Explaining Green Purchasing Behavior: A Cross-Cultural Study on American and Chinese Consumers

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Journal of International Consumer Marketing
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Explaining Green Purchasing Behavior
Ricky Y. K. Chan & Lorett B. Y. Lau
To cite this article: Ricky Y. K. Chan & Lorett B. Y. Lau (2002) Explaining Green Purchasing
Behavior, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 14:2-3, 9-40, DOI: 10.1300/
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Explaining Green Purchasing Behavior:
A Cross-Cultural Study
on American and Chinese Consumers
Ricky Y. K. Chan
Lorett B. Y. Lau
ABSTRACT. This study examines the applicability of the Theory of
Planned Behavior to green purchasing behavior in the Chinese and
American cultural settings. To this end, consumers in Shanghai and Los
Angeles were surveyed and the relevant structural equation modeling
analysis indicates the satisfactory external validity of the model in ex-
plaining eco-friendly purchases of the Chinese and American consum-
ers. Despite the general universality of the model, the cross-group
analysis highlights that both subjective norm and perceived behavioral
control exert stronger influences on Chinese consumers’ behavioral in-
tention than on American consumers. Moreover, the translation of green
purchasing intention to corresponding behavior is found to be more ef-
fective in the American sample. These cross-group variances are likely
to be attributed to cultural differences and discrepancies in the environ-
Dr. Ricky Y. K. Chan is Associate Professor, Department of Business Studies,
Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests lie in environmental behav-
iors of consumers.
Dr. Lorett B. Y. Lau is Assistant Professor, Department of Business Studies, Hong
Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests are in consumer behavior, con-
sumer emotions and attitudes.
Address correspondence to: Ricky Y. K. Chan, Department of Business Studies,
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (E-mail:
buricky@polyu.edu.hk).
The authors would like to thank Dr. Y. H. Wong, Dr. Thomas Leung, Dr. Susan Tai
and Dr. Jackie Tam for helpful comments on the survey items.
The work described in this paper was supported by a research grant from the Hong
Kong Polytechnic University.
Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Vol. 14(2/3) 2001
2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 9
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mental development of the two nations, and would provide policy mak-
ers and green marketers useful insights into fine-tuning their pervasive
and intervening strategies. [Article copies available for a fee from The
Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address:
<getinfo@haworthpressinc.com> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com>
© 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]
KEYWORDS. The theory of planned behavior, green purchasing be-
havior, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, struc-
tural equation modeling
INTRODUCTION
Concerns for environmental issues have consistently been one of the
top ten topics for various societal stakeholders since the early 1970s
(Grunert, 1993). With increasing affluence derived from rapid economic
development, citizens in various parts of the world are becoming more
and more concerned about the hazardous impacts of environmental dete-
rioration on their enjoyment of life (Dagnoli, 1991; Levin, 1991; Li,
1997; Martin and Simintiras, 1995; Rice, Wongtada and Leelakulthanit,
1996). Against this global trend of heightened environmental conscious-
ness, researchers have been attracted to seek a better understanding of
various factors that determine the performance of environmentally re-
sponsible acts (e.g., Berger and Corbin, 1992; McCarty and Shrum, 1994;
Pieter et al., 1998; Taylor and Todd, 1995; Thogersen, 1999). In market-
ing studies, researchers are particularly interested in investigating impor-
tant antecedents of green purchasing behavior (e.g., Li, 1997; Martin and
Simintiras, 1995; Stafford, Stafford and Jhinuk, 1996).
Although a number of factors such as environmental attitudes (Mar-
tin and Simintiras, 1995), collectivist orientation (e.g., Li, 1997) and
perceived consumer efficacy (e.g., Rice, Wongtada and Leelakulthanit,
1996) were found to influence green purchases, they have typically
been studied in a piecemeal fashion. As such, little is known about their
inter-relationships and their respective influences on green purchasing
behavior. This inadequacy calls for the need to explore an appropriate
theoretical framework to encompass the relevant major exogenous and
endogenous variables in an integrative manner.
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PURPOSES OF THE STUDY
Against this background, the present study aims to assess how well a
highly popular behavioral model, the theory of planned behavior (TPB),
is able to explain consumers’ green purchasing behavior. This assess-
ment helps advance understanding of whether TPB (cf. Ajzen, 1985;
1991; Ajzen and Madden, 1986) can really offer a cohesive framework
for systematically studying green purchasing behavior and the related
antecedents. TPB has often been regarded as an extension of the more
classic behavioral model, the theory of reasoned action (TRA), through
the incorporation of an additional construct called perceived behavioral
control (PBC) (cf. Ajzen and Fishbein, 1973; Taylor and Todd, 1995).
According to Ajzen (1991), the notion of perceived behavioral control
is similar to that of perceived self-efficacy, which, in turn, was found to
be a significant determinant of various kinds of eco-friendly behavior
in the literature (e.g., Berger and Corbin, 1992; Ellen, Weiner and
Cobb-Walgren, 1991; Rice, Wongtada and Leelakulthanit, 1996). Ap-
parently, this literature lends support to the applicability of TPB to a
specific kind of eco-friendly behavior too, namely green purchasing be-
havior.
In addition, despite the fact that most of the behavioral theories have
been developed and tested in Western countries, and particularly in the
US, relatively little attention has been devoted to investigating their va-
lidity in other cultural settings (Al-Khatib, Vitell and Rawwas, 1997;
Lee and Green, 1991). However, this cross-cultural testing is consid-
ered important, as most behavioral theories are rooted in psychology
which, in turn, is heavily bound by cultural values (Lee and Green,
1991; Triandis, 1982). In view of this, the present study also involves a
cross-cultural comparison of the applicability of TPB in Chinese and
American consumers. Given China’s huge population and the well-doc-
umented differences between Chinese and American cultures (Bond et
al., 1985; Kim, Pan and Park, 1998), this study should be able to make
both academic and practical contributions through externally validating
a popular Western behavioral model in a potentially lucrative yet cul-
turally distinct marketplace.
THE APPLICABILITY OF TPB TO GREEN PURCHASES
Figure 1 depicts TPB graphically. Briefly, the theory postulates that
an individual’s behavior (Beh) is determined by his behavioral inten-
Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 11
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tion (BI) to perform that behavior. Behavioral intention is, in turn, a
function of the individual’s attitude toward the behavior (Att), subjec-
tive norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC). At the most
basic level of explanation, TPB further postulates that Att, SN and PBC
are respectively determined by attitudinal beliefs and outcome evalua-
tion (ΣBiEi), normative beliefs and motivation to comply (ΣNjMj), and
control beliefs and perceived power of the control factor under consid-
eration (ΣCkPk) (Ajzen, 1985; 1987; 1991).
