Motivating Factors Influencing Green Buying Behavior of Generation Z: An Application of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)
Open accessAbstract
This study used the Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical foundation to investigate the motivating factors influencing Generation Z consumers' green purchasing behavior in Pakistan. Using a random sampling technique, the researchers gathered information from over 300 Gen Z consumers between the ages of 10 and 25 using a survey questionnaire. Utilizing a quantitative research approach, the study used Smart PLS 3.0 software and Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data. Green purchase intention, green buying behavior, green attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and green social norms were the variables examined. The results of the study indicate that there is a significant relationship between "green attitudes," "green social norms," and "green purchase intention” with green buying behavior, with a p-value of less than 0.05 and t-value where of more than 1.96. However, with a p-value larger than 0.05 and a t-value less than 1.96, green perceived behavior control was not a significant predictor. Overall, the study indicates that Pakistan's Generation Z customers are more concerned with environmental issues and are favorably inclined to buy eco-friendly goods. These findings have implications for managers who can create more environmentally friendly products specifically targeting Gen Z.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The TPB constructs remain robust predictors of sustainable behavior, especially when social and self-efficacy factors are at play.
“These findings are consistent with prior research (Paul et al. 2016;Yadav and Pathak 2017) and more recent studies specifically focusing on Gen Z (e.g., Qazi et al. 2023), confirming that TPB constructs remain robust predictors of sustainable behavior, especially when social and self-efficacy factors are at play.”
From Does Greenwashing Wash Away Gen Z's Green Purchase Intention? (2025) · cites this paper as Qazi et al. 2023
The Structural Model Assessment (section 4.4; page not provided) finds significant links from green attitude and social norms to purchase intention, and from intention to green buying behavior among Gen Z. But perceived behavioral control—the paper's measure closest to self-efficacy—was not a significant predictor of purchase intention. The findings therefore support the social-factor portion, not the claim about self-efficacy, and concern green buying rather than sustainable behavior generally. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The theory of planned behavior
Ajzen, I. (1991) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t · Cited by 90,587 · see citing works
Qi, X., & Ploeger, A. (2021) · Foods · doi:10.3390/foods10061200 · Cited by 146 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Qi and Ploeger (2021) in their research used the theory to clarify people's food preferences.”
Background
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 61
- Abid, N., Ikram, M., Wu, J., & Ferasso, M. (2021). Towards environmental sustainability: exploring the nexus among ISO 14001, governance indicators and green economy in Pakistan. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 27, 653-666. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.01.024 · DOI
- Abrar, M., Sibtain, M. M., & Shabbir, R. (2021). Understanding purchase intention towards eco- friendly clothing for generation Y & Z. Cogent Business & Management, 8(1), 1997247. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.1997247 · DOI
- Armitage, C. J., & Conner, M. (1999). Distinguishing perceptions of control from self-efficacy: Predicting consumption of a low-fat diet using the theory of planned behavior 1. Journal of applied social psychology, 29(1), 72-90. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559- 1816.1999.tb01375.x · DOI · Paper page
- Awuni, J. A., & Du, J. (2016). Sustainable consumption in Chinese cities: green purchasing intentions of young adults based on the theory of consumption values. Sustainable Development, 24(2), 124-135. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1613 · DOI
- Aydogdu, M., & Kaya, F. (2020). Factors affecting consumers' consumption of organic foods: A case study in GAP-Şanlıurfa in Turkey. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, 22(2), 347-359.
