‘Our Planet, Our Health’ - Impact of Health Consciousness and Environmental Concern on Green Purchase Behavior: Role of Reference Groups

The present study attempts to ascertain the impact of health consciousness and environmental concern on millennials’ buying behavior (through attitude and intentions) towards green personal care products. It also assesses reference group influence’s impact on the association between green buying intentions and behaviors. This study collects first-hand data from 402 millennials who use green personal care products to meet their routine needs. A purposive-cum-simple random sampling method was adopted. The partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM) method was used for the analysis. Findings show that health consciousness and environmental concerns impact consumers’ attitudes in predicting green purchase behavior. The formed attitude strongly influences green buying intentions and behavior. In addition, reference group influence dampens the linkages between green purchase intentions and the behavior of Indian millennial consumers. The findings can be used to create new organizational strategies and policies for emerging economies and better understand green consumer behavior.