As mentioned above, the major difference between TPB and the
more classic TRA is the former’s incorporation of the construct of PBC,
which refers to “people’s perceptions of the ease or difficulty of per-
forming the behavior of interest” (cf. Ajzen, 1991; Bandura, 1977;
1982). By taking into account the availability of requisite opportunities
and resources for individuals to act in a specific way, TPB is, in general,
considered to be appropriate for explaining behaviors over which people
12 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
Att
SN
PBC
BI Beh
ΣBE
ii
ΣNM
jj
ΣCP
kk
FIGURE 1. Graphic Representation of the Theory of Planned Behavior
Note:
Beh = target behavior
BI = behavioral intention
Att = attitude toward behavior
SN = subjective norm
PBC = perceived behavioral control
Bi= attitudinal (behavioral) belief
Ei= outcome evaluation
Nj= normative belief
Mj= motivation to comply
Ck= control belief
Pk= perceived power of the control factor
i, j and k represent the number of attitudinal, normative and control beliefs respectively.
Dashed line represents the possible direct influence of perceived behavioral control on behavior.
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have incomplete volitional control (Ajzen, 1991; Madden, Ellen and
Ajzen, 1992).
When judged against previous environmental studies, TPB’s incor-
poration of incomplete volitional control into consideration lends sup-
port to its ability to explain eco-friendly behavior. For instance, in
examining factors that might affect US citizens’ environmentally re-
sponsible behaviors, Berger and Corbin (1992) noted the significant
role of perceived self-efficacy. In another study on Thai consumers,
Rice, Wongtada and Leelakulthanit (1996) found that subjects exhibiting
a high degree of perceived self-efficacy behaved more environmentally
friendly than those exhibiting a low degree of perceived self-efficacy.
In other words, if individuals do not perceive that as consumers, they
can help solve the environmental problems, they will be apathetic
toward green consumption (cf. Allen, 1982; Ellen, Weiner and Cobb-
Walgren, 1991). Among others, perceived difficulty in locating green
products (Rice, Wongtada and Leelakulthanit, 1996), and in discerning
the truthfulness of green products’ claims (Chan, 1999) are generally
regarded as the major contributors to consumers’ low degree of per-
ceived self-efficacy.
Given that purchasing green products or otherwise is an ethical deci-
sion often faced by today’s consumers (Hopfenbeck, 1993, pp. 301-306),
studies concerning the application of TPB to other ethical issues are
also worth referencing. For instance, in the context of conserving natu-
ral resources, Lynne et al. (1995) noted that TPB is adequate to explain
farmers’ behavior to adopt water saving technology. Similar findings
were reported for the study of household garbage behavior (Taylor and
Todd, 1995). In examining drivers’ intention to commit specific traffic
violations using TPB, Parker et al. (1992) found that the addition of
PBC led to significant increments in the explanatory power of the
model. Moreover, Randall (1994) demonstrated the efficacy of TPB to
expound students’ choice of an elective ethics course. Nevertheless, in
studying agents’ ethical intention concerning their dealings with cli-
ents, Kurland (1995; 1996) only noted a modest explanatory power of
TPB. Used in conjunction with the theory of moral development (cf.
Kohlberg, 1981), TPB was found to be reasonably capable of explain-
ing individuals’ ethical beliefs, intention and behavior (Weber and
Gillespie, 1998). Lately, Chang (1998) demonstrated that TPB is supe-
rior to TRA in explaining “soft-lifting behavior” (i.e., illegal copying of
software). Although far from conclusive, this empirical evidence lends
further support to the applicability of TPB to the subject under investi-
gation.
Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 13
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RELEVANCE OF THIS STUDY
In view of different social, economic and political structures between
China and Western developed countries, some may maintain that the
Chinese are far less environmentally conscious than their Western
counterparts. This view leads to some doubt about the comparability be-
tween the two cultural samples (i.e., Chinese and American) under
study. However, with China’s continued economic and social advance-
ment after its opening up in late 1978, Chinese citizens and especially
those residing in urban areas have gradually realized the importance of
ecological well-being to their enjoyment of increased leisure time. This
observation has been supported by Chan’s (1999) empirical study,
which demonstrates that Chinese residents nowadays are comparable to
their American counterparts in terms of actual commitment to eco-
friendly activities. More important, the same study further reveals that
the Chinese are even more emotionally attached to environmental is-
sues than Americans. Another recent environmental survey also indi-
cates that over 75% of the Chinese consumers expressed strong intention
to purchase green products, and over 90% of the enterprises showed
their willingness to sell green in China (Ye, 2000, p. 114). These fig-
ures, at least, suggest that the market potential for green products in
China is far from negligible.
Although in terms of variety, green products may still not be as widely
available in China as in other developed nations, many green versions of
consumer products (e.g., green food, energy-saving bulbs, CFC-free re-
frigerators, etc.) are already on sale in the country (Liu, 1994; Ye, 2000).
A recent environmental study also reveals that Chinese consumers are
highly familiar with such green consumer products as eco-friendly deter-
gents and batteries, and over one third of the consumers under study
bought either one of these products in the previous six months (Chan,
2000). In short, although Chinese consumers might not be able to enjoy
the same degree of green product variety as their Western counterparts,
the availability of a range of green products in China would still allow
them to express their green concerns rather freely via corresponding be-
havioral responses. The presence of a considerable number of green
products in the Chinese marketplace lends further credence to the compa-
rability between the two samples under investigation.
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FORMULATION OF HYPOTHESES
In addition to empirically testing all the hypothesized relationships
depicted in Figure 1 (as indicated by arrows), three additional hypothe-
ses were developed for testing in the present study. The rationale of for-
mulating these hypotheses is detailed below.
The first additional hypothesis focuses on the cultural orientation of
collectivism-individualism. Concerning how the Chinese view their re-
lationships with others, most researchers point to their unique collectiv-
ist nature (Li, 1997; Yau, 1994). Hofstede (1980) asserts that the
Chinese emphasize heavily the primacy of interests of specific social
groups and the maintenance of group cohesiveness. Lee (1990) further
maintains that people from Confucian nations, such as China and Korea,
have a strong propensity to conform with the norms of their reference
groups, and they are highly concerned about whether their behavior
would make them “lose face” within their social circles (also cf. Hu,
1944; Redding and Ng, 1983; Yau, 1988; 1994). In developing its Chi-
nese values survey instruments, the Chinese Culture Connection (1987)
also notes that two of its four derived cultural values (integration and
moral discipline) point to a more basic cultural dimension of the Chi-
nese, namely collectivism.
