Self-determined motivation, mindfulness, and green consumption behavior

Green consumption behavior (GCB) is desirable for a better world. The trend of GCB is expected to rise in the coming years. As such, it is imperative to understand the enablers of GCB. A significant majority of the investigated drivers of GCB are consumer-level factors. Studies focusing on the consumer-level showed that factors such as values, intentions, and personal norms could influence GCB. However, it is argued that compared to values or intentions, self-determined motivation can better predict GCB. The effect of self-determined motivation types (i.e., autonomous and controlled motivation) on GCB remains unclear due to prevailing gaps and contradictory findings. Furthermore, it is posited that people exhibit more self-determined behavior if they have strong self-awareness. Higher self-awareness can be achieved through mindfulness; therefore, differences in mindfulness level could affect the motivation-behavior relationship.

This study investigates the effect of autonomous and controlled motivation on GCB and examines whether mindfulness moderates the motivation-GCB relationship. Mindfulness can either be a natural phenomenon (trait mindfulness) or a momentarily induced state. Our study focuses on trait mindfulness. The present study contributes by empirically validating the interplay between motivation, mindfulness, and GCB. Notably, examining the moderating role of trait mindfulness between SDT motivation types and GCB is a novel contribution since such exploration has yet to be done in the GCB context.

With a survey-based methodology, data for the present study were collected through an online-based, self-administered questionnaire. A total of 249 completed responses were collected. Results reveal that both autonomous and controlled motivation have significant positive effects on GCB. However, the relative weight of autonomous motivation is more substantial than controlled motivation. Furthermore, trait mindfulness does not moderate the relationship between autonomous motivation and GCB. However, trait mindfulness diminishes the positive relationship between controlled motivation and GCB through a significant negative moderating effect.