attitudes of youth (18 25) in hanoi towards green consumerism a study on customers’ behavior and its effect on organic food industry

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS —--***---FINAL ASSIGNMENT MODULE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ATTITUDES OF YOUTH 18-25 IN HANOI TOWARDS G

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS

— *** -FINAL ASSIGNMENT

MODULE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR ECONOMICS

AND BUSINESS

ATTITUDES OF YOUTH (18-25) IN HANOI TOWARDS GREEN CONSUMERISM: A STUDY ON CUSTOMERS’ BEHAVIOR AND ITS EFFECT ON ORGANIC FOOD

INDUSTRY

Class: KTEE206(GD1-HK1-2223).1

Instructor: Phạm Thị Cẩm Anh

Ha Noi, October 2022

TABLE OF CONTENT

1.2.2 The context of green consumerism 4

2.1.1 Factors contributed to green consumerism 7 2.1.1.b Exogenous factor 7 2.1.1.c Structural factor 8 2.1.2 Overview of prior studies on organic food consumption 9

3.3 Theory of planned behavior 10 3.4 Attitude affecting decision to buy organic food 11

4.2 Phase 2: In-depth interview 13 4.3 Phase 3: Survey number 1 13 4.4 Phase 4: Survey number 2 13

7.2 Discuss how you plan to avoid/ minimize threats to internal and external validity

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Abstract

“Green Consumerism” - a concept that consumers all over the world are paying a large amount of attention to - is described as the main motive for future sustainable development In that field, this research focuses on “Organic products” as there has been a remarkable rise in purchasers’ awareness to organic This study elaborates on the attitudes of Youth (18-25) in HaNoi toward Green Consumerism, specifically on organic products Our finding will be based on one of three factors: Exogenous factor, endogenous factor and structural factor We also examine its potential when being applied to understanding customers' behavior and how this study can help corporations to improve their products as well as their strategies on what should be highlighted to boost consumer spending power and brand recognition, particularly among Hanoians at the age range of 18 to 25 We close by discussing areas of research which

we have not mentioned, namely culture, green consumerism, morals, and further aspects

1.2 Understanding 1.2.1 Green Consumerism

A green consumer is an individual who has the desire and acknowledgement of how his or her actions affect the environment, hence has the tendency to make as little impact as possible (Sharma and Joshi, 2017)

Green consumerism refers to a state in which consumers demand products and services that have undergone an eco-friendly production process or one that involves recycling and safeguarding the planet's resources It is considered an accessible way to engage

in pro-environmental, sustainable behavior, for a significant portion of the Western industrial population (Sachdeva, Jordan, and Mazar, 2015) In this study, we define green consumerism

as a specific behavior of including oneself in a trade action that is environmentally-friendly and ecological

1.2.2 The context of green consumerism

There has been a remarkable rise in environmental awareness in recent years This surge in environmental awareness has equally increased the pressure on consumers to consider the environmental consequences of their activities in the last few decades, and this is due to an increase in media attention, upsurge in pressure group events, greater awareness of environmental harm, and the growth in individuals’ awareness of green products Consequently, many consumers have garnered an interest in the business of going green through the use of environmentally-friendly products Moreover, although there is a rise in the levels of awareness of green products in developed nations, yet this green consciousness

in emerging markets remains low This has, therefore, stirred up public worry in emerging economies and caused businesses to embrace green marketing targets in order to attract their customers

1.2.3 Organic product

Organic products are things that are obtained by processes that are friendly to the environment, by cultivation techniques that consider both the attributes of the final product and the production methods (Chandrashekar, 2014) In our research, we find it hard to assign the definition of an organic product as it varies from different viewpoints and different

standards of what is considered “organic” Plus, the aforementioned definition of Dr H.M.Chandrashekar (2014) is the closest to the definition of “organic product” that we are seeking in this paper, so we decided to prescribe “organic products" as the above interpretation

1.3 Context

In today's time, humans are facing various environmental issues, including rising sea levels, increasing global temperature, deforestation, as well as the reduction of natural resources, which result from human activity (Harbo, De Young, and Guckian, 2017) With awareness of these negative impacts, environmental protection has been raised among people around the world, which in turn has created an eco-friendly consumption called “green consumerism”

