Factors affecting green building consumer behaviour: evidence from Brazil

ABSTRACT This article identifies the key factors that influenced the consumer purchase behaviour of green-certified buildings in Brazil. To do this, a theoretical model was developed from three systematic literature reviews (SLR) on three literature streams (green buildings, traditional buildings, and green products) – alongside classical consumer behaviour model. The resulting model was then used to set up the hypotheses that were evaluated through a mixed-method approach based on in-depth interviews and a survey with Brazilian customers who had bought a green building certified apartment or house. Our findings showed that there were nine key factors that positively influenced their purchasing behaviour: motivation, knowledge, environmental attitude, values and personality, physical attributes, external environment, trust, lifestyle, and situation. They were motivated by the desire to live in a sustainable property, live in a more secure environment, own a home and leave a legacy for future generations; and having background information and knowledge about green buildings and a high degree of environmental attitude and sustainability related values and lifestyle. Our contribution is threefold. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the key factors that influenced the actual behaviour of green building consumers in the Brazilian market, and one of the few that studies the actual buying behaviour rather than intention. It extends the extant literature by studying a more comprehensive set of factors and it contributes to the investigation of consumer behaviour of traditional and sustainable products in emerging markets.