Green consumption: Closing the intention-behavior gap

Green consumption has become an important academic and practical topic. However, a recurring theme in the literature has been the attitude-behavior gap in green consumption. Taking the cognitive view in studying consumer behaviors, this study theoretically developed and tested two key moderators to the relationship between green consumption intention and behavior, namely green product availability and perceived consumer effectiveness. Under high levels of the moderators, the relationship between the intention and the behavior were hypothesized to be stronger. Our data sample of 416 consumers in two large cities in Vietnam provided support for the hypotheses. Our study results thus contribute to the green consumption literature by explaining the attitude-behavior gap. Our study also contributes to the broader literature by explaining the inconsistency in consumer behavior. Implications and recommendations for further research are also discussed.