Next Article in Journal
Odour Perception Using a Sniffing Team at a Municipal Solid Waste Treatment Plant: A Case Study
Next Article in Special Issue
Carbon-Reduction, Green Finance, and High-Quality Economic Development: A Case of China
Previous Article in Journal
Spatial and Temporal Evolutionary Characteristics of Vegetation in Different Geomorphic Zones of Loess Plateau and Its Driving Factor Analysis
Previous Article in Special Issue
Low-Carbon City Building and Green Development: New Evidence from Quasi Natural Experiments from 277 Cities in China
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Sustainability
Volume 15
Issue 16
10.3390/su151612199
sustainability-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite question_answer Discuss in SciProfiles thumb_up
...
Endorse textsms
...
Comment
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Green and Environmental Marketing Strategies and Ethical Consumption: Evidence from the Tourism Sector

by
Abdelmohsen A. Nassani
1,
Zahid Yousaf
2,*,
Adriana Grigorescu
3,4,* and
Alexandra Popa
5
1
Department of Management, College of Business Administration, King Saud University, P.O. Box 71115, Riyadh 11587, Saudi Arabia
2
Higher Education Department, Government College of Management Sciences, Mansehra 21300, Pakistan
3
Department of Public Management, Faculty of Public Administration, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Expozitiei Boulevard, 30A, 012104 Bucharest, Romania
4
Academy of Romanian Scientists, Ilfov Street, 3, 050094 Bucharest, Romania
5
Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economic Science, Ovidius University of Constanța, Mamaia Boulevard, 124, 900527 Constanta, Romania
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12199; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612199
Submission received: 24 June 2023 / Revised: 2 August 2023 / Accepted: 7 August 2023 / Published: 9 August 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Economy, Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Development)
Browse Figure
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Sustainable business in the hospitality sector should be designed and restructured to offer services meant to satisfy the customers aware of the ethical behavior toward environment. Green environmental marketing strategies (GES) are based on the desire of the customers to access hospitality services with zero or a less negative impact with the adaptation of greening activities. Therefore, this research aims to explore the direct effects of green environmental strategies on ethical consumption and the indirect influence of green marketing and its mediating effect between green environmental strategies and ethical consumption links. Additionally, this research also reveals that psychological aspects play the moderating role in the relationship between GES and ethical consumption. The data were collected from a sample of 545 respondents with the support of Saudi tourism companies, and a structural equation model was used to process them. The findings confirm the positive relationship between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption. The outcomes also corroborate that green marketing is interplaying between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption. In addition, this study validates that psychological aspects strengthen the link between GES and ethical consumption. This study adds to the knowledge in the literature through emphasizing the crucial role of psychological factors in improving green environmental strategies and developing ethical consumption habits among members to increase ethical consumption among tourism companies. The findings support companies from the hospitality sector implementing green sustainable services, to stimulate ethical consumption and to use their competitive advantage in green marketing strategies.

1. Introduction

Challenges regarding ethical consumption and environmental sustainability have received a significant amount of attention recently from consumers, corporations, and legislators [1]. As a result, academics have started examining the links between different variables that affect ethical consumption behavior. In order to better understand how these variables interact, this study examines how green environmental strategy (GES), green marketing, psychological aspects, and ethical consumption (EC) interact. Green environmental strategies can be highly effective for encouraging ethical consumption through hedonistic products and services [2]. Similarly, green environmental strategy helps in designing a wide variety of green products such as eco light bulbs, eco-friendly detergent, organic foods, eco-friendly brooms, and recyclable paper, amongst others, for boosting consumers’ ethical consumption behavior [3]. On the other side, green marketing entails informing customers about an organization’s green initiatives and promoting its ecologically friendly goods and services [4]. It acts as a link between the company’s green environmental strategy and how customers view and comprehend the company’s sustainability initiatives. Green marketing seeks to improve consumer attitudes, understanding, and awareness of the environmental advantages of the supplied goods and services [5]. As a result, various tourism firms in China are also taking initiatives to preserve the natural environment by adopting green environmental policies and practices [6]. Although green marketing can support us in designing eco-friendly products for improving consumers’ ethical behaviors through establishing a connection between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption practices [4], various researchers have also found that green strategies are the key drivers of ethical behavior. Green environmental strategy has become a key dynamic strength behind how firms do green marketing and how this marketing affects consumers’ ethical consumption behaviors worldwide [7]. All across the globe, green market products have regained their real, expanding, and growing value at an incredible rate [6]. The concept of green marketing has been a significant research topic since the 1980s for prominent marketing professionals and academicians. Through the combined influence of green environmental strategy and green marketing, green marketing presents various green products that positively influence consumers’ ethical consumption behaviors [8]. Herein, there is a substantial fact that shows how developing economies’ markets are influenced through green environmental strategies and green marketing policies [3]. The population has experienced increasing concern about issues relating to the damage of the environment and sustainability of natural resources in recent years [9]. Consumers’ green conscience and awareness of the importance of preserving the natural environment have increased rapidly, which has forced an enormous number of firms to offer green eco-friendly products and services [7]. Hence, the growing use of different eco-friendly products in the tourism sector can be seen in China, from the detergent to the automobile sector [4,10]. In determining customers’ attitudes and behaviors towards ethical consumption, psychological factors are extremely important [11]. Environmental psychological aspects are a multidisciplinary art that inspects how we as consumers exploit the natural resources of our world and design ecological surroundings that are in line with our green conscience and ethically change our consumption behavior [12]. Psychological aspects specify the extent to which customers protect themselves and their ecological surroundings and are also interconnected to their social and natural environment [13]. By studying psychological aspects, we can understand behaviors in which people engage in various environments and situations, such as minimizing resource waste or developing green cultures to encourage ethical consumption [14]. Numerous researchers have been found that green environmental strategy can be helpful in supporting ethical consumption behaviors among Saudi consumers through the encouraging role of psychological aspects [11]. These factors include consumer values, opinions, environmental concerns, social conventions, and sustainability-related attitudes [6,13]. They serve as internal drivers that affect consumers’ judgements and level of involvement with ethical consumption [14]. Prior studies have examined all these variables separately, or two or more variables in one framework, but to the best of our knowledge no previous research has been conducted with this empirical model. To fill this gap in the literature, given the complex nature of the relationships between these variables, this study aims to explore the following hypotheses: how green environmental strategy is positively associated with ethical consumption. Secondly, how the relationship between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption is mediated through green marketing. Lastly, we explore empirically whether psychological aspects can influence consumers’ ethical consumption behavior as the antecedent of green environmental strategies. This study is structured in the following way: firstly, in Section 2 we introduce a literature review of existing studies based on virtues of empirical model constructs; secondly, in Section 3 we explain the methodology used for the collection of data; in Section 4 we include the analysis and results of the variables; and in Section 5 we explain the discussion and conclusion of the study.