- Budiman, S. (2021). The effect of social media on brand image and brand loyalty in generation Y. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8(3), 1339-1347. doi:https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no3.1339 · DOI
- Casalegno, C., Candelo, E., & Santoro, G. (2022). Exploring the antecedents of green and sustainable purchase behaviour: A comparison among different generations. Psychology & Marketing, 39(5), 1007-1021. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21637 · DOI
- Chan, E. S., & Hon, A. H. (2020). Application of extended theory of planned behavior model to ecological behavior intentions in the food and beverage service industry. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 23(2), 169-191. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/15378020.2020.1718402 · DOI
- Chang, H. H., & Chen, S. W. (2008). The impact of online store environment cues on purchase intention: Trust and perceived risk as a mediator. Online information review, 32(6), 818- 841. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520810923953 · DOI
- Chen, C.-C., Chen, C.-W., & Tung, Y.-C. (2018). Exploring the consumer behavior of intention to purchase green products in belt and road countries: An empirical analysis. Sustainability, 10(3), 854. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030854 · DOI
- Chen, S., Qiu, H., Xiao, H., He, W., Mou, J., & Siponen, M. (2021). Consumption behavior of eco-friendly products and applications of ICT innovation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 287, 125436. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125436 · DOI
- Chien, F., Ajaz, T., Andlib, Z., Chau, K. Y., Ahmad, P., & Sharif, A. (2021). The role of technology innovation, renewable energy and globalization in reducing environmental degradation in Pakistan: a step towards sustainable environment. Renewable Energy, 177, 308-317. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.101 · DOI
- Cohen, J. (1988). Set correlation and contingency tables. Applied psychological measurement, 12(4), 425-434. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/014662168801200410 · DOI · Paper page
- Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. psychometrika, 16(3), 297-334. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02310555 · DOI · Paper page
- Diamantopoulos, A., & Siguaw, J. A. (2006). Formative versus reflective indicators in organizational measure development: A comparison and empirical illustration. British journal of management, 17(4), 263-282. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467- 8551.2006.00500.x · DOI · Paper page
- Dragolea, L.-L., Butnaru, G. I., Kot, S., Zamfir, C. G., Nuţă, A.-C., Nuţă, F.-M., . . . Ştefănică, M. (2023). Determining factors in shaping the sustainable behavior of the generation Z consumer. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 11, 1096183. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1096183 · DOI · Paper page
- Edmunds, J., & Turner, B. S. (2005). Global generations: social change in the twentieth century. The British journal of sociology, 56(4), 559-577. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468- 4446.2005.00083.x · DOI
- Ermolaeva, P. (2010). College Students' Green Culture: Reflecting on the Ideal Types of Environmental Awareness and Behavior Practices. Raziskave in Razprave, 3(3), 49.
- Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of marketing research, 18(1), 39-50. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104 · DOI · Paper page
- Gansser, O. A., & Reich, C. S. (2023). Influence of the new ecological paradigm (NEP) and environmental concerns on pro-environmental behavioral intention based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Journal of Cleaner Production, 382, 134629. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134629 · DOI
- Hair, J., Black, W., Babin, B., & Anderson, R. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: Global edition: Pearson Higher Education Upper Saddle River. In: NJ.
- Hair Jr, J., Anderson, R., Tatham, R., & Black, W. (2006). Multivariate Data Analysis. Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. In: Pearson Education, Inc., New Delhi.
- Haque, M. S. (2022). Inductive and/or Deductive Research Designs. In Principles of Social Research Methodology (pp. 59-71): Springer.
