheses:
H4: There is a positive association between
Environmental Concern and Purchase Intention for
Green Products
The primary determinant of buying green
products was customer attitudes, which varied
depending on the level of Environmental Concern of
each person (Cerri, J., Testa, F., & Rizzi, F.,2018)
Balderjahn (1988) concluded that positive attitudes
toward the environment were associated with higher
participation in the purchase and use of green
products Hartmann and Apaolaza-Ibáez (2012)
studied the effects of Environmental Concern and
discovered that it influences attitudes and intentions to
buy green products Accordingly, we propose the
following hypothesis:
H5: There is a positive association between
Environmental Concern and Attitude towards
Purchasing Green Products
Some previous studies indicate that Subjective
Norms are related to Environmental Concerns through
customer behaviors Subjective Norms impact
attitudes in terms of some kind of ethical decision, and
purchasing organic food can also be perceived as an
ethical decision that reflects Environmental Concern
(Tarkiainen, A., & Sundqvist, S., 2005) According to
information leaflet on green electrical products are directly impacted by Environmental Concerns This finding suggests that students who were extremely concerned about the environment felt more support from significant references than students who were less concerned Based on this discussion, we proposed the following hypothesis:
H6: There is a positive association between Environmental Concern and Subjective Norms
The development of eco-friendly behavior depends heavily on Environmental Concerns A person who is environmentally conscious both in public and privately will act responsibly (Lou, X., &
Li, L M W., 2022) Chen, M., & Tung, P (2014)
predicted that through attitude, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control, EC indirectly influenced visitors' intentions to stay in green hotels Furthermore, many studies failed to explain green purchase behavioral intention using the TRA and TPB approach driven by attitude, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control, and as a result, there was found to be a weaker correlation between the attitude toward green purchasing and the actual purchase decision (Joshi, Y., & Rahman, Z.,
2015) So, in this extended TPB model, the following hypothesis has been predicted:
H7: There is a positive association between Environmental Concern and Perceived Behavioral Control
2.2.5 Environmental Knowledge (EK)
Environmental Knowledge refers to an understanding of information and ideas related to the natural world and its major ecological systems It encompasses facts, concepts, and connections about the environment (Indriani et al., 2019e) From the standpoint of the consumer, Environmental Knowledge may be described as the capacity to perceive and assess problems relating to human consuming activities and behaviors that might have a good or negative impact on the environment (Haron et
consumers have, the more informed they became,
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purchasing eco-friendly products (Lee et al., 2012) In
some previous studies, researchers demonstrated that
there was a positive relationship between
Environmental Knowledge and Green Purchase
Intention (Joshi & Rahman, 2015) Although they did
not specify the kind of green goods, they observed a
direct correlation between Environmental Knowledge
and Green Purchase Intention and when that
relationship was mediated by Attitude As a result, we
hypothesize that:
H8: There is a positive association between
Environmental Knowledge and Purchase Intention
for Green Products.