2. Hypothesis Development and Research Model

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB): The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is a prominent social psychology theory that aids in explaining and forecasting human behavior. It contends that three primary aspects primarily impact people’s behavioral intentions [15,16]: (1) Attitude: This is a reference to a person’s subjective assessment and conviction regarding the behavior in question. It relates to people’s attitudes towards eco-friendly behaviors like using sustainable transportation and supporting environmentally friendly housing, for instance, in the context of green and environmental marketing initiatives. (2) Individual Norms: The perceived social obligation and influence of others to engage in or resist specific behavior is reflected in subjective norms. This encompasses the impact of friends, family, and customs in society. (3) Subjective norms: Subjective norms are the perceived impact or social pressure from others to engage in or abstain from a specific behavior. Subjective norms may include green marketing that impacts others in encouraging and discouraging sustainable travel decisions in the context of ethical tourism consumption. A person’s perception of their capacity to carry out the targeted behavior is referred to as perceived behavioral control. People are more inclined to engage in ethical consumption practices, for example, if they believe that practising green tourism is within their power and doable. By taking these three elements into account, this study contributes to the TPB via exploring GES, green marketing, and psychological impacts’ role in comprehending the psychological processes that underlie people’s intentions and subsequent actions connected to ethical and environmentally friendly consumption in the tourism industry.
Theoretical Model: Utilising the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as the theoretical foundation, the proposed study attempts to investigate the interactions between green environmental strategy, green marketing, psychological aspects, and ethical consumption. The study extends the theory by investigating direct and indirect effects and provides useful insights for encouraging sustainable consumer behaviors through the use of TPB. According to H1, green environmental strategy is strongly correlated with ethical consumption. According to TPB, adopting ethical consumption habits is more likely when one has an encouraging mindset towards behaving in an ecologically friendly way, such as behaviors motivated by green environmental policies. To bridge the gap between the two, H2 suggests using green marketing. This approach is consistent with TPB’s contention that branding and persuasion techniques can enhance the links between intention and behavior. According to H3, psychological aspects serve as an effective moderator of this relationship, supporting TPB’s understanding of individual characteristics impacting attitudes and intentions.

2.1. Green Environmental Strategy and Ethical Consumption

The concept of green environmental strategies refers to the pursuit of practices and awareness campaigns that could result in sustaining green resources for future generations through eco-friendly environmental decisions and lifestyles [6]. Prior research explores the link between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption that boosts interest in sustainable, ethical, and green consumption practices [12]. Many scholars have recognized that green environmental strategy encourages individuals to act in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner during the creation and consumption of products [17]. Green environmental strategy is a set of proposals that overcome the influence of operational activities on the development of natural resources through avoiding wastage and energy consumption or compensating for their negative impacts with ethical consumption [18]. Green environmental strategy motivates consumers to use green environmental management structures and sustainable resources to avoid negative impacts through ethical consumption [19]. Accordingly, these consumers will perform activities that are beneficial for others’ well-being and sustainable green environment [20]. Consumption that is ethical acknowledges responsibility and accountability for both human beings and non-humans during consumption. It involves the ethical consumption of the products that increase interest in green natural resources’ growth [4]. On the other hand, some scholars state that GES and EC have a negative association. According to this viewpoint, despite the reality that businesses employ green practices, consumers might not view them as sincere and successful in resolving environmental issues. Customers can question the credibility of a company’s statements about being green and think their efforts are insufficient [21]. As a result, this doubt may make consumers less inclined to practise ethical consumption and support those businesses. However, consumers who are seeking a green environment are more willing to implement green environmental strategies and avoid unethical behavior to engage in ethical consumption practices [22]. Based upon the above arguments, we obtain the hypothesis that
Hypothesis 1 (H1).
Green environmental strategy is positively linked with ethical consumption.

2.2. Green Marketing as a Mediator

Nowadays, tourism companies are adopting green marketing strategies in order to maintain an ethically responsible environment through implementing green environmental practices [23]. Various research has pointed out that green marketing can help in fostering consumers’ ethical consumption behavior. However, green environmental strategy’s impact on ethical consumption is measured through the mediating role of green marketing [24]. In order to boost consumers’ ethical consumption behaviors, green environmental strategy helps in designing a wide variety of green products, including eco light bulbs, eco-friendly detergent, organic foods, eco-friendly brooms, and recyclable paper, among others, through the use of environmental strategies [6]. The findings explore whether green marketing performs a mediating role in the relationship between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption. Furthermore, consumers also practically observed how green marketing acts as a major antecedent to developing ethical consumption behavior [25]. Using green marketing means making and assisting in exchanges designed to persuade consumers while minimizing the harmful impact on natural ecology [26]. It also focused on CSR dimensions through advertising the disadvantages of wastage and green consumption, and the implementation of prerequisite green environmental strategies by encouraging patterns that facilitate pollution reduction and support ethical consumption [27]. According to this viewpoint, customers could still react negatively even if businesses use marketing to effectively promote their green intentions. While viewed as deceptive and disingenuous, green marketing can backfire and encourage consumers to behave less ethically while making purchases [24]. Customers can start to doubt the companies’ promises about being environmentally friendly and see them as hollow advertisements with inadequate commitment to sustainability [10]. This skepticism might undermine green marketing’s ability to act as a mediator and increase the tense relationship between GES and EC.
Hypothesis 2 (H2).
Green marketing plays a mediating role in the association between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption.

2.3. Psychological Aspects as Moderator

Nowadays, many firms pay great attention to environmental issues such as global warming, air/water pollution, and environmental degradation due to the increasing interest of customers in companies’ green environmental strategies, which ultimately affects and improves the ethical consumption behavior of consumers [28]. Psychological aspects consist of the views that help in changing the behavior of consumers toward environmental commitments, the development of green natural resources, concerns, and ethical consumption behavior, and are the antecedent of green marketing strategies [29]. Psychological aspects encourage consumers to adopt green environmental strategies for solving environmental issues, redesigning green natural world resources, and increasing people’s positive ethical consumption behaviors [30].
In the tourism sector, green environmental strategies are designed for the reduction of wastage and boosting of ethical consumption practices to increase awareness about social and environmental responsibility that directed toward resource efficiency for future generations [31]. In order to fulfill environmental demands, psychological aspects emphasize strategies that increase resource efficiency and change the environment [32]. However, social psychological aspects are versatile disciplines that study how the behaviors of individuals or consumers are affected by the implementation of green environmental strategies and why these strategies influence people’s beliefs, intentions, goals, and thoughts in a way that helps in adopting ethical consumption behavior [33]. On the other hand, psychological factors may detrimentally moderate the association between GES and EC. According to this viewpoint, consumer psychological traits, including concern for the environment, and individual values and attitudes, may act as roadblocks to the beneficial effects of GES on EC [30]. Green environmental strategy should develop new green corporate strategies that could lead to potential transformations throughout the tourism industry in terms of ethical consumption behavior [34]. Psychological aspects have grown to be the most significant factor affecting the association between a green environmental strategy that develops patterns which help in the fulfillment of customers’ requirements and improving the ethical consumption practices of customers [35].
Hypothesis 3 (H3).
Psychological aspects positively mediate the relationship between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption.
The theoretical framework is shown in Figure 1.

3. Materials and Methods

This study intends to examine the associations between ethical consumption, green marketing, and psychological factors in organizations. Due to the exploratory nature of the study topic, a close-ended questionnaire was developed for gathering data in order to accomplish this goal. The discussion that follows is concerned with the determination of the important factors and their measurements, the creation and design of the questionnaire, and the execution of the survey based on the selection of an appropriate sample for the study.

3.1. Data Collection

A quantitative research method was used for this study’s hypotheses, for testing Saudi Tourism Firms. For data collection, 545 respondents such as the CEO, owner, and senior managers, were chosen through e-mail survey. A simple random sampling method was used for participant selection. The questionnaire was also tested by three Saudi experts and all discrepancies were settled through discussion. Questionnaires were distributed through the help of five research associates via soft form. After 1 months, 373 questionnaires were returned, in which only 351 fulfilled study requirements, and were thus used for further analysis. All participants were Saudi, in which total of 33.5% were female and 66.5% were male. Age was divided in range from 21 to 28, 29 to 36, 37 to 44, 45 to 52, and 53 to 60, and above 60 years. A total of 75.8% of the participants indicated that they were between 21 and 45 years old, which reflects the strongest influence of this consumer segment on the development of ethical consumption practices in Saudi Arabia. Participants’ educational criteria were measured through three groups, comprising (1) high school, (2) Bachelors, (3) Masters, and all treated using the same variable scale. A total of 78.5% of the participants were bachelor’s degree holders and 15% of the respondents had master’s degree. The average income reported annually was 200,000 RMB. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the variables of green environmental strategy, green marketing, psychological aspects, and ethical consumption.
Demographic detail of the participants is mentioned in Table 1.

3.2. Measurement

To measure this study’s variable items, such as green environmental strategy (independent variable), green marketing (mediating variable), psychological aspects (moderating variable), and ethical consumption (dependent variable), a five-point Likert scale was used that ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Each study item was adapted from previous literature knowledge. Studied variables are presented in Appendix A Table A1.

3.2.1. Green Environmental Strategy

For the measurement of green environmental strategy, a 4-item scale was adapted from Claver-Cortés et al. [35]. This construct measures the effectiveness of green environmental policies. The sample item was “Our firm gives training to employees regarding environmental issues and challenges”.

3.2.2. Green Marketing

Green marketing was measured through a 6-item scale which was adapted from Juwaheer, Pudaruth and Noyaux [36]. These variable measures firms’ range of different activities, like product development, alteration in production methods, packaging, and advertising, etc. The example item is “Show green environmental advertisement and consumption patterns in a reliable manner”.

3.2.3. Psychological Aspects

Psychological aspects were measured through a 2-item scale which was adapted from Yoshii et al. [37]. The example question is “Our firm develops social connections to promote green cultural environment”.

3.2.4. Ethical Consumption

To measure the ethical consumption in the tourism industry we adapted a 5-item scale from Chen and Moosmayer [38]. This construct measures the ethical consumption behavior of employees in a firm. The example item is “We avoid products that increase pollution and damage the green environment”.

4. Results

The data analysis was conducted using SPSS statistical software packages. These software tools were utilized for data cleaning, manipulation, and statistical analyses to derive meaningful insights and draw conclusions from the collected data. To evaluate the best model, we developed our own hypothesized approach. It was confirmed that models fitted according to Anderson and Gerbing [39]. The data fit our four-factor model. The fit keys, CFI = 0.94, GFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.05, 2 = 1057.52, Df = 425, 2/df = 2.488, revealed the overall model fitness.

4.1. Reliability and Validity

Table 2 displays the average variance-extracted, factor loading, and composite-reliability values. This study employed SEM as its approach to research. Fornell and Larcker [40] stated that discriminant validity was also achieved. All the established and confirmed values are shown in Table 2: CR was greater than 0.70, AVE was greater than 0.50, and CR was greater than AVE. Cronbach’s alpha was higher than 0.60 than the average amount of extracted variance.

4.2. Descriptive Statistics

The results of discriminant and convergent reliability are displayed in Table 3. The VIF ratings were below the threshold of 10.0, proving that there was no issue with multi-collinearity. Factor loading was higher than 0.70, Cronbach’s alpha was greater than 0.70, and convergent validity was greater than 0.60.

4.3. Hypothesis Testing

Table 4 displays the accepted direct hypotheses (H1, H2, and H3). For testing hypotheses, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used (see Table 5). Ethical consumption is positively and significantly predicted by green environmental strategy (0.34 **, p = 0.00). H1 was therefore approved. It is demonstrated that ethical consumption has a beneficial impact on GES (value = 0.39 **, p = 0.000). Green marketing has a strong impact on moral consumption (Sig = 0.000, value = 0.39 **). We accept H3.
The indirect relationship between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption is illustrated in Table 5 through green marketing. We used the guidelines provided by Preacher and Hayes (2004, 2008) [41,42] to carry out the mediation check. Their approach confirms the mediation role of green marketing with an extensive degree of indirect influence. The findings demonstrated that green marketing serves as a mediator (Beta = 0.18, Lower = 0.2232 to Upper = 0.2675, proving H2, that there is a relationship between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption).
The mediating effect of psychological factors on the direct relationship between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption is shown in Table 6. The results show that psychological factors have a strong positive moderating effect and a statistically significant negative impact on the association between GES and ES, namely (0.32 **, p = 0.01). H3 was approved as a result.