- Hassan, H., Hsbollah, H. M., & Mohamad, R. (2022). Examining the interlink of social media use, purchase behavior, and mental health. Procedia Computer Science, 196, 85-92. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2021.11.076 · DOI
- Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the academy of marketing science, 43, 115-135. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8 · DOI · Paper page
- Hocquette, É., Liu, J., Ellies-Oury, M.-P., Chriki, S., & Hocquette, J.-F. (2022). Does the future of meat in France depend on cultured muscle cells? Answers from different consumer segments. Meat Science, 188, 108776. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2022.108776 · DOI
- Islam, M. S. (2021). Online Shopping Behaviour among International Students from Belt & Road Countries in China. European Journal of Business and Management Research, 6(1), 63- 75. doi:https://doi.org/10.24018/ejbmr.2021.6.1.68 · DOI
- Ivanova, O., Flores-Zamora, J., Khelladi, I., & Ivanaj, S. (2019). The generational cohort effect in the context of responsible consumption. Management Decision, 57(5), 1162-1183. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-12-2016-0915 · DOI
- Kamalanon, P., Chen, J.-S., & Le, T.-T.-Y. (2022). "Why do we buy green products?" An extended theory of the planned behavior model for green product purchase behavior. Sustainability, 14(2), 689. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020689 · DOI
- Kim, H. M., Joo, K., & Hwang, J. (2022). Are Customers Willing to Pay More for Eco-Friendly Edible Insect Restaurants? Focusing on the Internal Environmental Locus of Control. Sustainability, 14(16), 10075. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610075 · DOI
- Kumar, N., Garg, P., & Singh, S. (2022). Pro-environmental purchase intention towards eco- friendly apparel: Augmenting the theory of planned behavior with perceived consumer effectiveness and environmental concern. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 13(2), 134-150. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/20932685.2021.2016062 · DOI
- Larranaga, A., & Valor, C. (2022). Consumers' categorization of eco-friendly consumer goods: An integrative review and research agenda. Sustainable Production and Consumption. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.10.005 · DOI · Paper page
- Lavuri, R., Jindal, A., Akram, U., Naik, B. K. R., & Halibas, A. S. (2023). Exploring the antecedents of sustainable consumers' purchase intentions: Evidence from emerging countries. Sustainable Development, 31(1), 280-291. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2389 · DOI
- Lavuri, R., Jusuf, E., & Gunardi, A. (2021). Green sustainability: Factors fostering and behavioural difference between millennial and Gen Z: Mediating role of green purchase intention. Ekonomia i Środowisko. doi:https://doi.org/10.34659/2021/1/1 · DOI
- Liang, J., Li, J., & Lei, Q. (2022). Exploring the influence of environmental values on green consumption behavior of apparel: A chain multiple mediation model among Chinese Generation Z. Sustainability, 14(19), 12850. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912850 · DOI
- Lou, X., & Li, L. M. W. (2021). The relationship between identity and environmental concern: A meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 76, 101653. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101653 · DOI
- Majeed, A., Ahmed, I., & Rasheed, A. (2022). Investigating influencing factors on consumers' choice behavior and their environmental concerns while purchasing green products in Pakistan. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 65(6), 1110-1134. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2021.1922995 · DOI
- Mohajan, H. K. (2020). Quantitative research: A successful investigation in natural and social sciences. Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 9(4), 50-79.
- Nunes, J. C., Ordanini, A., & Giambastiani, G. (2021). The concept of authenticity: What it means to consumers. Journal of Marketing, 85(4), 1-20. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242921997081 · DOI
- Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric Theory New York. NY: McGraw-Hill.
- Ogiemwonyi, O. (2022). Factors influencing generation Y green behaviour on green products in Nigeria: An application of theory of planned behaviour. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 13, 100164. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2021.100164 · DOI
- Ogiemwonyi, O., & Harun, A. B. (2021). Theory of planned behaviour approach to understand pro-environmental behaviour among young green consumers in Malaysia. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution, 67(3-4), 168-181.
- Pavlou, P. A. (2003). Consumer acceptance of electronic commerce: Integrating trust and risk with the technology acceptance model. International journal of electronic commerce, 7(3), 101-134. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/10864415.2003.11044275 · DOI · Paper page
- Ru, X., Wang, S., Chen, Q., & Yan, S. (2018). Exploring the interaction effects of norms and attitudes on green travel intention: An empirical study in eastern China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 197, 1317-1327. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.293 · DOI
- Sadik-Zada, E. R. (2021). Political economy of green hydrogen rollout: A global perspective. Sustainability, 13(23), 13464. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313464 · DOI
- Santos, S. C., & Liguori, E. W. (2020). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intentions: Outcome expectations as mediator and subjective norms as moderator. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 26(3), 400-415. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-07-2019-0436 · DOI
- Seemiller, C., & Grace, M. (2018). Generation Z: A century in the making: Routledge.
