Factors Affecting Consumer Purchasing Behavior: A Green Marketing Perspective in Vietnam

The study seeks to identify the factors affecting the green marketing element of students' food purchasing decision at Co-opMart supermarket chain in Ho Chi Minh City through the application of a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods that include probability sampling and convenient sampling of 400 students from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH). The data are analyzed with SPSS software using Cronbach's Alpha, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Multiple Linear Regression and PATH model to test the model through the intermediate variable 'student's perception' and the hypotheses, identifying the green marketing effects on HUTECH students' food purchasing decisions at Ho Chi Minh City Co-opMart supermarket chain. The results of the study identify four factors of the green marketing mix (4Cs), namely, green commodity, green cost, green convenience, and green communication. All these factors have an influence on the student's food purchasing decision at Co-opMart supermarket. Cost is the strongest factor eliciting student's interest in purchasing green products, followed by convenience, then communication. Commodity has the least impact on green purchasing decision. This study proposes some feasible solutions for Co-opMart managers to attract more students using green food in the complex situation of contaminated food, which is extremely harmful to consumers' health.