IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i8p3459-d1379707.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital and Green Behaviour: An Exploratory Study on Italian Consumers

Author

Listed:
  • Nadia Palmieri

    (Department of Economics and Legal Studies, Parthenope University of Naples, Generale Parisi Street, 13, 80132 Naples, Italy)

  • Flavio Boccia

    (Department of Economics and Legal Studies, Parthenope University of Naples, Generale Parisi Street, 13, 80132 Naples, Italy)

  • Daniela Covino

    (Department of Economics and Legal Studies, Parthenope University of Naples, Generale Parisi Street, 13, 80132 Naples, Italy)

Abstract

This paper aimed to understand consumer behaviour based on different constructs of buying behaviour antecedents, which included attitudes towards social aspects, green values, the value placed on digital channels, and green advertisements. Through an online survey of 650 respondents, we investigated the characteristics that affect consumer behaviour in Italy. A structural equation modelling (SEM) method was then used to explore the effects of the identified constructs on people’s buying behaviour, as well as evaluate their relative importance. On the one hand, the findings showed that among the identified constructs, attitudes towards social aspects have a direct effect on eco-friendly consumption, while green values positively impact both buying behaviour and openness to green publicity. On the other hand, green publicity only shows a weak impact on buying behaviours, while peoples’ attitudes towards digital channels have a positive effect on both eco-friendly consumption and on buying behaviour. In other words, the results suggest that people’s digital propensity, paired with environmental sensibility, may affect the online purchase of sustainable food. In light of the above, these results should be important for makers and experts dealing with green products, particularly sellers. In fact, sellers and marketers should consider our results as insights into their segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies in markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadia Palmieri & Flavio Boccia & Daniela Covino, 2024. "Digital and Green Behaviour: An Exploratory Study on Italian Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-19, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:8:p:3459-:d:1379707
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/8/3459/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/8/3459/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marnik G. Dekimpe & Inge Geyskens & Katrijn Gielens, 2020. "Using technology to bring online convenience to offline shopping," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 25-29, March.
    2. Murat Okumah & Ata Senior Yeboah & Elias Nkiaka & Richard Apatewen Azerigyik, 2019. "What Determines Behaviours Towards Water Resources Management in a Rural Context? Results of a Quantitative Study," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Francesco Testa & Silvia Sarti & Marco Frey, 2019. "Are green consumers really green? Exploring the factors behind the actual consumption of organic food products," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 327-338, February.
    4. Guo, Bingnan & Wang, Yu & Zhang, Hao & Liang, Chunyan & Feng, Yu & Hu, Feng, 2023. "Impact of the digital economy on high-quality urban economic development: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    5. Zilian, Stella Sophie & Zilian, Laura Samantha, 2020. "Digital inequality in Austria: Empirical evidence from the survey of the OECD “Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies”," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Dat Duy Nguyen, 2023. "Evaluating the Consumer Attitude and Behavioral Consumption of Green Products in Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, May.
    7. Duarte, Paulo & Costa e Silva, Susana & Ferreira, Margarida Bernardo, 2018. "How convenient is it? Delivering online shopping convenience to enhance customer satisfaction and encourage e-WOM," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 161-169.
    8. Sewar Alkhatib & Petra Kecskés & Veronika Keller, 2023. "Green Marketing in the Digital Age: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-16, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cuesta, Lizeth & Ruiz, Yomara, 2021. "Efecto de la globalización sobre la desigualdad. Un estudio global para 104 países usando regresiones cuantílicas [Effect of globalization on inequality. A global study for 104 countries using quan," MPRA Paper 111022, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Magdalena Maciaszczyk & Artur Kwasek & Maria Kocot & Damian Kocot, 2022. "Determinants of Purchase Behavior of Young E-Consumers of Eco-Friendly Products to Further Sustainable Consumption Based on Evidence from Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, February.
    3. Jebarajakirthy, Charles & Shankar, Amit, 2021. "Impact of online convenience on mobile banking adoption intention: A moderated mediation approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Dekimpe, Marnik & Gijsbrechts, Els & Gielens, K.J.P., 2023. "Proximity-store introductions: A new route to big-box retailer success?," Other publications TiSEM 14dc6958-ab6b-4d70-995d-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Fu, Shuke & Ge, Yingchen & Hao, Yu & Peng, Jiachao & Tian, Jiali, 2024. "Energy supply chain efficiency in the digital era: Evidence from China's listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    6. Khondaker Sazzadul Karim & Mohammad Ekramol Islam & Abdullah Mohammed Ibrahim & Shin-Hung Pan & Md. Mominur Rahman, 2023. "Online Marketing Trends and Purchasing Intent Advances in Customer Satisfaction through PLS-SEM and ANN Approach," Advances in Decision Sciences, Asia University, Taiwan, vol. 27(4), pages 24-54, December.
    7. Hazem Ali & Min Li & Yunhong Hao, 2021. "Purchasing Behavior of Organic Food among Chinese University Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-17, May.
    8. Hajdas, Monika & Radomska, Joanna & Silva, Susana C., 2022. "The omni-channel approach: A utopia for companies?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Shankar, Amit & Rishi, Bikramjit, 2020. "Convenience matter in mobile banking adoption intention?," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 273-285.
    10. Sisi Wu & Xuan Gong & Yunfei Wang & Jian Cao, 2022. "Consumer Cognition and Management Perspective on Express Packaging Pollution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-23, April.
    11. Sharma, Piyush & Ueno, Akiko & Kingshott, Russel, 2021. "Self-service technology in supermarkets – Do frontline staff still matter?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    12. Cherry C. I. Lau & Christina W. Y. Wong, 2024. "Achieving sustainable development with sustainable packaging: A natural‐resource‐based view perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4766-4787, July.
    13. Jeremy Galbreath & Daniel Tisch, 2022. "Sustainable development in the wine industry: The impact of the natural environment and gender‐diverse leadership," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1869-1881, December.
    14. Filippo Corsini & Natalia Marzia Gusmerotti & Edoardo Bartoletti & Francesco Testa & Andrea Appolloni & Fabio Iraldo, 2024. "Addressing Plastic Concern: Behavioral Insights into Recycled Plastic Products and Packaging in a Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 1961-1981, September.
    15. Guo, Bingnan & Feng, Yu & Lin, Ji, 2023. "Digital inclusive finance and digital transformation of enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    16. Yunju Kim & Heejun Lee, 2021. "Motivation and Reuse: How Does Motivation Affect Sustainable Use Intention for Brand Webtoons?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-13, February.
    17. Ching-Fu Chen & Yi-Xuan Chen, 2023. "Investigating the effects of platform and mobility on mobility as a service (MaaS) users’ service experience and behavioral intention: empirical evidence from MeNGo, Kaohsiung," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 2299-2318, December.
    18. Bang Nguyen-Viet & Si Van Nguyen, 2023. "Authentic Experience, Place Attachment, and Behavioral Intention: Vietnamese Religious Tourism," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    19. Inge Geyskens & Barbara Deleersnyder & Marnik G. Dekimpe & Didi Lin, 2024. "Do consumers benefit from national-brand listings by hard discounters?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 97-118, January.
    20. Bies, Suzanne, 2022. "Examining the effectiveness of activation techniques on consumer behavior in temporary loyalty programs," Other publications TiSEM ade86df3-4846-4318-938f-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:8:p:3459-:d:1379707. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.