Exploring the Key Factors for Purchasing Forest-Certified Products in the Context of Sustainable Forest Consumption

Based on social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behaviour, this study explores the influence of green self-efficacy on consumers’ willingness to buy forest-certified products. Despite extensive research being conducted on forest-certified products, there has been limited investigation into the personal characteristics and intrinsic decision-making factors of consumers. Therefore, this study focuses on the mediating role of consumers’ perceived behavioural control and perceived scarcity, as well as the moderating roles of product involvement. To examine these effects, a total of 560 questionnaires were distributed, and 511 valid responses were collected, resulting in a valid response rate of 91.25%. The data were analysed using SPSS 26.0 and the Process macro to test the mediating and moderating effects. The results indicate that green self-efficacy has a significant positive effect on purchasing intention through direct influence and a significant indirect positive effect on purchasing intention through perceived behavioural control and perceived scarcity. Furthermore, the positive effects of perceived behavioural control and perceived scarcity on purchase intention were more pronounced in high-product-involvement contexts. Based on these findings, it is advised that both enterprises and the government collaborate in conducting green consumption educational initiatives to boost consumers’ green self-efficacy. Businesses can adopt marketing strategies such as limited sales and time-limited offers to create a sense of product scarcity. In addition, enterprises should focus on product design and brand building to increase product engagement and take multiple initiatives to promote green consumption.