Given their collectivist nature, the Chinese are expected to exhibit a
strong tendency to subordinate their individual interests in pursuit of
group interests (Hofstede, 1983; Triandis, 1989; Triandis et al., 1988).
Lee (1990) terms this collectivist characteristic of Confucian nations
“group conformity.” As far as the preservation of ecological well-being
is concerned, McCarty and Shrum (1994) also note that collectivist in-
dividuals tend to be more cooperative than those who are individualis-
tic. In short, if individuals are more collective, it is likely that they will
be more willing to attach heavier weight to the views of those major
referents within their social circles (Lee and Green, 1991).
To the contrary, Americans have often been regarded as placing a
strong value on “being themselves” (Postrel, 1993; Wrightson, 1997).
Moreover, when compared with Chinese cultural values, American cul-
tural values have long been characterized as highly individualistic
(Bond and Forgas, 1984; Bond, Leung and Wan, 1982; Bond et al.,
1985; Hofstede, 1983; Lee and Green, 1991). In individualistic cul-
tures, inhabitants are expected to stand out from the group and to be
more concerned with the fulfillment of individual, rather than others’
goals (McCarthy and Shrum, 1994; Triandis, 1989). Striving for indi-
vidualism also seems to be linked to self-confidence, self-reliance and
Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 15
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self-interest, instead of relying too much on the views of others (Markus
and Kitayama, 1998). In view of the aforementioned cultural differ-
ences between Chinese and Americans, two additional hypotheses are
thus formulated:
H1:Given Chinese people’s traditional collectivist nature, subjec-
tive norm rather than attitude will exert a stronger influence on
their behavioral disposition to purchase green products.
H2:Given American people’s traditional individualistic nature, atti-
tude rather than subjective norm will exert a stronger influence
on their behavioral disposition to purchase green products.
The third additional hypothesis concerns the asymmetric influence of
PBC on green purchasing behavior in the two cultural groups. It reads as:
H3:Perceived behavioral control will exert a stronger influence on
Chinese consumers’ behavioral disposition to purchase green
products than on American consumers.
The formulation of this hypothesis was based on the central premise
of TPB, namely the explanatory power of perceived behavioral control
will become marginal when an individual views himself as having a
high degree of volitional control over the performance of the behavior
in question (Ajzen, 1991). In such a situation, TPB postulates that atti-
tude and subjective norm together should already be adequate to ex-
plain the behavior. Put differently, if the performance of a particular act
(e.g., green purchasing) is regarded as highly controllable, the power of
attitude and subjective norm to explain such performance will be much
stronger than that of perceived behavioral control.
When compared with Chinese consumers, it is contended that Ameri-
can consumers would, in general, perceive themselves as having more
volitional control over the performance of green purchases. Should that
be the case, American consumers’ green purchasing behavior would be
largely explained by attitude and subjective norm but not by perceived
behavioral control (i.e., a weaker influence of perceived behavioral con-
trol). On the contrary, should Chinese consumers only regard themselves
as having limited volitional control over their green purchasing behavior,
attitude, subjective norm, as well as perceived behavioral control would
all exert significant influences on the performance of such behavior (i.e.,
a stronger influence of perceived behavioral control).
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Support for the contention that Americans would perceive them-
selves as having more volitional control than their Chinese counterparts
can be drawn from the literature on locus of control. In their meta-anal-
ysis of environmentally friendly behavior, Hines, Hungerford and
Tomera (1986/87) treat an individual’s locus of control equivalent to
his “efficacy perception,” or his perception of whether he has the ability
to bring about change through his own behavior. Hsieh, Shybut and
Lotsof (1969) were among the first to conduct cross-cultural investiga-
tion involving Chinese subjects on this attitudinal syndrome. Their
study found that Americans were inclined to attribute an individual’s
success or failure to his own skill and effort (internal locus of control),
whereas the Chinese were more inclined to attribute it to such external
factors as chance and luck (external locus of control). These findings
were subsequently confirmed by Tseng’s (1972) work. Cheung (1993)
further advocates that the greater proclivity of the Chinese to attribute
success or failure to external forces is attributed to their cultural concept
of yuan, or the belief in the predetermined relations among things or in-
dividuals that are beyond one’s control.
Given the profound impact of culture on both Americans and the
Chinese (Lane and DiStefano, 1988), it is likely that their general pro-
pensity toward locus of control would also influence their volitional
control over various specific behaviors. The influence would be even
more apparent if the behavior involved were one in which people had
relatively little experience to perform, such as green purchasing (cf.
Ajzen, 1991). In short, the above analysis leads to the inference that
American consumers would view themselves as possessing a higher de-
gree of volitional control over green purchasing than their Chinese
counterparts. Based on this inference and the aforementioned central
premise of TPB, it is thus expected that the green purchasing behavior
of American consumers would be largely explained by attitude and sub-
jective norm, rather than by perceived behavioral control, thereby lead-
ing to the formulation of the third hypothesis.
METHODOLOGY
Samples and Procedure
To pursue the foregoing research objectives, this study involved the
administration of an instrument designed to collect views from adult
(aged 18 or above) consumers in China and the US. The instrument
Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 17
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comprised measures of constructs described within the TPB framework
to investigate green purchasing behavior. Necessary modifications were
then made before the conduct of the comprehensive survey.
Since different people might have different interpretations of what
constitutes a green product, it is necessary to ensure that the respondents
under study would adopt a common frame of reference when answering.
To this end, Peattie’s (1995, pp. 180-83) classification scheme of green
products was referred to. Based on his description, this study specifically
defined green products as those goods whose claim to greenness lies in
“the reduction of the actual or potential harm they cause to society or the
environment.” This definition should be able to cover, for instance, prod-
ucts that would exert less polluting effects on the environment. The defi-
nition was set out in the terms of reference section of the questionnaire to
provide respondents with a common frame of reference. Since “eco-
friendly products,” “environmentally friendly products” and “green
products” were used in the questionnaire interchangeably to avoid mo-
notony, respondents were also reminded of such use in the same sec-
tion. It is hoped that these measures would help avoid confusion among
respondents. Indeed, the post-hoc analysis of the present survey data
(cf. Tables 3 and 4) also indicated satisfactory reliability and validity of
the survey instrument.
