Antecedents of green purchase choices: Towards a value-oriented model

In this individual-differences study, we aimed to investigate the antecedents of green purchase choices by considering a wide array of situation-specific predictors, with a special focus on the role of values (green values and religiosity). In a sample of Italian respondents (N = 2340), we measured sociodemographic features (age, sex, income, education, family size), green values, religious beliefs and commitment, attitudes toward green products, information seeking on green issues, importance and uncertainty attached to green purchasing, skepticism toward green advertising, and various facets of external environmental locus of control. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the main predictors of green purchase choices were green values, green information seeking, importance of green products, and attitudes towards green products, while religious commitment played only a minor role. A multi-layer path-analysis model depicted an articulated pattern of relationships between predictors and highlighted both the direct and the indirect effects of green values. Overall, predictors explained approximately half of the variance. Theoretically, these results offer a comprehensive and value-oriented view of green purchase choices, which can foster further investigations on pro-environmental behaviors. On the applied side, the findings suggest that nurturing green values and appealing to value-consistent behaviors can be helpful to stimulate pro-environmental purchase decisions.