Estimation of Different Factors Considered by the Consumers during Purchase of Green Products

Abstract

Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems experienced by humanity and other life-forms on the earth today. Going green means leading lifestyle that’s not just more beneficial for people who do it, but for their surroundings as well. The study The study aimed at determining the green products purchased and the factors considered while purchasing green products. The exploratory research design was adopted to conduct the study. The data was collected from 300 educated consumers from the urban areas of Dharwad and Belagavi district. The data was analyzed by using frequency, percentage and Garrett raking technique. The results revealed that majority of the consumers (43.00%) belonged to 22-29 years age group, more than half of the selected consumers (57.67%) were graduates, more than one third of the consumers were students (32.67%), and had medium family income of 7,380-51,780 per month. Majority of the urban consumers (76.33%) purchased food products from the retail shops. The consumers perceived health, quality and taste as the major factors influencing them to purchase green products in urban locality. The study concluded that Young consumers seem to have high level of health and environmental consciousness. They are even ready to buy green products if available easily. At the same time, they are concerned about product price and are ready to pay premium for the green product only when there is an additional benefit associated with it. Government can also play key role in this aspect by encouraging consumers and promoting firms to go green. Green marketing should not be considered as a new strategy to make better profits for the marketing firms, it has to be pursued with much greater vigor, since it has a social and environmental dimension to it.