The data for the present study were collected from consumers resi-
dent in Shanghai (China) and Los Angeles (US), major metropolitan ar-
eas of the two countries under investigation. The survey instrument had
first been developed in English and was then translated into Chinese to
facilitate Chinese respondents’ understanding. The linguistic equiva-
lence of the English and Chinese versions was ensured by employing
Bhalla and Lin’s (1987) suggested back translation technique. Potential
respondents in Los Angeles were first randomly drawn from the rele-
vant telephone directory. Preliminary telephone calls were made to seek
their participation in the survey. This resulted in 250 American resi-
dents who expressed willingness to participate. A copy of the question-
naire and self-addressed pre-paid return envelope along with a cover
letter were then mailed to them. The survey in Shanghai was conducted
through door-to-door personal interviews. With the assistance of a re-
search agency, 250 Chinese households were randomly selected based
on a self-compiled sampling frame of the company. To encourage coop-
eration, a token of appreciation was also offered to potential respon-
dents of the two cities under investigation. Consequently, 232 and 213
useful replies from China and the US were collected respectively.
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Overall, 49% of the Chinese respondents were male and their median
age fell in the 25-29 years range. Their educational backgrounds some-
what varied: 20% had not completed high school, and the rest had re-
ceived at least high school education. The estimated average personal
income of the respondents was US $1,085 per annum.
As for the American respondents, 50% of them were male and their
median age fell in the 30-34 years range. While 16% of them had not
completed high school, the rest had received at least high school educa-
tion. The respondents had an estimated average personal income of
around US $27,430 per annum. Except for personal income, no signifi-
cant demographic difference (at p< 0.05) was found between the two
samples. Since China is still far less economically developed than the
US, it is not surprising that Chinese respondents have lower incomes
than their American counterparts. Overall, except for the income differ-
ence, the two samples are reasonably comparable in terms of key demo-
graphic characteristics.
To grasp a better understanding of the representativeness of the
samples with respect to the populations from which they were drawn,
Tables 1a and 1b were constructed accordingly. In short, Table 1a
indicated that except the Chinese sample had higher education attain-
ment than the Chinese population at p< 0.05, the two were compara-
ble in terms of gender, age and income. Table 1b further showed that
there was no significant difference in all the aforementioned demo-
graphic characteristics between the American sample and the corre-
sponding population. In view of the above results, and the fact that
demographic and socioeconomic variables are only of limited value in
explaining different degrees of environmental consciousness (Balderjahn,
1988; Shrum, Lowrey and McCarty, 1994), it is considered that the
two chosen samples are appropriate to address the research issues set
out earlier.
Measures
To accomplish the research objectives, all the constructs within the
TPB framework were first operationalized. This was done largely ac-
cording to the procedure adopted in the relevant literature concerning
TPB or TRA (e.g., Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980; Ajzen, 1991; Boyd and
Wandersman, 1991; Chang, 1998; Fishbein and Stasson, 1990; Kurland,
1995; 1996; Madden, Ellen and Ajzen, 1992; Randall and Gibson,
1991), the details of which are described as follows.
Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 19
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20 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
TABLE 1a. A Comparison of Demographic Characteristics Between the Chi-
nese Population and the Sample
Demographics Chinese Sample Chinese Populationa
Gender (%):
Male 49 51
Female 51 49
Age (%)b:
18-24 26 17
25-29 24 15
30-34 10 13
35-39 10 10
40-44 7 11
45-49 5 8
Over 49 18 26
Estimated average annual
personal income (US$): 1085c994
Education (%):*
Primary education or below 20 51
High school education or above 80 49
TABLE 1b. A Comparison of Demographic Characteristics Between the Ameri-
can Population and the Sample
Demographics American Sample American Populationd
Gender (%):
Male 50 51
Female 50 49
Age (%)b:
18-24 20 13
25-29 17 10
30-34 14 10
35-39 10 11
40-44 10 11
45-49 7 9
Over 49 22 36
Estimated average annual
personal income (US$): 27,430c26,364
Education (%):
Primary education or below 16 17
High school education or above 84 83
Notes:
aFigures obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics, PRC (2000) and the China Statistics Office
(1996).
bOnly adults (aged 18 or above) were included in the survey.
cEstimated from original data that were collected by the use of income brackets.
dFigures obtained from the
Statistical Abstract of the United States
(1999).
* Chi-square test detected a significant difference between the sample and the population at
p
< 0.05.
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Global Measure of Attitude (Att)
Following Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980; pp. 64-75) approach, respon-
dents were asked to express their attitude toward the target behavior,
namely purchasing eco-friendly products for personal use in the coming
month, on three 7-point ( 3 to 3) bipolar items. The anchor points of
the three items were labeled: bad/good (Att1), foolish/wise (Att2), and
unpleasant/pleasant (Att3), respectively.
Global Measure of Subjective Norm (SN)
The subjective norm was measured by two standard 7-point ( 3to3)
bipolar items: (1) most people who are important to me would think I
should not/should purchase eco-friendly products for personal use in
the coming month (SN1); and (2) most people who are important to me
would think it is bad/good for me to purchase eco-friendly products for
personal use in the coming month (SN2) (cf. Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980;
Shimp and Kavas, 1984).
Global Measure of Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC)
With reference to Taylor and Todd’s (1995) procedure, three items
were developed to measure PBC: (1) whether or not I will purchase
eco-friendly products for personal use in the coming month is entirely
up to me (PBC1); (2) I have complete control over the number of
eco-friendly products that I will buy for personal use in the coming
month (PBC2); and (3) whether or not I will purchase eco-friendly
products for personal use in the coming month is completely within my
control (PBC3). All the items were rated on a 7-point bipolar scale an-
chored by “ 3 = disagree” and “3 = agree.”
Behavioral Intention (BI)
Three statements were used to measure respondents’ intention to en-
gage in the target behavior. The three statements were coded on a
7-point bipolar scale anchored by “ 3 = unlikely” and “3 = likely.”
They read as: (1) over the next one month and for the purpose of per-
sonal use, I will consider buying products because they are less pollut-
ing (BI1); (2) over the next one month and for the purpose of personal
use, I will consider switching to other brands for ecological reasons
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(BI2); and (3) over the next one month and for the purpose of personal
use, I plan to switch to a green version of a product (BI3).
Although BI1 and BI2, strictly speaking, might not be regarded as
behavioral intention measures as they only concerned the cognitive ten-
dency (i.e., consider) to involve in green purchases, they were adopted
here together with BI3 to measure green purchasing intention due to
their reported high reliability and validity. For instance, in Chan’s
(2001) recent work on developing a model to explain green purchasing
behavior of the Chinese, these three items combined were found to have
a construct reliability of 0.83. The confirmatory factor analysis also
demonstrated that these items all exhibited highly significant loadings
(ranging between 0.77 and 0.82) on the construct of green purchasing
intention at p< 0.05. As will be described later, the reliability analysis
and the confirmatory factor analysis of the present survey data also indi-
cated satisfactory reliability and validity of these three measurement
items (cf. Tables 3 and 4).