5. Discussion

The current study enlightens different aspects that influence the ethical consumption behavior of the consumers for encouraging use of the eco-friendly products designed through green environmental strategies. Several key implications regarding ethical consumption in Saudi Arabia can be obtained from the outcomes of the current study. However, to achieve the benefits of competitive ethical consumption, tourism firm marketers should make sure that sustainable green environmental strategies are designed and put into practice in both public and private firms. Similarly, our study’s H1 empirical results are consistent with findings from prior research that explores the link between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption, finding that the former boosts interest in sustainable, ethical, and green consumption practices [16]. Many scholars have recognized that green environmental strategy encourages individuals during the creation and consumption of products to act in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner [17]. Green environmental strategy is a set of proposals that overcome the influence of operational activities on the development of natural resources through avoiding wastage and energy consumption, or compensating for their negative impacts with ethical consumption [18].
H2 outcomes have revealed that green environmental strategy is concerned with the respondents’ ethical consumption behavior in Saudi Arabia. This study’s H2 emphasizes the significance of green marketing’s mediating role in motivating consumers to implement green environmental strategy through workshops and group discussions to achieve positive ethical consumption behavior. This study suggests that tourism firm management should systematize seminars to educate people about and make them aware of eco-friendly products’ benefits for current as well as future generations. These research results support scholars’ prior findings that in the contemporary world, where people are more concerned with and aware of the environment, tourism firms are taking steps towards green marketing to maintain an ethically responsible approach to the environment through implementing green environmental strategies. Using green marketing means making and assisting in exchanges designed to persuade consumers while minimizing the harmful impact on natural ecology [26]. Green marketing also focuses on CSR dimensions through advertising the disadvantages of wastage and green consumption, and the implementation of prerequisite green environmental strategies by encouraging patterns that facilitate pollution reduction and support ethical consumption [27]. The H2 outcomes confirm that green environmental strategy provides dynamic advantages to tourism firms through the green marketing mediating role, which contributes to consumers’ ethical consumption behavior.
The H3 of the current study contributes to prior literature knowledge on the emergent field of ethical consumption regarding how psychological aspects mediate between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption links. The findings of the study show that psychological aspects are a significant factor in increasing ethical consumption through the antecedents of green environmental strategy. The H3 results corroborate that nowadays, many firms pay great attention to environmental issues such as global warming, air/water pollution, and environmental degradation challenges due to the increasing interest of customers in corporations’ green environmental strategy, which ultimately affects and improves the ethical consumption behavior of consumers [28]. Psychological aspects consist of the views that help in changing the behavior of consumers toward environmental commitments, the development of green natural resources, concerns, and ethical consumption behavior; they are the antecedent of green marketing strategies [29]. Psychological aspects encourage consumers to adopt green environmental strategies for solving environmental issues, redesigning green natural world resources, and increasing people’s positive ethical consumption behaviors [30].
In the tourism sector, green environmental strategies are designed for the reduction of wastage and boosting of ethical consumption practices to increase awareness about social and environmental responsibility, with the goal of obtaining resource efficiency for future generations [31]. In order to fulfill environmental demands, psychological aspects emphasize strategies that increase resource efficiency and change the environment [32]. Our research also highlights that encompassing green environmental strategy is not enough. The management of tourism firms should provide awareness and information through green marketing practices so that the challenges and issues of environmental protection and ethical consumption become the responsibility of all consumers. Through green marketing, tourism firms’ managers can enhance the ethical consumption practices of people via favorable green environmental strategy. This study’s findings also prove that psychological aspects have sustainable competitive benefits that allow us to implement green environmental strategy for encouraging ethical consumption behaviors.

5.1. Contribution to the Theory

From a theoretical point of view, in this research all hypotheses are supported. The current study gives empirical facts relating to mediating role of green marketing and moderating role of psychological aspects, particularly in the context of environmental management and ethical consumption in Saudi Arabia as a developed nation. Secondly, this study suggests that green environmental strategy has a positive impact on the ethical consumption behavior of consumers. Thirdly, this study also suggests that link between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption is mediated through green marketing and through psychological aspects. Moreover, our research explores the psychological aspects that mediate between green environmental strategy and ethical consumption. Our study also corroborates prior findings.

5.2. Contribution to Practical Management

This study has several valuable practical contributions that are helpful for management, administration, and policy makers. Firstly, our study’s empirical model offers comprehensive consideration of the management of tourism firms who would like to improve the ethical consumption behavior of their members. This study’s findings propose that tourism firms’ administration must stimulate the green marketing role in their firms for the achievement of high ethical consumption practices. Secondly, in the current era, society is environment-conscious; thus, tourism firms’ management wants to design a green environmental strategy, though they also require recognizing that having just strategy is not enough to directly enhance ethical consumption behaviors. Thus, management should find approaches such as green marketing to encourage high ethical consumption behaviors from stakeholders. Accordingly, our study suggests that tourism firms in Saudi Arabia should design green environmental strategies and they ought to reflect green marketing and psychological aspects’ role; thereby, firms could improve the ethical consumption behaviors of consumers and contribute to better green environmental resources, which is growing to be the concern of the globe.

5.3. Contribution to Society

Seeing that environmental challenges have grown to be a serious issue for the globe, current study findings offer an approach that demonstrates how to accomplish better green environment management, which gives more benefits to society and the whole world. Tourism firms are key contributors to environmental damage. This empirical model provides evidence of the significance of ethical consumption and its precursors, specifically, green environmental strategy, green marketing, and psychological aspects. When tourism firms implement this pragmatic model for solving environmental issues and dealing with societal challenges, they will obtain more advantages in terms of the availability of green programs and products, environmental degradation reduction, economic development, and resource efficiency, as well as the improvement of quality of life.

