by: Eka Sudarmaji
Sustainability revolution was described as the movement of individuals, organizations, and societies toward developing a capacity for environmental and socioeconomic improvement of quality life. More people are learning and try to take more substantive actions in improving their community’s socioeconomic sectors, in order to achieve future sustainability. Everything in and on Earth is intricately and inextricably tied to the natural environment, including our socioeconomic environment. The challenge here is how do we sustain for the future: to provide resources and the continuity for world citizens of the future, yet still providing the desired productivity and wealth that the present needs. Thinking sustainably requires to introduce ‘green-economic’ to world citizen and believing that one’s impact can create a huge difference.
The green-economic has become more popular in now days. Increasing in the public’s green awareness, have spurs the trend of green consumption into the mainstream. People in western countries admire the environmental protection as a key factor in purchase decisions. Hence the trend for offering green products to the consumer has driven green marketing concepts for green products.
Concepts for green products.
With the rise of green-economic awareness in recent years, Indonesian companies need constantly sought to introduce new green-concept products to the world market to gain a larger market share in the future. It arose the question: If eco-awareness Indonesian companies have introduced new green-concept products to the market? whether it will increase purchase intention?
Green marketing is a marketing model that puts the environmental protection concept into the product design, production, and service process. Green marketing covers the entire lifecycle of a product, from materials acquisition, production, sale, and consumption, to the disposal of waste, has a minimum impact on the environment. Therefore, green marketing is an indispensable strategy for companies involved in the market competition.
The answers need to check one key argument, whether the consumers’ green marketing awareness influences their perceived quality and perceived value, which in turn influence “Purchase Intention”? Hence the green marketing awareness has four keys factors influencing the purchase intention: 1) Perceived Quality, 2) Perceived Price, 3) Perceived Risk, and 4) Perceived Value.
Firstly, the perceived quality is measured using the four dimensions: superiority, consistency, dependability, and reliability, since these can be used to measure consumers’ overall judgment of a product or service. The second, the perceived price is a feeling that consumers have about the price of a product; it is an overall concept including the paid currency and non-currency costs. Follow by the perceived risk indicates consumers’ uncertainty about the outcomes of individual purchase, use, or disposal behavior. Finally, the perceived value is the overall evaluation consumers made of a product based on their gains and what they paid. There are four dimensions: emotional, social, quality/performance, and price/monetary.
Purchase intention is the most precise predictor of purchase behavior. There are indexes ‘the possibility that consumers will purchase the product’, ‘whether they consider buying the product’, ‘whether they will recommend the product to their relatives and friends’, ‘purchase possibility’, ‘purchase price’, ‘purchase probability’, ‘purchase intention’, ‘re-purchase’ and ‘recommending the item to other consumers’.
Many studies found that consumers’ green marketing awareness has the maximum influence on purchase intention, which indicates that the greater the perception of green marketing of green products, the higher is consumers’ purchase intention. In particular, green marketing awareness has the greatest effect on the increase of perceived value.
Consequently, it is suggested that Indonesian companies should aim at core consumers and apply green marketing strategies to bring more consumer recognition. These companies should understand the main influence will help them to develop strategies and actions corresponding to current market demand. Those efforts can aim at their target consumer to provide more green information of the green products in order to attract consumers’ attention and enhancing their purchase intention. Finally, the Indonesian companies absolutely can increase consumers’ purchase intention for green products through the perception and feelings they develop through a product’s green marketing concept in terms of product, technology, production, and promotion.
However, all these green-economic awards may easily accept especially within educated Indonesian-consumers are based upon ‘western’ ideas, embedding the occidental mindset within them. This is the paradox here, although ‘western’ ideas accepted, but many Indonesian consumers are influenced by indigenous cultural. This is source of many conflicts with the way ‘western consumers’ though out there. Simplified, Indonesian green consumers can be different with western consumers, and accordingly many Indonesian companies need to further investigate their perceived differences in green products. A comprehensive study of the Indonesian consumers’ purchase intentions for green products needs to explore as well developing the suitable strategy.