This concept appeared many decades ago According to Anderson, W.T and Cunningham, W.H (1972) ,Green consumerism is a socially conscious or socially responsible decision making that is an outcome of personal ethical orientation or a set of pro-environmental personal values and attitudes Mostafa, M (2009) assumes that pro-environmental concern can become a decisive factor only after more basic human needs are met; otherwise, only the wealthy can afford this attitude Hence, green consumers in emerging economies may

be rare However, in Consumer Choice and the Environment – A Worldwide Tracking Survey, about the environmentally friendly behavior of consumers shows the contrary: India, Brazil, and China have the top scores, while American consumers’ behavior ranks as the least sustainable of all countries surveyed, followed by Canadian, French, and British consumers

Vietnam, an emerging economy, is following the global trend of environmental protection, and green consumerism is becoming popular among our people, especially the youth The increasing attention to green consumerism among youth has been shown in green-oriented corporations' revenue (Dr Hồ Thanh Thủy, 2018) Not that green consumerism is just

a temporary trend in Vietnam, it has become one of the world's most important developing goals and is hyper focused on 16 SDGs So the question our research group has come up with

is how to exactly quantify the responding attitude of our research object to green consumerism, especially on organic products, to see how the finding will help the organic industry and if the result could likely be changed in the near future

1.4 Objective

- This topic “Attitudes of Youth (18-25) in Hanoi toward Green Consumerism: A study

on customers’ behavior and its effects on organic food industry” is conducted to answer how juveniles (18-25) behave within green consumerism in Hanoi and can later applying that to show the relationship between their attitude towards green consumerism affecting the organic industry?

- In order to answer the research question, our research group have come up with 2 research questions:

+ What factors influence the attitude of Hanoi youth toward green consumerism? + What is the relationship between Hanoi juvenile’s attitude (18-25) towards green consumerism and the development of the organic food industry?

1.5 Significance of the study 1.5.1 Theoretical:

This study's findings will further reveal the attitudes of youth in Hanoi (ages ranging from 18–25) towards green consumerism on organic products and can later use the result to improve the firm's customer understanding We divided customers’ attitudes into three groups

of factors: endogenous, exogenous, and structural The findings would result in one of the three factors aforementioned that possess major importance on the subject of the study

1.5.2 Practical:

Hence, producers that apply our findings in customer relations development will be able to apply better marketing/operating movement They will be guided on what should be emphasized to enhance purchasing power and company branding , especially for customers in the age group of 18-25 in Hanoi For researchers, this study will have them uncode customers’ behavior on green consumption, specifically organic products Thus, a new finding on consumption may be arrived at

1.6 Scope and Subject

Most individuals today have become much more environmentally conscious and try to make green shopping decisions in light of alarmingly serious environmental degradation Despite the huge number of research papers on green consumerism, only 35% of the research papers were based on consumers' attitudes towards green products (Mohd Danish Kirmani, 2016) The main focus of this research is to record consumer opinions regarding green consumerism among those between the ages of 18 and 25 in Hanoi (Vietnam)

Research on green consumerism has been conducted all around the world This area

of research, however, is more popular among the researchers of western countries, especially the United States of America (USA) (Mohd Danish Kirmani, 2016) That is why

we decided to do research on green consumerism in Hanoi (Vietnam)

The study is limited to 200 individuals who have resided in Hanoi for at least five years and are between the ages of 18 and 25, from different genders, income groups, and educational qualifications Once 200 volunteers have been identified or after two months, the recruitment process will be over

1.7 Methodology

The research is planned to be conducted in Hanoi in around 2 months We are going to conduct our research in 4 phases, including: Sampling, In-depth interview, Survey number 1 and Survey number 2 Stratified random sampling will be used to choose the sample until 200 people have been picked In the following stage, we will testify to the theoretical framework model our research group has built up by in-depth interviews in an attempt to find out which factors affect the attitude of youngsters in Hanoi towards green consumerism Afterwards, we plan to create 2 different surveys to gradually shrink the factor pool

Chapter 2: Literature review

2.1 Review about known materials

Only 35% of the research papers were based on consumers' attitude towards green products The other research papers were based on understanding the concept of green marketing (Ottman et al., 2006; Polonsky, 2011), and industry perspective of green marketing (Roarty, 1997; Pujari et al., 2003) The research on green consumerism has been conducted all around the world This area of research, however, is more popular among the researchers of the western countries, especially United States of America (USA) University students are found to be favourite of the researchers around the world (Mohd Danish Kirmani, 2015).

