Green purchases: an analysis on the antecedents of eco-friendly consumers’ choices

A widespread opinion is that present human societies rely on models of production and consumption that have been shown to be dangerous for the ecosystems and unsustainable in general. On the supply side, developing innovative resource-efficient processes can bring changes. On the demand side, any policy aimed at changing individual consumption behaviour requires understanding its drivers. The present paper focuses on consumer’s actions in relation to pro-environmental outcomes. The survey of the literature highlights some relevant models of decision processes concerning eco-friendly behaviours and related drivers. In the light of the survey, we elaborate a theoretical framework useful to analyse data extracted from an already submitted survey. The dataset contains information about drivers and environmental awareness in the shopping behaviour of 8001 consumers in the retail sector. The econometric estimates are consistent with the theoretical framework, adding also some new relevant hints. Among our main findings are the lack of the “Attitude-Behaviour Gap”, the importance of the general concern for environmental issues and the link between ethical values and pro-environmental inclinations and behaviours