Green consciousness and consumer buying behaviour in a developing country: a study of Ghanaian consumers
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Date
2012-07
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KNUST
Abstract
Environmental consciousness has seen more light over the past three decades because of the increasing indication of environmental problems. Consumers and businesses alike are more environmentally friendly. Ghana as a developing country faces a lot of environmental issues and it is imperative for the country to focus on decreasing the negative effect on the environment. Green marketing is a phenomenon that is still at its birth stage in Ghana as Ghanaian consumers are currently at the stage of green awaking and green consciousness. There is little academic evidence of the Ghanaian being environmentally friendly.The main objectives of the study are to determine if Ghanaian consumers have pro-environmental concerns,knowledge of environmental issues and awareness of green products. An objective is to know if Ghanaian consumers will be will to pay more for green products and if their concerns and knowledge of the environment would affect their purchasing decisions or buying behaviour. The study suggests that Ghanaian consumers are gradually moving towards the green phenomenon and that the consumers who are have knowledge in environmental issues and are green conscious prefer to purchase green products even at higher prices. This study was carried out using data collected from 350 residents of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions that were used to measure the attitude of Ghanaian consumers towards the environment and how these attitudes influence their buying behaviour. The collected primary data was analyzed with SPSS using tools such as descriptive statistics, factor analysis and correlation. The results of the study showed that the Ghanaian consumers’ pro-environmental concerns notably affect their green buying behaviour. It also showed that consumers are willing to buy green products but are not willing to pay a higherprice for them. The survey findings suggest Ghanaian consumers’ demographics which include age, educational level and income level do not have a strong impact on the green consciousness and green buying behaviour. There is a great need for a drastic promotion and awareness creation among consumers carried out by green marketing campaigns, government, businesses and organizations.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department Of Marketing And Corporate Strategy, School Of Business, KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of masters degree of Masters of business administration