Eco Friendly Auto Mobile

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A Study of Responsibility Feelings, Environmental Values,
Environmental Knowledge and their impact upon Ecologically
Behavioral Intentions towards Environment Friendly Automobiles
By
Mudassar Ali Ahmad
2013-GCUF-15334
B.B.A. Thesis
Government College University Faisalabad
Sahiwal Campus- Pakistan

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A Study of Responsibility feelings, environmental value, environmental
knowledge and their impact upon ecologically Behavioral Intentions
towards Environment Friendly Automobiles
A Thesis Presented
Government College University Faisalabad
In partial fulfillment
of the requirement for the degree of
B.B.A
By
Mudassar Ali Ahmad
2013-GCUF-15334
B.B.A Thesis

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A Post Graduate Thesis submitted to the Department of Management Science as partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Degree of MS (MS).
Name Registration Number
Mudassar Ali Ahmad 2013-GCUF-15334
Supervisor
Dr. Ahmad
Department of Business Administration
Sahiwal Campus
Government College University Faisalabad Pakistan
June, 2017

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Final Approval
This thesis titled
By
Mudassar Ali Ahmad
2013-GCUF-15334
Has been approved
For Government College University Faisalabad
Sub Campus Sahiwal
External Examiner: ________________________________
Dr.
Supervisor: Ahmad
Department of Business Administration,
In charge: Dr. Ikram________________________________

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Declaration
I Mudassar Ali Ahmad 2013-GCUF-15334 hereby declare that I have produced the work
presented in this thesis, during the scheduled period of study. I also declare that I have not taken
any material from any source except referred to wherever due that amount of plagiarism is within
acceptable range. If a violation of HEC rules on research has occurred in this thesis, I shall be
liable to punishable action under the plagiarism rules of the HEC.
Date: ____________
_____________________
Mudassar Ali Ahmad
2013-GCUF-15334

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Certificate
It is certified that Mudassar Ali Ahmad 2013-GCUF-15334 has carried out all the work related to
this thesis under my supervision at the Department of Business Administration, Government
College University Faisalabad Sahiwal Campus and the work fulfills the requirement for award
of B.B.A degree.
Date: ____________
Supervisor:
__________________
Dr. Ahmad
Assistant Professor
In charge Department: Dr. Ikram____________________
Department of Business Administration

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Dedication
This thesis is dedicated to my PARENTS,
Who helped me in all walks of life!

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Acknowledgements
First of all, I am grateful to Almighty Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for giving me
the strength and courage to carry on with this thesis writing successfully.
I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Ahmad. This research
would never complete without his professional advice and unwavering faith in me during times
of great stress and difficulty.
Mudassar Ali Ahmad

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Abstract
This particular study focused upon Pakistani consumers’ attitude towards environment in general
and the affect of these environmental friendly attitudes upon eco-friendly automobiles purchase
intentions. The foundation of this research was based upon three key variables measuring
environmental attitude namely: environmental responsibility, environmental values and
environmental knowledge. The research methodology of this study was quantitative in nature.
With the help of self-administered questionnaire adapted from Kaiser, Ranney, Hartig, & Bowler
(1999), data from 500 respondents residing in the urban cities of Islamabad, Lahore, Multan and
Faisalabad was collected. Data were analyzed through IBM SPSS version 21 software. The
significant findings of this research are that environmental value is the variable having which
positively influences the ecological behavior of consumer, whereas environmental knowledge
and responsibility don’t have any impact upon changing the ecological behavior of consumers in
Pakistan. Furthermore, in future, it would be very interesting to see a study focusing more
thoroughly on the consumers’ attitude who does not intend to purchase environmentally friendly
cars to see the reasons that may influence their decision. This would contribute valuable
information why some consumers do not consider purchasing environmentally friendly cars.
Key words: environmental attitude, environmental responsibility, environmental values,
environmental knowledge, purchase intentions, eco-friendly automobiles.

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Table of Contents
• Introduction ………………………………………………………….….…14
• Background of Study………………………………….….......14
• Statement of Problem……………………………….………..16
• Research Questions and Objectives of the Study……….…....19
• Research Questions……………………………….…..19
• Research Objectives……………………………….….19
• Scope of Study……………………………………………….19
• Significance of Study………………………………………...20
• Limitations of Study…………………………………………20
• Structure of Thesis………………………………….………..21
• Literature Review and Theoretical Framework of Study……………...23
• Methodology..............………………………………………………….….39
• Research Philosophy………………………………………..40
• Research Approach…………………………………………40
• Nature of Research………………………………………….41
• Research Data Collection Procedure…………………….….43
• Data Analyses Techniques…………………………….……44
• Results and Findings……………………………………………………....46
• Conclusionand Recommendations.............…………………..............…..66
• Conclusion of the study………………………………….....67

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• Recommendations..............…………………………….…..68
• Practical Implications manufacturers and marketers.....68
• References………………………………………………………………...70
• Appendix I (The Questionnaire) ……………………..…………………76
List of Figures
• Figure 2.1 Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) …….......……..31
• Figure2.2 Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991)……………………….......….32
• Figure 2.3 Theoretical Framework……………………………….….....................…37
List of Tables
• Table 2.1: Types of Evaluative Responses (Ajzen, 1988)…………………..… ……27
• Table 4.1 Gender of Respondents…………………………………………… ……..47
• Table 4.2 Age of Respondents…………………………………………………..…...47
• Table 4.3 Responsibility Feelings Variables………………………………….….….48
• Table 4.4 Environmental Value Variables……………………………………….….49
• Table 4.5 Environmental Knowledge Variable ……………………………....….…50
• Table 4.6 Environmental Knowledge Variable ……………………………...…… 50
• Table 4.7: Ecological behavior Intentions……………..……………………...……40
• Table 4.8: Factor loadings from environmental responsibility variable……..……..52
• Table 4.9: Factor loadings from environmental value variable……………..……...53
• Table 4.10 Factor loadings from environmental knowledge variable……..……….54
• Table 4.11 Factor loadings from intentions variable……………………..………...55