Consumers' attitudes toward buying
environmentally friendly products are shaped by the
ideas and information they have acquired over the
course of their lives(Vazifehdoust et al., 2013) If
consumers possess awareness of environmental issues,
it encourages positive attitudes toward green products
Knowledge expressed less favorable environmental
attitudes than more knowledgeable students (Bradley
hypothesize the following:
H9: There is a positive association between
Environmental Knowledge and Attitude towards
Purchasing Green Products
Consumers' decisions are influenced by their
subjective knowledge because they are inspired to act
on their knowledge (Moorman et al., 2004)
According to the research of Jyhs Chiou (1998), they
demonstrated that Subjective Norms in the group of
people with high knowledge would effect significantly
on purchasing intention Environmental Knowledge
may also increase conformity to social norms if
individuals present themselves as knowledgeable to
meet perceived expectations (Yang & Kahlor, 2013)
Those adhering to norms may have greater
environmental awareness from paying more attention
to related information Given this, we suggested the
be more likely to buy green products and help conserve, preserve, and sustain the environment if they have Environmental Knowledge, awareness, and behavioral control (Mendoza et al., 2022).Consumers who have more green knowledge are more likely to have positive attitudes Therefore, green knowledge influences their purchasing behavior They are able to allocate more time and resources to making green purchases and value green products more highly Perceived Behavioral Control has a mediating role of green knowledge and green purchase intention (ITJEMAST 10(5) 2019, n.d.-b) Thus, the last proposed hypothesis is:
H11: There is a positive relationship between Environmental Knowledge and Perceived Behavioral Control
3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Method
This study adopts a quantitative research approach to investigate purchase intention of green products on e-commerce platforms among consumers, which consists of demographic questions, filter questions, and measuring achievement With a systematic and rigorous approach to the quantitative method, it is well-suited for analyzing the insights that influence consumers' intention to purchase green products online, as well as drawing conclusions and supporting the research hypothesis and arguments
3.2 Sample and Data Collection
The data for this research were acquired through structured questionnaires, specifically designed for individuals aged 18 years or older with a higher level
of education, typically possessing at least a high school degree According to Chan (2001), the intricate nature of the green context being examined
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given its complexity in influencing decision-making
Consequently, the preferred study sample
encompassed adult participants aged 18 years and
above Additionally, numerous researchers have
indicated that individuals with lower levels of
education may struggle to comprehend complex
topics compared to those with higher education (Paul
et al., 2016 Han et al., 201 Alwitt & Pitts, 1996; ; ;
Hedlund, 2011) To ensure that the quota sampling
was representative of the target population, this study
employed quota sampling to select participants who
were 18 years of age or older and had a minimum
high school education level residing in Vietnam The
income levels in the questionnaires are based on the
income levels divided in the article (Hanh, 2022)
disseminated among adults in Ho Chi Minh city from October 21, 2023, to October 23, 2023 A total of 308 valid responses were collected, and the sample size was determined with a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error The questionnaire required approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, and respondents received learning materials as a token of appreciation for their participation
Based on the descriptive statistics in Table 1, a majority of the respondents were females (55.52%), aged 18-26 years (90.58%), live with family & relatives (41.23%), be a student (84.44%), study at university/college (90.59%), and a monthly income range of 0-under 5 million VND per person (62.99%)
Table 1 Sample characteristics ( = 308) n
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3.3 Measures
An online questionnaire survey was distributed to
collect data and test the research model The
questionnaire’s content and measurement items were
originally developed according to previous research
(Maichum et al., 2016 Jaiswal & Kant, 2018, ) All
constructs used in this study were measured by
various items on 5-point Likert-type scale (1 =
Completely disagree to 5 = Completely agree) The
survey questionnaire investigated respondents’
demographic characteristics, such as age, gender,
Purchasing Green Products, etc The questionnaire’s main measurement items are provided in Table 1 Table 2 provides descriptive data for the items
in the questionnaire about mean values and standard deviation The mean values of the six constructs are quite high It fluctuates between 3.400 to 3.975 The lowest mean value is Subjective Norms which reflects the popularity of green consumption among adults in
Ho Chi Minh City is not really high
Table 2 Descriptive data of the questionnaire items
Constructs/ Questionnaire Items Mean Standard
Deviation Sources
Maichum
et al., 2016
ATT1: I think that purchasing green product is favorable 4.030 0.906
ATT2: I think that purchasing green product is a good idea 3.890 0.931
ATT3: I think that purchasing green product is safe 3.530 0.990
SN1: My family think that I should purchase green products rather than
SN2: My close friends think that I should purchase green products rather
SN3: Most people who are important to me think I should purchase
green products rather than normal products 3.460 0.969
PBC1: I am confident that I can purchase green products rather than normal
PBC2: I see myself as capable of purchasing green products in future 3.770 0.840
PBC3: I have resources, time and willingness to purchase green products 3.490 1.003
PBC4: There are likely to be plenty of opportunities for me to purchase
EC1: I am very concerned about the state of the world’s environment 4.020 0.878
EC2: I am willing to reduce my consumption to help protect the
EC3: I often think about how the environmental quality in Vietnam can be
Jaiswal & Kant, 2018