Green Purchasing Behavior (Beh)
To examine their actual green purchasing behavior, respondents
were contacted again one month after they had first been surveyed.
Three measures were employed to probe their actual purchase of eco-
friendly products for personal use (cf. Homer and Kahle, 1988; Taylor
and Todd, 1995): (1) Beh1, a 7-point scale item (anchored by “1 =
never” and “7 = at every opportunity”) indicating the frequency of
shopping for green products within the previous month; (2) Beh2, a
7-point scale item (anchored by “1 = none” and “7 = much money”) in-
dicating the amount spent on green products within the previous month;
and (3) Beh3, the total number of green products bought within the pre-
vious month. Whenever possible, the respondents were requested to
show the alleged green products that they had bought for verification
purposes.
Belief-Based Measures of Attitude, Subjective Norm
and Perceived Behavioral Control
In addition to the global measures aforementioned, the belief-based
attitude (ΣBiEi), perceived behavioral control (ΣCkPk) and subjective
norm (ΣNjMj) were also computed in this study. To this end, it was nec-
essary to first identify the relevant salient attitudinal beliefs, important
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referents, and salient control beliefs (cf. Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and
Fishbein, 1980; pp. 64-75). Due to the cross-cultural nature of the pres-
ent study, the identification might, however, lead to the well-known
etic-emic dilemma (Lee and Green, 1991; Malpass, 1977). In brief, this
dilemma refers to the “difficulty in obtaining observations that are both
adequate within the cultural description of a phenomenon and that are
cross-culturally comparable” (Berry, 1969; Lee and Green, 1991). In
the present study, this dilemma relates specifically to the possibility that
the set of salient (attitudinal or control) beliefs and important referents
elicited from American consumers might not be totally equivalent to
that elicited from Chinese consumers. To tackle this problem, some re-
searchers advocates a combined etic-emic approach in which etic con-
cepts are used across cultures, but the operationalization of these
concepts is done separately according to each specific culture under
investigation (Lee and Green, 1991). As far as the present study is con-
cerned, this combined approach suggests that salient beliefs and impor-
tant referents should be generated separately for each cultural group in
order to mitigate the possible equivalence problem in operationalization.
This approach has been considered acceptable and employed by other
behavioral researchers (Lee and Green, 1991).
To adopt this elicitation approach to generate the respective salient
beliefs and major referents for the two cultural groups, 50 Chinese and
50 Americans were first interviewed. Through the authors’ academic
contacts, 50 Chinese students were drawn from a Shanghainese univer-
sity, and 50 American students were from a university in Los Angeles.
All of these subjects were part-time MBA students and were given the
elicitation task as a seminar assignment. The two sampled cultural
groups were comparable in terms of major demographic characteristics
such as gender, age, marital status and occupation at p< 0.05. The elici-
tation was done according to Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980; pp. 64-75)
suggested free response format, and led to the generation of the follow-
ing salient beliefs and important referents.
Five salient attitudinal beliefs were generated for the Chinese con-
sumers. They were phrased, in the order of descending frequency of be-
ing mentioned (i.e., descending modal order), as follows: (1) purchasing
eco-friendly products can alleviate environmental problems (alleviating
eco-problems); (2) purchasing eco-friendly products can save natural re-
sources (saving resources); (3) purchasing eco-friendly products costs
more (higher price); (4) purchasing eco-friendly products is socially re-
sponsible (social responsibility); and (5) purchasing eco-friendly prod-
ucts is risky (high risk). Except for the “high risk” belief, the American
Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 23
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consumers elicited the same set of salient attitudinal beliefs as their Chi-
nese counterparts, albeit in a slightly different modal order.
Following the same procedure, four control beliefs were also identi-
fied for the Chinese consumers. They were phrased, in descending
modal order, as follows: (1) I do not have the required knowledge to
choose quality eco-friendly products (knowledge); (2) I am unsure
whether a green version of a product is available or not (availability);
(3) I cannot afford to buy a green version of a product (affordability);
and (4) I do not have enough time to look for quality eco-friendly prod-
ucts (time). As for the American consumers, only “knowledge,”
“affordability” and “time” were identified as salient control beliefs.
Three important referents were identified by the Chinese consumers.
In descending modal order, these are: (1) spouse or boy/girl friend;
(2) family; and (3) friends (other than boy/girl friends). Except that the
order of “friends” and “family” was reversed, the same set of important
referents was identified by the American consumers.
After the salient attitudinal beliefs, salient control beliefs and impor-
tant referents had been generated, the belief-based attitude, perceived
behavioral control and subjective norm were computed according to the
standardized procedure recommended by Ajzen and Fishbein (1980),
and Ajzen (1991). Following this procedure, except for motivation to
comply (Mj), which was measured on a 7-point (0 to 6) unipolar scale,
all the other belief-based constructs were measured on a 7-point ( 3to
3) bipolar scale.
DATA ANALYSIS
Descriptive Statistics
To provide an overview on all the major constructs under investiga-
tion, Table 2 was constructed to display the relevant descriptive statis-
tics of the two cultural samples. As noted in the table, the American
sample had significantly higher mean scores on attitude (Att) and per-
ceived behavioral control (PBC) than the Chinese sample. On the con-
trary, the latter was found to have a much higher mean score on
subjective norm (SN) than the former. These descriptive statistics pro-
vide some initial support to the three hypotheses formulated earlier.
Lastly, as regards the mean score on the intention to purchase green
products (BI), no significant difference was detected between the two
samples under study.
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Applicability of TPB
The structural equation modeling technique was employed to evalu-
ate the applicability of TPB in explaining green purchases of Chinese
and American consumers. To this end, Anderson and Gerbing’s (1988)
recommended two-step approach was followed. In short, the first step
involves the assessment of the measurement model by employing the
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The purpose of this analysis is to
ensure that all the proposed measurement items reasonably represent
the constructs they are supposed to define. Once the CFA results indi-
cate reasonable representativeness of the measurement items, the sec-
ond step, or the full structural analysis, will then be performed to assess
the fitness of the full model (i.e., the one shown in Figure 1) and to esti-
mate all the relevant path coefficients (also cf. Hair et al., 1995).
Analysis of the Measurement Model
The structural equation modeling provided by EQS 5.7b (cf. Byrne,
1994) was employed to perform the analysis. The detailed CFA results
for the Chinese and American samples are shown in Tables 3 and 4 re-
Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 25
TABLE 2. Descriptive Statistics of the Major Constructs Under Investigation
Chinese Sample:
Mean value
(Standard deviation)
American Sample:
Mean value
(Standard deviation)
Major Constructs
Under Investigation
Att* 2.02
(0.86) 2.40
(0.58)
SN* 2.45
(0.54) 2.08
(0.90)
PBC* 1.82
(0.97) 2.16
(0.42)
BI 1.78
(0.70) 1.90
(0.65)
Notes:
Att, SN, PBC, BI are global measures for attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and behavioral in-
tention respectively.
All the mean values range between −3 and +3.
The mean value of green purchasing behavior, Beh, was not computed as its measurement items were coded on
different scales (interval & ratio scales).
*t-test detected a significant difference between the Chinese and American samples at
p
< 0.05.
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spectively. As noted, the related χ2probability of both samples was be-
low the recommended level of 0.05 (cf. Hair et al., 1995, p. 651).
However, given that the χ2statistic is sensitive to sample size (Bagozzi
and Foxall, 1996) and the number of indicators (Wakefield and Baker,
1998), other fit indexes such as RMSEA, NNFI and CFI were also com-
puted for reference. As observed, the RMSEA values of the two sam-
ples were within the acceptable limit of 0.1 (Browne and Cudeck,
1993), and the respective NNFI and CFI values were above the recom-
mended threshold of 0.90 (Bentler, 1990). Regarding convergent and
discriminant validity, all indicators were loaded on the hypothesized
constructs, and the variance extracted estimates for any two constructs
were greater than the square of the parameter estimate between them
(cf. Fornell and Larcker, 1981). Taken together, the CFA results show
reasonable representativeness of all the measurement items for both the
Chinese and American samples.
Full Structural Analysis
To assess the applicability of TPB, analyses of the full structural
model were performed accordingly. The relevant results of the Chinese
and American samples are summarized in Figures 2 and 3 respectively.
The upper part of Figures 2 and 3 summarizes the degree to which the
present data fit the TPB framework by various measures. The overall fit
of the structural model was first assessed by referring to the χ2statistic of
the two samples. Both samples had a significant χ2statistic (p= 0.001)
and could indicate an inadequate fit. However, as the χ2statistic is sensi-
tive to sample size and model complexity, rejection of a model solely
based on this statistic is inappropriate (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988; Marsh,
Balla and McDonald, 1988). Accordingly, other fit measures such as
RMSEA, NNFI and CFI were also examined. As noted, the RMSEA
values of the two samples were within the acceptable limit of 0.1
(RMSEAChina = 0.065; RMSEAUS = 0.062). Their respective NNFI
(NNFIChina = 0.917; NNFIUS = 0.928) and CFI (CFIChina = 0.938; CFIUS =
0.945) values also exceeded the recommended threshold of 0.90
(Bentler, 1990; 1992; Browne and Cudeck, 1993). Moreover, the TPB
framework was able to explain 34% and 40% of the variance of green
purchasing behavior in the Chinese and American samples respec-
tively. Overall, the above measures indicate that TPB is reasonably
competent in explaining Chinese, as well as American consumers’
green purchasing behavior.
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Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 27
TABLE 3. Summarized CFA Results for the Chinese Sample (
N
= 232)
Indicator Construct
Beh BI Att SN PBC ∑BiEi∑NjMj∑CkPk
Beh1 0.65a
Beh2 0.65
Beh3 0.82
BI1 0.71a
BI2 0.71
BI3 0.75
Att1 0.75a
Att2 0.81
Att3 0.72
SN1 0.75a
SN2 0.74
PBC1 0.67a
PBC2 0.59
PBC3 0.80
B1E10.66a
B2E20.80
B3E30.72
B4E40.79
B5E50.71
N1M10.80a
N2M20.68
N3M30.71
C1P10.71a
C2P20.72
C3P30.77
C4P40.68
Cronbach’s Alpha n.a.b0.78 0.80 0.73 0.74 0.86 0.78 0.81
Construct Reliability 0.75 0.77 0.80 0.71 0.73 0.86 0.77 0.81
Fit Indices: χ2= 598.93 (df = 271;
p
= 0.001); RMSEA = 0.063; NNFI = 0.923; CFI = 0.945
Notes:
Beh1 to Beh3, BI1 to BI3, Att1 to Att3, SN1 to SN2, and PBC1 to PBC3 are global measures for green purchasing behavior (Beh),
behavioral intention (BI), attitude (Att), subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) respectively.
B1E1,B
2E2,B
3E3,B
4E4and B5E5are indicators for the belief-based measure of attitude (∑BiEi). In their order of presentation,
these indicators correspond to salient beliefs of ‘alleviating eco-problems,’ ‘saving resources,’ ‘higher price,’ ‘social responsi-
bility’ and ‘high risk’ respectively.
N1M1,N
2M2and N3M3are indicators for the belief-based measure of subjective norm (∑NjMj). In their order of presentation,
these indicators correspond to important referents of ‘spouse or boy/girl friend,’ ‘family’ and ‘friends’ respectively.
C1P1,C
2P2,C
3P3and C4P4are indicators for the belief-based measure of perceived behavioral control (∑CkPk). In their order
of presentation, these indicators correspond to salient beliefs of ‘knowledge,’ ‘availability,’ ‘affordability’ and ‘time’ respectively.
All the estimated factor loadings are significant at
p
< 0.05.
aInitially fixed at 1 for estimation purposes.
bCronbach’s Alpha was not calculated as different scales (interval and ratio) were involved in measuring the construct of
green purchasing behavior, beh.
N
Sample size
Salient beliefs and major referents used in this survey were generated based on Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980; pp. 64-75) sug-
gested approach.
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28 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
TABLE 4. Summarized CFA Results for the American Sample (
N
= 213)
Indicator Construct
Beh BI Att SN PBC ∑BiEi∑NjMj∑CkPk
Beh1 0.80a
Beh2 0.74
Beh3 0.76
BI1 0.70a
BI2 0.77
BI3 0.77
Att1 0.79a
Att2 0.64
Att3 0.86
SN1 0.85a
SN2 0.75
PBC1 0.58a
PBC2 0.70
PBC3 0.80
B1E10.53a
B2E20.65
B3E30.71
B4E40.72
N1M10.68a
N2M20.68
N3M30.74
C1P10.73a
C3P30.74
C4P40.73
Cronbach’s Alpha n.a.b0.80 0.82 0.79 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.78
Construct Reliability 0.79 0.81 0.78 0.74 0.75 0.74 0.77
Fit Indices: χ2= 465.92 (df = 224;
p
= 0.001); RMSEA = 0.053; NNFI = 0.943; CFI = 0.960
Notes:
Beh1 to Beh3, BI1 to BI3, Att1 to Att3, SN1 to SN2, and PBC1 to PBC3 are global measures for green purchasing behavior (Beh),
behavioral intention (BI), attitude (Att), subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) respectively.
