How consumer knowledge shapes green consumption: an empirical study on voluntary carbon offsetting

Abstract

This paper investigates how highly knowledgeable consumers differ from less knowledgeable consumers in their rational and emotional determinants of desire for green consumption, and derive distinct advertising implications for each group. We distinguish consumer knowledge into three categories (knowledge related to the environment, available action, and its effectiveness) and test them as moderating variables. A survey of 256 US consumers revealed that less knowledgeable consumers were driven primarily by their perceived behavioral control, while highly knowledgeable consumers exhibited a distinct influence from positive anticipated emotions on their desire. This distinction was brought upon only within low/high action/effectiveness knowledge groups, but not within low/high environment knowledge. Our findings highlight the importance of raising consumer's system, action-related, and effective knowledge, as well as the need for targeted advertising strategies for consumers with differing knowledge levels in green consumption.