Green Marketing and Sustainable Consumer Behaviour: A Descriptive Study of Urban Millennials

Abstract

With rising concerns for sustainability and the environment, the consumer, and especially urban millennials has had a dramatic impact on their purchasing habits over the last few years. The objective of this study is to explore the link of sustainable consumer behaviour with green marketing practices particularly with urban millennial consumers. The idea of green marketing placing environmental emphasis on products; eco-labelling; sustainable packaging; ethical business practices has become one of the strategic tools that companies are using to capture the attention of consumers with eco-environmental concerns. This research aims to examine the effect of green marketing initiatives on purchase intentions, attitudes and consumption of urban millennials. This depends on a descriptive research design to gain insight into perceptions, awareness and behaviour towards green products/services. Data is collected by using a structured data collection instrument with semi-structured questions that are then answered by urban millennial consumers, as well as secondary data from journals, reports and industry publications. It examines key factors like environmental awareness, the perceived credibility of the green claims, price sensitivity and a preference for sustainable products. It also examines the mismatch (or attitude-behaviour gap) between environmental attitudes and buying behavior for environmental products. The results of this study will reveal that although the players Millennials in cities are environmentally conscious and feel good about sustainability, the behaviour they are witnessing in the market should suggest that they are influenced by Prices, Availability, Brand Trust and Product perceived quality. The results offer insights to marketing literature on what can be done by businesses to create effective green marketing strategies that increase consumers' engagement and facilitate sustainable consumption patterns.