Journal of Economics and Management Volume 17, No. 2 September, 2021

The Determinants of Green Purchasing: The Perspectives of Brand Knowledge, Perceived Quality and Country of Origin

Phil Yihsing Yang

Graduate Institute of Business Administration, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan 404

Min Tseng

Center for Institutional Affairs, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan 404

Abstract

Driven by social responsibility, firms have realized the importance to reconcile the interests of the environments, community, and business. The soaring of environmental conscious leads consumers to consider purchasing green products. However, the prior studies on purchase willingness of green products have mixed research results. In order to verify the determinants of green purchasing, this paper investigated the dimensions of brand knowledge, quality perception, and country of origin image in green products. This paper was conducted by a survey of 568 valid respondents for three green skincare brands including L'OCCITANE, DHC, and ORIGINS. Specifically, these brands stand for different country of origin image including the U.S., France, and Japan. Through a LISREL analysis, the findings indicated that the augmented consumers’ brand knowledge can enhance purchase willingness. Specifically, consumers’ perceived quality was able to bridge brand knowledge and purchase willingness. Moreover, country image of green brand moderates the relationship between brand knowledge and perceived quality. This paper contributed to enhance the understanding of consumers’ purchase willingness and provides the insights of firms’ effective marketing in green skincare products.

Keywords：Brand Knowledge; Perceived Quality; Country Of Origin Image; Green Product

JEL Classifications：M31, M14.

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