5.4. Limitations and Future Directions

The current research has the following limitations, which can be addressed in future works. Firstly, this study tests hypotheses through a SEM approach, which could raise questions about causality, so in the future researchers must identify this issue using case studies and experimental approaches to corroborate the results. Secondly, even though the antecedents of ethical consumption were investigated, our research did not examine its consequences. As a result, future studies would need to explore the impact of ethical consumption in the terms of nonfinancial or financial. A third limitation of this study is the small sample size and restrictions to Saudi Arabia’s tourism firms. Thus, in future, testing the approach in numerous countries is necessary due to the limited generalizability of and focus on Saudi Arabia’s tourism businesses. Furthermore, the lack of clarity in the study’s setting regarding hotel kinds and reasons for stays highlights the need for the additional development and analysis of these issues as potential future research areas. The understanding of green marketing, green strategy, psychological factors, and ethical consumer behavior in the tourism business will improve as these constraints are addressed.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, A.A.N. and A.G.; methodology, A.A.N. and Z.Y.; software, Z.Y.; validation, A.G. and A.A.N.; formal analysis, Z.Y. and A.P.; investigation, A.A.N.; resources, Z.Y.; data curation, A.A.N.; writing—original draft preparation, A.A.N. and A.P.; writing—review and editing, A.G. and Z.Y.; visualization, A.P.; supervision, A.G.; project administration, Z.Y.; funding acquisition, A.A.N. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

Researchers Supporting Project number RSP2023R87, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from the participants involved in this research.

Data Availability Statement

Data will be provided on request.

Acknowledgments

Researchers Supporting Project number RSP2023R87, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Appendix A

Table A1. Variables construct.
Table A1. Variables construct.
VariablesItemsConstruct
Green environmental strategyGES1Our firm quantifies natural resources costs and use measure for environmental savings.
GES2Our firm gives training to employees regarding environmental issues and challenges.
GES3Our firm adopts ecological, water saving policies in green marketing campaigns.
GES4Our firm used latest measure for protecting environmental resources.
Green marketing Our firm
GM1Present eco-friendly labeling and identification tools for green products development.
GM2Green products and eco-labels are marketed in using approach which I actually thought relevant to my way of life.
GM3Eco-labels provide information regarding green products, green packaging and biological customers.
GM4Provide information relating to reuse and recycling of natural resources.
GM5Show green environmental advertisement and consumption patterns in a reliable manner.
GM6Adopt attractive green purchasing advertisement patterns.
Psychological aspectsPA1Our firm develops social connections to promote green cultural environment.
PA2Our firm stays active in processes that improve green practices.
Ethical consumptionEC1We encourage all those practices that are involved in ethical consumption.
EC2We prefer to consume all wastage in ethical manner.
EC3We avoid products that increase pollution and damage green environment.
EC4We try to hire people from companies that focus on green marketing.
EC5We used products/services that minimize green environment damages.