- Sethuraman, P. (2023). Social Media's Effect on Millennials and Generation Z's Green Purchasing Habits. International Journal of Professional Business Review: Int. J. Prof. Bus. Rev., 8(5), 16.
- Shao, J., Li, W., Aneye, C., & Fang, W. (2022). Facilitating mechanism of green products purchasing with a premium price-Moderating by sustainability-related information. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(3), 686-700. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2229ss · DOI
- Sotos-Martinez, V. J., Tortosa-Martínez, J., Baena-Morales, S., & Ferriz-Valero, A. (2023). Boosting Student's Motivation through Gamification in Physical Education. Behavioral Sciences, 13(2), 165. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13020165 · DOI
- Sreen, N., Purbey, S., & Sadarangani, P. (2018). Impact of culture, behavior and gender on green purchase intention. Journal of retailing and consumer services, 41, 177-189. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.12.002 · DOI · Paper page
- Steg, L., & Vlek, C. (2009). Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour: An integrative review and research agenda. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29(3), 309-317. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.10.004 · DOI · Paper page
- Strydom, C., Meyer, N., & Synodinos, C. (2021). South African Generation Y students' intention towards ecopreneurship. Acta Commercii, 21(1), 1-12. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ac.v21i1.910 · DOI
- Sun, Z. Q., & Yoon, S. J. (2022). What Makes People Pay Premium Price for Eco-Friendly Products? The Effects of Ethical Consumption Consciousness, CSR, and Product Quality. Sustainability, 14(23), 15513. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315513 · DOI
- Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Experimental designs using ANOVA (Vol. 724): Thomson/Brooks/Cole Belmont, CA.
- Taherdoost, H. (2022). What are different research approaches? Comprehensive Review of Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method research, their applications, types, and limitations. Journal of Management Science & Engineering Research, 5(1), 53-63.
- Thangavel, P., Pathak, P., & Chandra, B. (2022). Consumer decision-making style of gen Z: A generational cohort analysis. Global Business Review, 23(3), 710-728. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0972150919880128 · DOI
- Tong, Q., Anders, S., Zhang, J., & Zhang, L. (2020). The roles of pollution concerns and environmental knowledge in making green food choices: Evidence from Chinese consumers. Food Research International, 130, 108881. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108881 · DOI
- Vu, D. M., Ha, N. T., Ngo, T. V. N., Pham, H. T., & Duong, C. D. (2022). Environmental corporate social responsibility initiatives and green purchase intention: an application of the extended theory of planned behavior. Social Responsibility Journal, 18(8), 1627-1645. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-06-2021-0220 · DOI
- Watanabe, E. A. d. M., Alfinito, S., Curvelo, I. C. G., & Hamza, K. M. (2020). Perceived value, trust and purchase intention of organic food: a study with Brazilian consumers. British Food Journal, 122(4), 1070-1184. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-05-2019-0363 · DOI
- Williams, A., & Hodges, N. (2022). Adolescent Generation Z and sustainable and responsible fashion consumption: exploring the value-action gap. Young Consumers, 23(4), 651- 666. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-11-2021-1419 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Does Greenwashing Wash Away Gen Z's Green Purchase Intention?
Di Pillo, F., Palombi, G., & Strazzullo, S. (2025) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.70064 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
- Authors
- Qazi, H., Alam, S., & Phulpoto, A.
- Affiliations
- Aix-Marseille Université (FR)
- Sukkur IBA University (PK)
- Venue
- Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Published
- 2023-09-30
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 3
- ISSN
- 2415-007X (ISSN-L)
- 2709-801X
- OpenAlex
- W4389479994
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 1.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Environmental Education and Sustainability
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
- Keywords
- green purchasing behavior, Generation Z, theory of planned behavior, green purchase intention, environmental attitudes, perceived behavioral control, sustainable products, green consumers, Pakistan
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review