Antecedents and pro-environmental consumer behavior (PECB): the moderating role of religiosity

• Published in: The Journal of consumer marketing Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 287 - 299
• Main Authors: Bhuian, Shahid Nakib, Sharma, Sujeet Kumar, Butt, Irfan, Ahmed, Zafar U
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Santa Barbara Emerald Publishing Limited 14.05.2018; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Attitudes; Brand loyalty; Consumer behavior; Consumers; Environmental ethics; Environmentalism; Influence; Morality; Neural networks; Population growth; Religion; Statistical methods; Studies; Sustainable development; Values; Neural network; Pro-environmental consumer behavior; Religiosity; Oman
• ISSN: 0736-3761; 2052-1200
• DOI: 10.1108/JCM-02-2017-2076

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the predictabilities of five intra-personal factors to predict pro-environmental consumer behavior (PECB) and the moderating role of religiosity in Oman. Design/methodology/approach The study uses neural network to analyze the antecedents/antecedents × religiosity → PECB relationships by using a sample of 306 consumers from Oman. Findings This study finds that the most important predictors of PECB, according to the order of importance, are attitude × religiosity, knowledge, concern × religiosity, knowledge × religiosity, value, religiosity, attitude, concern and value × religiosity. Research limitations/implications The convenience sample from a single Islamic country limits the generalizability of the findings. Future studies should use probabilistic sampling techniques and multiple Islamic countries located in different geographical regions. Practical implications To promote PECB, businesses and policymakers should provide environmental education to expand knowledge and value, leverage ecological religious values in integrated marketing communications, make positive inducements to change attitude and concern enhancing interventions. Social implications As religiosity enhances PECB by moderating the impacts of environmental intra-personal factors on PECB, businesses and policymakers should find ways to use faith-based ecological messages in Islamic countries. Originality/value Determining the predictabilities of psychological factors and their interactions with religiosity to predict PECB in Islamic countries is necessary for promoting environmentally friendly products in Islamic countries and for reducing the ecological damage to the environment.