References

  1. Bray, J.; Johns, N.; Kilburn, D. An exploratory study into the factors impeding ethical consumption. J. Bus. Ethics 2011, 98, 597–608. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  2. Kuokkanen, H.; Sun, W. Companies, meet ethical consumers: Strategic CSR management to impact consumer choice. J. Bus. Ethics 2020, 166, 403–423. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  3. Lee, K.H.; Ball, R. Achieving sustainable corporate competitiveness: Strategic link between top management’s (green) commitment and corporate environmental strategy. Greener Manag. Int. 2003, 44, 89–104. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  4. Szabo, S.; Webster, J. Perceived greenwashing: The effects of green marketing on environmental and product perceptions. J. Bus. Ethics 2021, 171, 719–739. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  5. Maheshwari, S.P. Awareness of green marketing and its influence on buying behavior of consumers: Special reference to Madhya Pradesh, India. AIMA J. Manag. Res. 2014, 8, 0974-497. [Google Scholar]
  6. Kraus, S.; Rehman, S.U.; García, F.J.S. Corporate social responsibility and environmental performance: The mediating role of environmental strategy and green innovation. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang. 2020, 160, 120–262. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  7. Karunarathna, A.K.P.; Bandara, V.K.; Silva, A.S.T.; De Mel, W.D.H. Impact of Green Marketing Mix on Customers’ Green Purchasing Intention with Special Reference to Sri Lankan Supermarkets. S. Asian J. Mark. 2020, 1, 127–153. [Google Scholar]
  8. Das, A.K.; Biswas, S.R.; Abdul Kader Jilani, M.M.; Uddin, M.A. Corporate environmental strategy and voluntary environmental behavior—Mediating effect of psychological green climate. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3123. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  9. Nyilasy, G.; Gangadharbatla, H.; Paladino, A. Perceived greenwashing: The interactive effects of green advertising and corporate environmental performance on consumer reactions. J. Bus. Ethics 2014, 125, 693–707. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  10. Alsmadi, S. Green marketing and the concern over the environment: Measuring environmental consciousness of Jordanian consumers. J. Promot. Manag. 2007, 13, 339–361. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  11. Nguyen, T.M.T.; Le, D.M.T.; Hoang, T.Q.H.; Ha, M.T. Psychological factors and ethical consumption: The case of Vietnamese youths. VNUHCM J. Econ. Bus. Law 2022, 6, 3371–3385. [Google Scholar]
  12. Kushwah, S.; Dhir, A.; Sagar, M. Ethical consumption intentions and choice behavior towards organic food. Moderation role of buying and environmental concerns. J. Clean. Prod. 2019, 236, 117519. [Google Scholar]
  13. Khan, S.; Abbas, M. Interactive effects of consumers’ ethical beliefs and authenticity on ethical consumption and pro-environmental behaviors. J. Retail. Consum. Serv. 2023, 71, 103226. [Google Scholar]
  14. Gregory-Smith, D.; Smith, A.; Winklhofer, H. Emotions and dissonance in ‘ethical’ consumption choices. J. Mark. Manag. 2013, 29, 1201–1223. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  15. Bosnjak, M.; Ajzen, I.; Schmidt, P. The theory of planned behavior: Selected recent advances and applications. Eur. J. Psychol. 2020, 16, 352. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  16. Djafarova, E.; Foots, S. Exploring ethical consumption of generation Z: Theory of planned behaviour. Young Consum. 2022, 23, 413–431. [Google Scholar]
  17. Doshi, S. Greening displacements, displacing green: Environmental subjectivity, slum clearance, and the embodied political ecologies of dispossession in Mumbai. Int. J. Urban Reg. Res. 2019, 43, 112–132. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  18. Tan, T.M.; Makkonen, H.; Kaur, P.; Salo, J. How do ethical consumers utilize sharing economy platforms as part of their sustainable resale behavior? The role of consumers’ green consumption values. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang. 2022, 176, 121432. [Google Scholar]
  19. Long, M.A.; Murray, D.L. Ethical consumption, values convergence/divergence, and community development. J. Agric. Environ. Ethics 2013, 26, 351–375. [Google Scholar]
  20. Wheale, P.; Hinton, D. Ethical consumers in search of markets. Bus. Strategy Environ. 2007, 16, 302–315. [Google Scholar]
  21. Muraguri, E.K.; Jin, S.; Samake, A. Modeling the role of perceived green value and consumer innovativeness in green products’ consumption intention within the theory of planned behavior. Sustinere J. Environ. Sustain. 2020, 4, 94–116. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  22. Shaw, D.; Clarke, I. Belief formation in ethical consumer groups: An exploratory study. Mark. Intell. Plan. 1999, 17, 109–120. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  23. Jalees, T.; Qabool, S.; Zaman, S.I.; AlamKazmi, S.H. Effect of spirituality and ethics on green advertising, and the multi-mediating roles of green buying and green satisfaction. Cogent Bus. Manag. 2021, 8, 1920559. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  24. Suki, N.M.; Suki, N.M.; Azman, N.S. Impacts of corporate social responsibility on the links between green marketing awareness and consumer purchase intentions. Procedia Econ. Financ. 2016, 37, 262–268. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  25. Cheng, Z.H.; Chang, C.T.; Lee, Y.K. Linking hedonic and utilitarian shopping values to consumer skepticism and green consumption: The roles of environmental involvement and locus of control. Rev. Manag. Sci. 2020, 14, 61–85. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  26. Choudhary, A.; Gokarn, S. Green Marketing: A means for sustainable development. J. Arts Sci. Commer. 2013, 4, 3. [Google Scholar]
  27. Sarkar, A. Green marketing and sustainable development challenges and opportunities. Int. J. Mark. Financ. Serv. Manag. Res. 2012, 1, 120–134. [Google Scholar]