2.1.1 Factors contributed to green consumerism

Three main factors affecting green consumerism can be stated as: endogenous factor, exogenous factor and structural factors (Sachdeva, S., Jordan, J., & N Mazar, 2015)

2.1.1.a Endogenous factor

- Values, Attitude, Identity

Even while the majority of people may agree that protecting the environment should

be a priority, research suggests that only a small percentage of people are willing to sacrifice factors such as cost, convenience, and complexity in favor of the "greenness" of a product However, the consistency that may be found between environmental ideas, identity, and some types of environmentally conscious purchasing lends support to rationalist theories For instance, according to the findings of certain studies, a general indicator of "environmental consciousness" is a better predictor of intentions to buy environmentally friendly products than demographic or personality qualities

- Perceived Effectiveness and Hope

It has been demonstrated that consumers' beliefs about the success of their actions have a negative impact on subsequent instances of environmentally conscious purchasing In addition, research has shown that consumers' levels of hope play a role in their purchasing of environmentally friendly products The discourse that surrounds the topic of global climate change often comprises dire predictions due to the fact that it is necessary to do so Unfortunately, this could have the unintended consequence of making some people feel as though they are completely helpless, which would result in a decreased level of interest on their part in the environment It would appear that the antidote to pessimism is constructive optimism, which might be defined as the faith that one can work toward a better future This construction of hope, which combines cognitive (such as agency) and emotional (such as pleasant feelings) perspectives, encourages pro-environmental engagement, particularly among young adults, even when adjusted for the types of values addressed in the section before this one

2.1.1.b Exogenous factor

- Social norms

In addition to the personal standards that people strive to preserve for themselves, social standards play an important part in the promotion of environmentally conscious purchasing In the course of field research that was carried out at hotels, a range of different lines of reasoning were put forward to encourage guests to reuse their towels The ones that referenced social standards were more effective than those that focused on cooperation or made direct appeals to the audience Peer pressure can play a role in increasing the visibility

of environmentally conscious norms and, as a result, the encouragement of environmentally conscious consumption According to findings from studies conducted in the field of social psychology on the topic of conformity, individuals regularly adjust their behavior in order to conform to the normative norms that are created by their social group It would appear that the same kinds of processes have an effect on environmentally conscious consumerism

- Conspicuous conservation

Even though recent studies have shown that green consumerism can also be used as a signaling mechanism in order to achieve social status or a reputation for being prosocial, it still seems as though green consumerism is affected by social norms that encourage conformity "Conspicuous conservation" acts convey to others that an actor is capable of bearing personal expenses for the sake of society (because environmentally friendly things may come at a financial premium, at least initially) It would seem that people are more willing to pay more to protect a shared environmental resource and prefer green products over conventional ones when their behavior is visible to others, as this viewpoint suggests that green consumerism should be more prevalent in public settings than in private ones However,

it is important to highlight that in order for a consumer or the group that the consumer cares about to believe that the environment has to be conserved, it is necessary for the consumer to show that they are dedicated to activities that involve conservation According to a recent study conducted by Sexton and Sexton, the value of a green signal (such as the purchase of a distinctive hybrid vehicle) was several times more in a city with verifiable green values than

in a comparable "brown" city

2.1.1.c Structural factor

Even if there are a lot of factors that can impact and motivate green consumerism, it is still considered to be a difficult task to undertake It is possible that it will require short-term financial outlays (such as the purchase of solar panels), sacrifices (such as longer walks in order to utilize public transportation), and attention (e.g., remembering to bring your own bag

to the market) Some of these challenges to environmentally conscious consumption may be surmounted if the context in which decisions about green consumption are now made is subjected to some kind of transformation The effect of taxes, other financial incentives, and fines on encouraging the purchase of environmentally friendly products is the subject of an important element of the study that economists have conducted on environmental behavior (e.g., a tax credit for installing solar panels, a plastic bag fee in stores, or banning incandescent light bulbs) However, research conducted in the field of behavioral sciences has investigated the ways in which decision architecture and nudges could encourage environmentally conscious consumption

"Nudge," the acclaimed book written by Thaler and Sunstein, emphasized the complex ways in which prosocial consumption (such as organ donation) may be affected The authors used well-known judgment and decision-making frameworks to support their claims (e.g., status quo bias or anchoring effects) It's possible that these same dynamics will have an effect

on green consumerism For example, encouraging environmentally responsible use might be

as simple as making a combination of renewable and carbon-based energy sources the standard choice for new consumers of electrical services Additional helpful nudges include information feedback and information framing, among other possibilities For instance, when households were given adverse feedback about their energy use in relation to that of others (for example, "Last month you used 20% more energy than your neighbors"), they were more likely to reduce their utilization of the resource In a similar vein, a modification in conduct is advised In a manner that is analogous to this, advising an individual to change their behavior

in order to reduce their consumption of electricity could be couched in terms of the money the individual would save and the positive impact on the environment (gain) or in terms of the

money the individual is leaving on the table and the negative impact on the environment (loss)

if the individual does not change their behavior—a nuanced shift that modifies the conceptualization of green consumption

