The overall objective of this dissertation is to contribute to the understanding of the impact of environmentally-friendly (a.k.a. "sustainable" or "green") marketing strategies on consumption behavior. A set of three essays examines the effects of the organizational adoption of green marketing strategies on both purchase intentions and actual consumption. Although a body of literature on green marketing is emerging, it is still in its infancy and lacks coherence and definitive conclusions. Given the exponential increase in the number of green offerings, and the concern exhibited by consumers, industrialists, and scientists about sustainability issues, practitioners and academics alike can benefit from a better understanding of this area of marketing strategy. The first essay contributes to theory and practice by exploring factors that impede and promote the sale of green offerings. This is accomplished by conducting in-depth interviews. Consumer and organizational respondent perspectives on factors that increase the likelihood of buying green products and, conversely, elements that decrease the quantity of green offerings purchased are sought. By leveraging a qualitative, grounded theory approach, insights into how the promotion of green offerings differs from that of environmentally non-sustainable goods and services are also investigated. Finally, by distilling the findings from these interviews, two conceptual models are developed that managers can use to develop effective green marketing strategies. The frameworks identify constructs and research streams. In summary, the intent of the first essay is to serve as the catalyst for additional empirical inquiry, while also providing insights for the implementation of green marketing strategies. The second essay is a multi-stage effort designed to operationalize customer perceptions of a firm's environmental-sensitivity, or green market orientation. First, a literature review is conducted in order to identify a theoretical foundation for the green market orientation construct. Next, a qualitative study featuring in-depth interviews is undertaken to generate a pool of survey items to measure the green market orientation construct. The items are then subjected to a purification process (cf. Churchill 1979). Once developed, the scale is used to assess perceptions of a firm's level of green market orientation. By casting the construct relative to several managerially relevant variables, its nomological validity is assessed. In particular, a mediated model of the impact of green market orientation on consumer outcomes is estimated. Thus, the essay contributes to theory by developing a green market orientation scale from a consumer's perspective. The essay also contributes to practice by testing the effects of the implementation of such a strategy on consumer outcomes. Using an experiment, quasi-experimental design, and a structural equation model, the third essay examines the effects of an integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign on changes in consumption and consumer attitudes. More specifically, using three studies, the essay contributes to practice by testing the effects of the implementation of a green promotional "treatment" on consumer behaviors. The essay also contributes to theory by testing the effects of two newly devised scales on a measure of consumer attitudes. The results provide information regarding the utility of promoting the firm as having adopted a green marketing strategy on shaping customer behaviors. Finally, a summary chapter (chapter six) is included that provides an overview of what was accomplished in the dissertation. The chapter essentially outlines what the findings were, how the findings influence theory and practice, and how future research can build on the findings. Specifically, the summary describes the literature review which outlines what is known and what is not known about sustainable marketing strategy. The summary also explains the research findings from Essay 1, which develops two conceptual models that show the factors that influence the adoption of green goods and services. In addition, the summary describes how Essay 2 tests the effects of a green market orientation on consumer attitudes. Finally, it describes how Essay 3 tests the effects of a green IMC on consumer attitudes and consumption patterns. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Marketing in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / . / March 26, 2010. / Green Marketing, Sustainability / Includes bibliographical references. / J. Joseph Cronin, Professor Directing Dissertation; William A. Christansen, University Representative; Michael J. Brusco, Committee Member; Jeffery S. Smith, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_180369 |
| Contributors | Ramirez, Edward, 1969- (authoraut), Cronin, J. Joseph (professor directing dissertation), Christansen, William A. (university representative), Brusco, Michael J. (committee member), Smith, Jeffery S. (committee member), Department of Marketing (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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