消費者의 自我性向이 친환경心理 및 綠色消費者行動에 미치는 影響에 關한 硏究

Abstract

It is not too much to say that 21st century is a society controlled by the logic of environment and the efforts to resolve human caused environmental problems have become the core project for mankind. Moreover, well-being is rising significantly not only in the nation, but also over the world and the number of green consumer tends to be increasing. Several enterprises around the world perform eco-friendly marketing strategies by either developing eco-friendly goods to satisfy consumer needs relating with environment or striving for environmental improvement and campaign. Both enterprises and consumers definitely sense that fractionated market composing with the vaguely mentioned green consumers who perform environmental cognitive consuming behavior has been complicated and the size is being much larger. However, the entire consumers do not consider consuming behavior as an important factor of environment. Though 82.8% of nation has a positive cognition for eco-friendly products according to the 2007 Ministry of Environment research, only 59.7% has actually experienced purchasing. There is a gap between eco-friendly cognition and green consumer behavior. Based on the existing researches, above mentioned gap is able to be expressed with green consumer behavior differently following the levels of individual self-construal. Therefore, this study aims to develop integrated research model which will explain the impact of consumer self-tendency on eco-friendly psychology as well as green consumer behavior and also to examine the relationship through demonstration analysis. Besides that, enhancing the understanding of consumers toward environment and providing more useful guide for green marketing strategy establishment in terms of internal enterprise, public part, and learning. This study implemented Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with using AMOS 17.0 Program and verified the hypothesis of this study through covariance structure analysis as well as correlation analysis about each factor. Based on the major analysis result of this study, both conclusion and suggestion are same as below. First of all, this study is meaningful since the model which can casually explain national consumer’s eco-friendly psychology and green consumer behavior is established by introducing 3 social-psychological variables (independent, dependent, meta-personal self-construal) beyond descriptive analysis. Thus, the model presented from this study will be used for the study in this area practically. Secondly, this study presented self-construal and environmental psychology as well as mediating variables of self-esteem and self-congruity between green consumer behaviors; besides that, indicated research model which is expanded than the existing researches along demonstration analysis for mediating role of a consumers` knowledge variable in terms of the relationship between environmental psychology and green consumer behavior. Thirdly, the existing self-construal and green consumer related internal researches are mostly accomplished on the basis of university students or general students and the results from preceding studies have problems to be generalized because it is researched with the limit of particular items. However, this study has improved generalization more than theoretical and practical suggestions in accordance with the target composing with housewives or workers by considering population statistical characteristics of green consumers based on the preceding researches. Fourth, if preceding studies about green consumer behavior related with the existing self-construal used only environmental immersion concept and partial concept toward green consumer behavior, this study enforced empirical analysis in consideration of green consumer’s characteristics with several concepts like environmental cognition, social responsibility, and recycling intention based on preceding studies. Therefore, it could be much more significant study than the existing studies. Fifth, people who have independent and meta-personal self-construal more likely to have a positive attention and thoughts about environmental psychology; however, only those with meta-personal self-construal tend to perform green consumer behavior. This study prepared a theoretical base helping the understanding of gap phenomenon such as the green consumer behavior that is lower in contrast to a positive attention and thoughts from nation. Sixth, independent self-construal and meta-personal self-construal appeared to give a positive effect on environmental psychology. The other important point is that those with a strong individualized construal and independent self-construal are interested in eco-friendly environment. In addition to that, only meta-personal self-construal directly affects to green consumer behavior at 0.5 of significance level from the results, but independent self-construal gives a direct effect on green consumer behavior at 0.1 of significance level. Thus, people who have independent self-construal perform green consumer behavior when they have attention toward eco-friendly environment; otherwise people with not only a strong meta-personal self-construal, but also a strong individualized construal should be led to participate into green consumer market if enterprise or public institution attempts to raise the size of green consuming market because they are determined to possess a great possibility for green consumer behavior. That means those with independent and meta-personal self-construal shall lay down marketing strategies to manage effective marketing. Either enterprises or public institutions can provoke green consumer behavior and purchase if they vitalize meta-personal self-construal to the consumers while vitalizing green consumer market. Seventh, a high self-esteem tends to give impact on the relationship between meta-personal self-construal and environmental psychology negatively. As the consumer is afraid and emotionally anxious about negative thought and failure with a low self-esteem, eco-friendly mental state becomes increasing. Therefore, it would be more effective to contribute increasing the attention toward eco-friendly environment if enterprise and government institution emphasize the negative aspects due to environmental disaster such as smoking advertisement rather than positive aspects which contain social and ecological benefit about eco-friendly environment in case of marketing activity for those who have a strong meta-personal construal. Considering the cultural characteristics of our nation which are based on courtesy, they ought to perceive a positive attention toward eco-friendly environment by respecting and taking care of others as well planting the idea of group consciousness. Eighth, the low self-congruity tends to give a positive effect on the relationship in terms of the effect on green consumer behavior from meta-personal self-construal. As the low self-congruity between consumers with meta-personal construal and eco-friendly product indicates green consumer behavior, consumers with a strong meta-personal construal perform green consumer behavior by considering other factors like quality of eco-friendly product, benefit from using the product, and impact on society rather than the satisfaction of social desire, self-respect desire, and self-realization desire by using as well as purchasing eco-friendly product that is similar to their actual self-image and ideal self-image. Eventually, enterprises or public institutions would be able to vitalize green consumer market if they lead green consumer behavior on the basis of advantages and benefit from eco-friendly product as well as impact on society rather than focused on external clue of eco-friendly product in terms of brand, trademark, and design. Ninth, the environmental psychology tends to positively influence on green consumer behavior. Although people who have meta-personal construal perform green consumer behavior regardless of the attention toward environment, they more likely to perform much more green consumer behavior if they pay more attention toward eco-friendly environment. Therefore, the enterprise attempting manage eco-friendly product should focus on provoke for consumers to pay attention to eco-friendly product as emphasizing the importance for environment and characteristics of eco-friendly product and government where holds a significant assignment called environment conservation should vitalize green consumer behavior with the advancement of cognition toward environment by enforcing environmental campaign and environmental education actively since increasing either attention or cognition toward eco-friendly environment means to vitalize much more green consumer behavior. Last but not least, there is a positive effect on the relationship between environmental psychology and green consumer behavior if the consumer has more knowledge. As it means, the more knowledge the consumer has; the greater green consumer behavior consumer performs and those with a high level of knowledge have much more insights as well as understandings about either standard or feature that can classify general consuming products because they know well about environmental products. Therefore, enterprises and public institutions absolutely should improve both familiarity and information for eco-friendly product through constant promotion or experience-marketing with much information held by eco-friendly product through various medias to active green consumer behavior because they consider more about human body’s benefit, ecological benefit, increase of social convenience(environmental convenience), and reduction of social expenses that the product gives rather than prices, designs, and conveniences of products’ external clue.