STUDY OF FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMERS' PURCHASING DECISION OF ECO-FRIENDLY PRODUCTS IN FMCG SECTOR

Abstract

The research study is on the Green Marketing but specifically on factors responsible for influencing consumers’ purchasing decision of eco-friendly products in FMCG sector. With the changing economies, the global environment is deteriorating. There is an evident shift in buying behavior of consumer and marketing practices of the Marketer with regard to environmental protection. To explore the importance of topic and understanding consumer’s purchasing intention towards eco-friendly products many studies have been done in the area green marketing. The previous research, documents provide us with vital information to understand the importance of eco-friendly products and to carry out this research. The objective of this research was to identify and looked into the factors which influence consumers’ purchasing decision of eco-friendly products. The factors studied were marketing-mix elements (Product, Price, Place and Promotion/Advertising), Word of Mouth, Satisfaction and Consumer Perception due to which they buy eco-friendly products with focus on non-durable goods or fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) . The study analyzed the factors from the consumers’ point of view. A structured questionnaire has been used which is sent through social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook to obtain the views of people living in Delhi NCR. The data collected is analyzed on the factors that which all are responsible or are related to the purchase intention of the buyer. A quantitative approach has been adopted, SPSS statistical tool has been used to analyzed the data. The sample composed of 101 respondents Our findings indicated that the factors satisfaction, word of mouth, advertising and Price influence the purchasing decision of the consumers. It has been observed consumers who are satisfied with the use of green products are likely to show purchase intention of green products. The study also showed that majority of respondents agreed to pay premium to purchase eco-friendly products and the selfesteem factors such as purchasing eco-friendly products make them feel trendy, they give good image, and they would be judged by others does not contribute to the purchasing intention of the buyer. Thus, such perception towards green products does not lead to purchase action. The place and product quality factors were not able to explain the variance in the purchase intention. Our finding demonstrated that people agree and have a positive attitude towards eco-friendly products but this do not lead always to purchase action. We have also found that females tend to purchase more healthcare and cosmetics products as compared to males. Also, it has been found that there is no significant difference between consumer behavior towards eco-friendly products on the basis of gender, age, income and status.