Perceived social welfare as a driver of green products consumption: Evidences from an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture production

Abstract

This study investigated consumers' perceptions of green products derived from a circular economy production, by shedding light on the role of perceived social welfare. Furthermore, the paper considered two moderators: perceptual variables on green products and psychological variables on the environment. The analysis was performed in the aquaculture sector—specifically referring to Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) production as a research setting. Respondents received a structured questionnaire containing scales that measured perceived social welfare, environmentalism, green product's perception (in terms of price, quality and usefulness), purchase intention, and word-of-mouth. The results revealed an inverse relationship between perceived social welfare and the behavioral variables. Consumers were more attracted to and focused on the green product's usefulness than its price and quality. Moreover, the study found that environmentalism (in terms of environmental concern and perceived consumer effectiveness) moderate the effect of perceived social welfare on dependent variables. By exploring the role of perceived social welfare as a regressor, this study improves our understanding of consumers' behavior toward green products.

Keywords

• Green products
• Pro-environmental behavior
• Social welfare
• Purchase intention
• Word-of-mouth