B1E1,B
2E2,B
3E3and B4E4are indicators for the belief-based measure of attitude (∑BiEi). In their order of presentation, these
indicators correspond to salient beliefs of ‘alleviating eco-problems,’ ‘saving resources,’ ‘higher price’ and ‘social responsibil-
ity’ respectively.
N1M1,N
2M2and N3M3are indicators for the belief-based measure of subjective norm (∑NjMj). In their order of presentation,
these indicators correspond to important referents of ‘spouse or boy/girl friend,’ ‘family’ and ‘friends’ respectively.
C1P1,C
3P3and C4P4are indicators for the belief-based measure of perceived behavioral control (∑CkPk). In their order of
presentation, these indicators correspond to salient beliefs of ‘knowledge,’ ‘affordability’ and ‘time’ respectively.
All the estimated factor loadings are significant at
p
< 0.05.
aInitially fixed at 1 for estimation purposes.
bCronbach’s Alpha was not calculated as different item scales (interval and ratio) were involved in measuring the construct
of green purchasing behavior, Beh.
N
Sample size
Salient beliefs and major referents used in this survey were generated based on Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980; pp. 64-75) sug-
gested approach.
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Structural Path Estimates
Figures 2 and 3 also depict the standardized structural path estimates
for both samples. Overall, except for the PBC→BI estimate of the
American sample, all the estimates under investigation were significant
at p< 0.05. Both the Chinese and American respondents’ intention to
purchase green products was seen to exert a rather strong influence on
their corresponding behavior. The BI→Beh estimate of the Chinese
sample was 0.51, whereas that of the American sample was 0.63.
Echoing Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980) expectancy-value proposition
(also cf. Petty, Unnava and Strathman, 1991), the present empirical re-
sults also indicated that the global measures of attitude, subjective norm
and perceived behavioral control were significantly determined by the
Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 29
Att
SN
PBC
BI Beh
0.63*
0.55*
0.64*
0.39*
0.45*
0.47*
0.51*
Fit Indices: = 680.36 (df = 292; = 0.001); RMSEA = 0.065; NFI = 0.917; CFI = 0.938
Variance of green purchasing behavior explained = 34%
χ2
p
ΣBE
ii
ΣNM
jj
ΣCP
kk
FIGURE 2. Path Analysis of the Chinese Sample (
N
= 232)
Note:
N
= sample size
Beh = target behavior
Att = attitude toward behavior
BI = behavioral intention
SN = subjective norm
PBC = perceived behavioral control
Bi= attitudinal belief
Ei= outcome evaluation
Nj= normative belief
Mj= motivation to comply
Ck= control belief
Pk= perceived power of the control factor
i, j and k represent the number of attitudinal, normative and control beliefs respectively.
* significant at
p
< 0.05.
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respective belief-based measures, albeit at varying degrees. As noted,
the ΣΒiEi→Att, ΣNjMj→SN and ΣCkPk→PBC estimates of the Chinese
sample were 0.63, 0.55 and 0.64 respectively, whereas the correspond-
ing estimates of the American sample were 0.65, 0.52 and 0.73.
As one of the major investigations of this study concerns the influ-
ence of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control on
behavioral disposition (intention) to green purchases, the Att→BI,
SN→BI and PBC→BI path estimates were also examined. To summa-
rize, the Att→BI, SN→BI estimates of the Chinese sample were found
to be 0.39 and 0.45 respectively. The findings provide support to the
first additional hypothesis (H1) that subjective norm rather than attitude
exerts a heavier influence on Chinese consumers’ behavioral disposi-
30 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
Att
SN
PBC
BI Beh
0.65*
0.52*
0.73*
0.47*
0.23*
0.18#
0.63*
Fit Indices: = 550.36 (df = 245; = 0.001); RMSEA = 0.062; NFI = 0.928; CFI = 0.945
Variance of green purchasing behavior explained = 40%
χ2
p
ΣBE
ii
ΣNM
jj
ΣCP
kk
FIGURE 3. Path Analysis of the American Sample (
N
= 213)
Note:
N
= sample size
Beh = target behavior
BI = behavioral intention
Att = attitude toward behavior
SN = subjective norm
PBC = perceived behavioral control
Bi= attitudinal belief
Ei= outcome evaluation
Nj= normative belief
Mj= motivation to comply
Ck= control belief
Pk= perceived power of the control factor
i, j and k represent the number of attitudinal, normative and control beliefs respectively.
* significant at
p
< 0.05.
# significant at
p
< 0.10.
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tion to green purchases. For the American sample, the Att→BI and
SN→BI estimates were found to be 0.47 and 0.23 respectively, which
provide support to the second additional hypothesis (H2) that attitude
rather than subjective norm exhibits a more significant bearing on
American consumers’ behavioral disposition.
The PBC→BI estimate of the Chinese sample was found to be 0.47
and significant at p< 0.05, whereas that of the American sample was
equal to 0.18 and only significant at p< 0.10. These results indicate that
perceived behavioral control plays a more significant role in determin-
ing Chinese rather than American consumers’ behavioral disposition to
green purchases, thereby providing support to the third additional hy-
pothesis (H3).
Multiple Group Comparison
To examine in greater detail whether there were any differences be-
tween the Chinese and American samples, a multiple group analysis
was performed by EQS. In addition to those conventional fit indexes
mentioned earlier, the LaGrange Multiplier (LM) test has been built
into EQS to allow the evaluation of the cross-group invariance in a
multivariate, straightforward and user-friendly way (Byrne, 1994,
pp. 159-176).
To conduct the analysis, all the corresponding structural path esti-
mates were first constrained to equality. The constrained model was
then analyzed by the conventional fit indexes as well as the LM test.
