A Comparative Study of Green Purchase Intention between Korean and Chinese Consumers: The Moderating Role of Collectivism

This study aims to examine the impacts of the new ecological paradigm, environmental collective efficacy, environmental knowledge, and collectivism on the green purchase intention of Korean and Chinese consumers. Although some studies have researched the relationship between cultural influences and green purchase behaviour, a study on the moderating effect of collectivism on the formation of green purchase intention is rarely found. Therefore, based on 357 consumers in Korea and 398 consumers in China, this study proposes a new model of green purchase intention and empirically tests a model using moderated regression analysis (MRA). The results show that the new ecological paradigm, environmental collective efficacy, environmental knowledge, and collectivism are direct antecedents of green purchase intention in China. In particular, collectivism positively moderates the relationship between environmental collective efficacy and green purchase intention in China. However, the results from Korean consumers show that collectivism has neither a direct impact nor moderating impact on green purchase intention. However, it was found that environmental collective efficacy and environmental knowledge have direct impacts on green purchase intention in Korea. Finally, this study discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings.