Green Marketing: A Study of Consumer Purchase Behaviour for Green Homes

Abstract

Green Marketing has fast emerged as a worldwide phenomenon around the world. As a result, many firms have risen to the occasion and started responding to environmental challenges by practicing green marketing strategies. Green consumerism has played a catalytic role in making business firms green marketing oriented. The infrastructure and construction industry in India is the second largest rapidly growing industry and the single largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. To keep a check on environmental harm caused by this industry, the concept of Green Buildings has been evolved. This paper assesses the extent of awareness, attitudes and purchase behaviour among consumers for green homes in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat State of India. It is found that awareness for green homes among the respondents is high and majority of respondents believe that purchasing a green home will contribute to a sustainable future. However, they reported to be cautious while considering green features during purchase of a green home due to uncertainty on the way builders are following standards for building a green home. More than average respondents are agree to pay premium if it is less than 5% more for green homes compared to conventional homes. The chi-square statistics also found that income, occupation and education plays important role in green purchase behavior.

Note: This paper was presented at the 19th Nirma International Conference on Management (NICOM 2016) on the theme of “Empowering Trade, Industry and Society in challenging and competitive Environment” organized by the Institute of Management, Nirma University (IMNU), Ahmedabad, India during Jan. 7-9, 2016. Paper is uploaded with the permission of IMNU and its contents may be cited with its source for academic purpose such as the brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses as permitted by copyright law. However, the copyright of this paper remains with (IMNU) and its permission is necessary for any commercial use.

Keywords: Green Marketing, Green Building, Eco-friendly homes, Green Consumerism

JEL Classification: D12, D18, D82, E21, Q56, H21, H23, Q01, Q11, Q13, Q28, M10, M14, M31, M37