The analysis rendered a χ2statistic of 1443.68 (df = 544, p= 0.001) to
the constrained model. The relevant RMSEA, NNFI and CFI values
were found to be 0.081, 0.873 and 0.891 respectively. Turning to the
multivariate LM statistics and related probability values associated
with each equality constraint, all but three constraints were tenable for
both cultural groups at p> 0.05. The three untenable constraints concern
SN→BI (p= 0.019), PBC→BI (p= 0.010) and BI→Beh (p= 0.044). To
further verify the identified cross-group differences, a second multiple
group analysis was performed in which the three problematic con-
straints were released. The analysis rendered considerable improve-
ment in such fit indexes as χ2(1125.28; df = 541; p= 0.001), RMSEA
(0.063), NNFI (0.920) and CFI (0.939). The above findings suggest
some marked differences between the two cultural groups. Specifically,
subjective norm and perceived behavioral control were seen to exert
stronger influences on Chinese consumers’ green purchasing intention
Ricky Y. K. Chan and Lorett B. Y. Lau 31
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than on American consumers. Moreover, the conversion of intention to
actual green purchases was seen to be more effective among American
than Chinese consumers. Implications derived from this multiple group
comparison as well as other analyses are discussed in the following
section.
IMPLICATIONS
Several salient implications are derived from the above analyses. First,
through an examination of green purchasing behavior in both American
and Chinese cultural settings, the present study renders further empirical
support to the external validity of TPB. These findings can enrich the ex-
tant literature on the universal applicability of the model and serve as use-
ful references for further investigating the validity of the model under
other cultural settings, or for other behavioral categories.
Second, by taking a closer look at the relevant path estimates of the
two samples, the group conformity of Chinese consumers becomes ap-
parent. For the purchase of eco-friendly products, subjective norm
rather than attitude was seen to exert a stronger influence on Chinese
consumers. Moreover, subjective norm was found to have a stronger
bearing on their green purchasing intention than on American consum-
ers. This group conformity provides green marketers with useful in-
sights into how to improve the communication effectiveness of their
green messages. For instance, to take advantage of the pervasive influ-
ence of such important referents as family members, spouse and friends,
green marketers in China should feature relevant reference group ap-
peals in their advertisements. In view of the collectivist nature of the
Chinese, green marketers should always remind themselves of the
power of opinion leadership in disseminating pro-environmental mes-
sages in a Chinese cultural setting.
Conversely, the empirical findings show that attitude rather than sub-
jective norm exerts a stronger influence on American consumers’ green
purchasing intention. In view of this, green marketers in the US should
carefully work out communication plans that facilitate favorable attitu-
dinal changes of their target audiences. To this end, salient attitudinal
beliefs that were identified before (cf. Table 4) may provide some use-
ful hints. For instance, since American consumers’ attitude toward
green purchases is strongly affected by salient attitudinal beliefs such as
“saving resources” and “higher price,” green marketers, in their com-
munication campaigns, should detail clearly how their products help
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conserve natural resources, and exactly what benefits or values these
products deliver to consumers and the environment.
Third, as hypothesized, perceived behavioral control was also noted
to exert a stronger influence on the green purchasing intention of Chi-
nese consumers than on that of American consumers. In other words,
Chinese consumers were found to exhibit a lower degree of volitional
control over their green purchases. By taking a closer look at the salient
control beliefs identified earlier (cf. Table 3), this phenomenon is likely
to be attributed to Chinese consumers’ lack of the requisite resources
(e.g., environmental knowledge, money and time), and opportunities
(e.g., inadequate availability of green products). Given that China is
still a developing country with its green movement in an embryonic
stage, it seems very difficult to resolve all these resource and opportu-
nity issues overnight. Nonetheless, these issues should call for contin-
ued strategic efforts from both the Chinese policy makers and green
marketers if they really wish to advance a more sustainable consump-
tion pattern across the country. These strategic efforts, among others,
should include further strengthening China’s environmental education
and improving the distribution of green products. To make consumers
more willing to pay and search for green products, more comprehensive
legislation to closely monitor quality and advertising claims of these
products is also essential.
Last, among all the cross-cultural differences identified, the asym-
metric influence of green purchasing intention on green purchasing
behavior warrants further attention. The influence was seen to be sig-
nificantly weaker in the Chinese than in the American sample. This
suggests the presence of some situational hindrance that deters the ef-
fective translation of green purchasing intention to corresponding be-
havior. Apparently, this phenomenon also closely relates to the finding
of asymmetric influences of perceived behavioral control aforemen-
tioned. To strengthen the correspondence between the conative and be-
havioral responses, more facilitating support (e.g., wider accessibility
of quality green products, a comprehensive eco-certification scheme)
from both the Chinese policy makers and green marketers is needed.
LIMITATIONS
Although the present empirical results are consistent with the theo-
retical reasoning and conventional beliefs mentioned earlier, this study,
like most others, is not totally free from limitations. First, since it was
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only conducted in a single metropolitan area of each country, the pres-
ent findings may not be able to capture all the ecological variations at a
national level. Despite this limitation, it is believed that the findings are
still useful in advancing the understanding of the green movement in ur-
ban areas of China and America, and in empirically verifying a popular
theoretical model. In addition, the survey method adopted here may
cause a positive response bias, as respondents might have feigned envi-
ronmental concern (Rice, Wongtada and Leelakulthanit, 1996). Never-
theless, by ensuring all the respondents strict anonymity and encourag-
ing them to express their true opinions, it is hoped that such a potential
bias has been abated. Moreover, as is evident from the survey itself, a
number of respondents, instead of giving socially desirable answers,
did directly admit their environmental unconsciousness and then pro-
vided explanations for it. Thus, although one needs to be cautious when
interpreting the present findings due to the potential existence of a posi-
tive response bias, the actual responses from the survey suggest that
such a bias is unlikely to be as serious as initially expected. The last lim-
itation concerns the behavioral measures employed in the present study.
As noted, the adopted measures, strictly speaking, are only self-re-
ported behavioral measures, and hence are more likely to be congruent
with measures of beliefs and intention. Certainly, the use of actual be-
havioral measures in future related studies would further increase the
research rigor of the investigation.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
This paper aims at investigating the applicability of TPB to green
purchasing behavior in the Chinese and American cultural settings. The
structural equation modeling analysis indicates the satisfactory external
validity of the model in explaining eco-friendly purchases of the Chi-
nese and American consumers. Despite the general universality of the
model, the relevant path analyses highlight several cross-group vari-
ances that may be attributed to cultural differences, as well as differ-
ences in the environmental development of the two countries. While the
cultural differences are believed to revolve around the collectivism-in-
dividualism dimension, which moderates the influence of subjective
norm on behavioral intention, the cross-country differences in environ-
mental development are likely to affect the availability of various facili-
tating support for the effective performance of green purchases. The
34 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
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implications from this cross-group comparison would provide policy
makers and green marketers with useful insights into fine-tuning their
pervasive and intervening strategies to further stimulate the desired be-
havioral change.
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SUBMITTED: September 2000
FIRST REVISION: December 2000
SECOND REVISION: March 2001
ACCEPTED: May 2001
40 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
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