2.1.2 Overview of prior studies on organic food consumption

Organic food consumption has been a heated study topic due to the rise in consumers' interest in healthy lifestyles and sustainable development There has been a review of prior papers (Khare and Pandey, 2017) and TRA (Koklic et al., 2019) to help with the understanding of customers' behavior when it comes to organic food items Additionally, more frameworks were contributed, such as the stimulus-organism-response model (Lee and Yun, 2015), value-attitude system model (Pandey and Khare, 2015), self-construal theory (Kareklas

et al., 2014), social identification and identity theories (Khare and Pandey, 2017)

Many scholars have also tried to analyze the influence of multiple antecedents on increased purchasing behavior for organic food items, including health consciousness (Chekima et al., 2017), social norms (Mørk et al., 2017), and environmental concerns (Ghali, 2019)

Additional factors that affect people's intent to purchase organic food products include price, quality, quantity, availability, and innovation (Persaud & Schillo, 2017) In contrast, only a small amount of research has included consumption reasons in frameworks meant to explain why people buy organic food

2.2 Research gaps

This study elaborates on the attitudes of youth (18–25) in HaNoi toward green consumerism, specifically on organic products Our finding will be based on one of three factors: Exogenous factor, endogenous factor and structural factor We also examine its potential when being applied to understanding customers' behavior and how this study can help corporations to improve their products as well as their strategies on what should be highlighted to boost consumer spending power and brand recognition, particularly among Hanoians at the age range of 18 to 25

We realized there are a lot more details that can be included in this study, and many new studies can be arrived at based on this paperwork Researchers in the field of green consumerism might incorporate culture in green consumerism, moral factors on the young consumers, elaborate more on consumer’s age groups (18-20; 20-25, ) or expand consumer’s age groups (30-45; 45-60, ) This study is geographically restricted to only Hanoi (Vietnam) Further research can focus on conducting this topic in another country or territory

Chapter 3: Theoretical framework

3.1 Green consumerism

Green consumerism is an integral part of sustainable consumption, which emphasizes the environmental factors Green consumption is defined as buying environmentally friendly products and avoiding products that are harmful to the environment Chan argues that green consumption represents responsibility towards the protection of the environment through the selection of friendly products for the environment and a reasonable way to consume and dispose of waste Sisira also gives a comprehensive definition of green consumption, with the view that it is a process through the behaviors of society, such as: buying biological foods, recycling, reusing, limiting excess, and using a friendly transport system In this study, we use Lee's definition: Green consumption is the consumption of products that are storable, beneficial to the environment and that meet the care of the environment They are products that facilitate the long-term goal of protecting and preserving the environment Green consumption is not only about consumers' not using goods that damage the natural environment but also deciding to buy environmentally friendly products and recycled products

3.2 Green products

Currently, there are many definitions of green products, and there is still no unified definition of "best." For example, Shamdasani defines a green product as a product that does not cause harm, pollution to the earth, or damage to natural resources and can be recycled and conserved It's a product with materials or packaging that are more environmentally friendly, reducing its impact on the environment Nimse et al argue that green products are products that use recyclable materials, minimize waste, reduce water and energy use, minimize packaging and release fewer harmful substances into the environment In other words, green products refer to finished products Combine recycling strategies with or without content recycling, reducing packaging or using less toxic materials to reduce the impact on the natural environment

3.3 Theory of planned behavior

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is widely studied by many researchers and is used in the study of consumer behavior, including green consumption behavior In the model ,

in addition to the factor affecting an individual's behavioral intention, attitude, there are two more factors, which are subjective norms and perceived behavioral control Subjective standards are the impulse to do the will of influencers Perceived behavioral control refers to

an individual's ability to perform a certain behavior, reflecting the ease or difficulty of performing the act and whether its performance is controlled or restricted or not According to the theory of planned behavior, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control have a direct impact on intention and thereby directly affect behavior Perception of control behavior can be both a factor influencing intention and a factor influencing negative behavior's actual use