THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN ON ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CONSUMER-BEHAVIOR - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the relative effects of environmental concern (a general attitude) and social norms pertaining to concern for the environment on three consumer behaviors and six behavioral intentions. Our primary research question war 'Whi ch has the strongest effect on environmentally concerned behaviors and behavioral intentions: attitude, the injunctive norm, or the personal norm?'' Answers to this basic research question have important implic ations for marketers and public policy makers. A mail survey was admin istered to a sample of consumers who were the primary shoppers in thei r household. Confirmatory factor analysis was wed to determine unidime nsionality of measures. Hypotheses were tested using multivariate and univariate analysis of variance (MANOVA/ANOVA). MANOVA analysis indica ted significant main effects of environmental concern, the personal no rm, and the injunctive norm on the behaviors and behavioral intentions . There were no significant interactions. ANOVA results indicated that the personal norm had the primary influence on the behaviors while th e attitude had the primary influence on behavioral intentions. (C) 199 7 Elsevier Science Inc.