Green behavior among Gen Z consumers in an emerging market: eco-friendly versus non-eco-friendly products

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the influence of brand familiarity, consumer green consciousness (GC) and chronic regulatory focus on consumer attitudes, buying intentions and willingness to pay more for eco-friendly products in a comparison between eco-friendly and non-eco-friendly products among Generation Z consumers. Design/methodology/approach: An experiment with a between-subjects design was conducted with 151 Malaysian Generation Z consumers. Findings: When consumers are more familiar with an eco-friendly brand than a non-eco-friendly brand, their attitude toward, buying intention and willingness to pay more for eco-friendly products are significantly higher than for non-eco-friendly products. In contrast, such effects are not significant when consumers are more familiar with a non-eco-friendly brand than an eco-friendly brand. Hence, young consumers are more inclined to favor a familiar eco-friendly brand than a familiar non-eco-friendly one. Consumers with higher GC are willing to pay more than consumers with lower GC for products of a familiar eco-friendly brand. When consumers are less familiar with an eco-friendly brand, those with a higher chronic promotion focus (CPF) will have a more favorable attitude toward, and a higher intention to buy, eco-friendly products than those with a lower CPF. Practical implications: Awareness of how these factors influence consumer purchase behavior can help retailers and marketers design and communicate specific messages to highlight their brand and product eco-friendliness in their marketing strategies. Doing so may increase familiarity with their brand and the demand for and purchase of their brand’s eco-friendly products. Originality/value: This research explores the influence of an integrated model of brand familiarity, GC and CPF on consumer purchase behavior in the comparison between eco-friendly and non-eco-friendly products. This has not been clearly examined in previous research.