From Plastic to Purpose: A Decade of Evolution in Consumer Buying Behavior Towards Environment-Friendly Packaging (2015–2025)

Abstract

The review examines consumer buying behavior towards eco-friendly packaging over the last 10 years using the PRISMA framework. A total of 141 studies were analyzed to map theoretical and methodological progress in the field. The thematic analysis is conducted, which identified three major themes: marketing and branding influence, psychological drivers, and green purchase behavior across seven sub-themes. The findings indicate that eco-labelling, green advertising, green brand image, and product aesthetics are significant factors shaping sustainable purchase decisions. However, barriers such as green skepticism, distrust, limited product availability, higher pricing, and inadequate packaging knowledge collectively contribute to the intention-behavior gap. The trend highlights the growing scholarly attention in emerging economies like China and India, with most empirical research grounded in the theory of planned behavior and employing quantitative methods. Additionally, a conceptual model illustrating the green purchase behavior is proposed, and 20 future directions are suggested utilizing the TCCM framework.