  28. Anderson, L.M.; Bateman, T.S. Individual environmental initiative: Championing natural environmental issues in US business organizations. Acad. Manag. J. 2000, 43, 548–570. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  29. Grošelj, M.; Černe, M.; Penger, S.; Grah, B. Authentic and transformational leadership and innovative work behavior: The moderating role of psychological empowerment. Eur. J. Innov. Manag. 2020, 24, 677–706. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  30. García, D.M.; Molina, I.R.; Marco, J.M. The effect of job characteristics on intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction: The moderating role of psychological capital. Psychological 2019, 62, 39–56. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  31. Groening, C.; Sarkis, J.; Zhu, Q. Green marketing consumer-level theory review: A compendium of applied theories and further research directions. J. Clean. Prod. 2018, 172, 1848–1866. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  32. Tee, P.K.; Lim, K.Y.; Ng, C.P.; Wong, L.C. Trust in Green Advertising: Mediating Role of Environmental Involvement. Sciences 2022, 12, 1771–1786. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  33. Martins, A. Green marketing and perceived SME profitability: The meditating effect of green purchase behavior. Manag. Environ. Qual. Int. J. 2021, 33, 281–299. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  34. Sharma, S.; Vredenburg, H. Proactive corporate environmental strategy and the development of competitively valuable organizational capabilities. Strateg. Manag. J. 1998, 19, 729–753. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  35. Claver-Cortés, E.; Molina-Azorin, J.F.; Pereira-Moliner, J.; López-Gamero, M.D. Environmental strategies and their impact on hotel performance. J. Sustain. Tour. 2007, 15, 663–679. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  36. Juwaheer, T.D.; Pudaruth, S.; Noyaux, M.M.E. Analyzing the impact of green marketing strategies on consumer purchasing patterns in Mauritius. World J. Entrep. Manag. Sustain. Dev. 2012, 8, 36–59. [Google Scholar]
  37. Yoshii, C.; Kano, M.; Isomura, T.; Kunitomo, F.; Aizawa, M.; Harada, H.; Haradam, S.; Kawanami, Y.; Kido, M. An innovative questionnaire examining psychological nicotine dependence, “The Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND)”. J. UOEH 2006, 28, 45–55. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  38. Chen, Y.; Moosmayer, D.C. When guilt is not enough: Interdependent self-construal as moderator of the relationship between guilt and ethical consumption in a Confucian context. J. Bus. Ethics 2020, 161, 551–572. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  39. Anderson, J.C.; Gerbing, D.W. Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychol. Bull. 1988, 103, 411. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  40. Fornell, C.; Larcker, D.F. Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. J. Mark. Res. 1981, 18, 39–50. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  41. Preacher, K.J.; Hayes, A.F. SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behav. Res. Methods Instrum. Comput. 2004, 3, 717–731. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  42. Preacher, K.J.; Hayes, A.F. Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behav. Res. Methods 2008, 40, 879–891. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Sustainability 15 12199 g001
Figure 1. Framework.
Figure 1. Framework.
Sustainability 15 12199 g001
Table 1. Demographic statistics.
Table 1. Demographic statistics.
Demographic CategoryNumber of ParticipantsPercentage
Gender
 Female18333.5%
 Male36866.5%
Age
 21–4541375.78%
 45–6013224.22%
Educational level
 Bachelor’s degree42778.5%
 Master’s degree8115%
 High school376.5%
Table 2. Shows Composite Reliability (CR), Factor Loading (FL) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE).
Table 2. Shows Composite Reliability (CR), Factor Loading (FL) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE).
Variable DetailsItemsFLCronbach’s AlphaCRAVE
Green environmental strategy040.76–0.880.830.920.72
Green marketing060.72–0.840.860.960.76
Psychological aspects020.76–0.820.820.940.78
Ethical consumption050.72–0.860.840.980.74
Source: authors’ results.
Table 3. Results of mean, SD, and correlations.
Table 3. Results of mean, SD, and correlations.
VariableMeanSDAlpha12345678
1Business age3.051.050.841.00
2Business size 1.360.420.880.118 **1.00
3Respondent experience1.740.310.820.217 **0.84 *1.00
4Respondent education1.220.650.88−0.040.061.001.00
5Green environmental strategy3.540.440.85−0.03−0.160.02−0.121.00
6Green marketing3.450.420.810.02−0.020.092 *−0.030.244 **1.00
7Psychological aspects3.850.620.80−0.08−0.11−0.020.072 *0.265 **0.327 **1.00
8Ethical consumption0.440.440.780.01−0.14−0.02−0.140.280 **0.369 **0.385 **1.00
Notes: * p < 0.005; ** p < 0.000.
Table 4. Results of hypotheses.
Table 4. Results of hypotheses.
ModelDetailsBeta-ValueFT-ValueSigRemarks
1GES to Ethical consumption0.3422.0670.1280.000Accepted
2GES to Green marketing0.39149.2612.210.000Accepted
3Green marketing to Ethical consumption0.38140.6416.540.000Accepted
Table 5. Indirect effect of Green Marketing (GM) between Green Environment Strategy (GES) and Ethical Consumption (EC).
Table 5. Indirect effect of Green Marketing (GM) between Green Environment Strategy (GES) and Ethical Consumption (EC).
Model DetailDataBootBiasSELowerUpperSigRemarks
GES → GM → EC0.1840.120.0020.480.22320.26750.0000Accepted
Table 6. Hierarchal regression results for moderating effect of psychological aspects.
Table 6. Hierarchal regression results for moderating effect of psychological aspects.
Ethical Consumption
DetailBetaT-ValueBetaT-ValueBetaT-Value
Step 1
Business age0.050.220.021.380.020.22
Business size0.060.240.160.740.110.76
Respondent education0.120.180.140.121.041.42
Respondent experience0.140.220.110.840.030.18
Step 2
Green environmental strategy 0.34 *7.840.32 *3.74
Psychological aspects 0.24 *5.680.34 *4.66
Step 3
GES → PS 0.32 **2.25
F 5.18 ** 16.56 * 16.32 *
R2 0.03 0.27 0.22
R2 0.24 0.01
Notes: * p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05 (two tailed); and results of VIF were below than the threshold level.
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Nassani, A.A.; Yousaf, Z.; Grigorescu, A.; Popa, A. Green and Environmental Marketing Strategies and Ethical Consumption: Evidence from the Tourism Sector. Sustainability 2023, 15, 12199. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612199

AMA Style

Nassani AA, Yousaf Z, Grigorescu A, Popa A. Green and Environmental Marketing Strategies and Ethical Consumption: Evidence from the Tourism Sector. Sustainability. 2023; 15(16):12199. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612199

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nassani, Abdelmohsen A., Zahid Yousaf, Adriana Grigorescu, and Alexandra Popa. 2023. "Green and Environmental Marketing Strategies and Ethical Consumption: Evidence from the Tourism Sector" Sustainability 15, no. 16: 12199. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612199

APA Style

Nassani, A. A., Yousaf, Z., Grigorescu, A., & Popa, A. (2023). Green and Environmental Marketing Strategies and Ethical Consumption: Evidence from the Tourism Sector. Sustainability, 15(16), 12199. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612199

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop