From thinking green to buying green: consumer motivation makes the difference

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the need for appropriate green marketing communication strategies to close the gap between consumers’ strong environmental concerns and weak engagement in sustainable behaviors. In doing so, our overarching goal is to provide new direction for creating targeted marketing communication strategies that will more effectively motivate consumer purchasing of green products and services. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a survey approach to collect data and regression analysis to test our hypotheses. Findings The findings suggest that demographic variables (gender, ethnicity and age) as well as concern for waste, concern for health and concern for environmental technology influence five different categories of sustainable behaviors. Research limitations/implications The results suggest that future studies should consider multiple dimensions of environmental concern because each dimension has a different impact on sustainable behaviors. Practical implications The findings contribute to the continued development of a green consumer profile and highlight the need for marketers to carefully select appropriate dimensions of environmental concern to emphasize in their communication strategies. Results also reinforce the need to consider demographics in targeted communications. Originality/value This study considers the impact of different dimensions of environmental concern and demographic variables on different types of sustainable behaviors.