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• Table 4.12 Cronbach’s Alpha scores measuring internal consistency……………..55
List of Abbreviations
• OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development)
• UNESCAP (United Nations Economic Social Commission for Asia and Pacific)
• GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
• BIAC (Business and Industry Advisory Committee)
• IEA (International Energy Agency)
• UNEP (United Nations environment programme)
• ESCAP (The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific)
• ADB (Asian Development Bank)
• GHG (Greenhouse Gas)
• IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
• CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)
• USA (United Nations of America)
• CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)
• SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)
• PCA (Principle Component Analysis)

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Introduction
Backgroundof Study
Environmental issues have been in debate in last few years. The credit goes to media, which has
made the public aware about global warming and other environmental issues. As the public
awareness has increased towards environmental issues, companies as well as consumers have
started to change their habits. According to a survey conducted by Vizu- A market research and
advertising company under the umbrella of Nielsen company in May 2007; almost 74 %
American citizen think of global warming an important issue while more than half American
take global warming as an extremely important issue (Grant, 2007).
A survey was conducted by Gallup organization in 2009 in Europe. (Flash Eurobarometer 256 –
The Gallup Organization, 2009). The survey shows that more than 80 % of European citizens
think, a product which is eco friendly is more likely to be purchased by them and those products
have an important impact on their buying decisions.
According to United Nations General Assembly (2009); Sung (2012); World Bank, United
Nations and OECD (2012); the strategy to achieve green growth is sustainable development.
Green growth as defined by UNESCAP (United Nations Economic Social Commission for Asia
and Pacific) is “Green growth advocates growth in GDP that maintains or restore environment
quality and ecological integrity, while meeting the needs of all people with the lowest possible
environment impacts. It is a strategy that seeks to maximize economic output while minimizing
the ecological burdens”. This type of growth is highly efficient and effective in terms of
optimally utilizing the natural resources while minimizing the pollution and other harmful
environmental impacts (Ministerial Council Meeting, 2011; World Bank, 2012).
The development of green growth technologies is one of the most significant green growth
strategies practically possible through implementation of innovation policies (BIAC, 2010, IEA
2010; OECD 2011). By ensuring low carbon green technologies in the automobile industry; it is
practically possible to achieve sustainable green growth (BIAC, 2010).

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Ultimately these green technologies are basically the implementation of environmental science
for the conservation of natural environment and resources and to mitigate the negative effects of
human activities (Kuan, 2010; UNEP, 2010).
In the context of Pakistan, green growth is the appropriate, efficient and affordable usage of
natural resources which helps in reducing the climatic change vulnerabilities (Khan, 2011;
UNEP, ESCAP, ADB 2010). Pakistan happens to be one of the exceptional nations’ in being
highly resilient, located in a red zone where the need to inculcate the green growth concept is
greatly required (Planning Commission of Pakistan, 2011).
According to the Planning Commission of Pakistan (2012), it is the appropriate time to revamp
policies and redesign the pathway along the lines of green economy concept. The aim is to
ponder upon the Pakistani economy and productivity creatively and in a holistic manner. On
parallel lines, efforts should be made towards establishing linkages between the green economy
and resulting growth.
This thesis focuses particularly on one of the green technologies which happens to be the “hybrid
technology” in the automobile industry. In other words, this is the shifting trend from CO2
emission cars towards “electric” cars. In the present century, energy is considered the most
precious thing governing the entire world since the industrial revolution. The majority of the
planet Earth’s energy resources have been exclusively exhausted by the developed industrialized
nations leaving behind the remaining world to crave and constantly demand for the depleting
energy sources reservoir (Keeler & Thompson, 2008).
The attitude-behavior relationship has been examined in many different topics such as recycling
behavior (Cheung, Chan and Wong, 1999), binge drinking (Johnston and White, 2003) and green
marketing (Kalafatis, Pollard and East, 1991). However, very scare academic research has been
found concerning the attitude-behavior relationship in regard of environmentally friendly
automobiles, especially in the context of a country like Pakistan. This means that there exists a
gap in the current re-search which demands attention which we seek to address. The research is
relevant from an environmental point of view since we need to adapt and live in a sustainable
environment where we conserve and care for the natural resources. However, it is also important

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to bear in mind that the research is also important from a health perspective because of the effect
pollution has on the human physical condition.
Summing it up, it can be said that this particular study aims at investigating the affect of
environmental values, responsibility feelings and environmental knowledge upon purchase
intentions of Pakistani consumers towards environmentally friendly automobiles. From the past
literature, it is evident that environmental values, responsibility feelings and environmental
knowledge are responsible towards shaping an individual’s environmental-friendly attitude. That
is the essential reason upon studying the effect of these three environmental attitudinal factors
upon consumers’ purchase intentions towards environment-friendly automobiles.
Statement of the Problem
The worsening environmental conditions have forced the marketers to adopt those strategies that
are helpful in changing consumer’s attitudes towards green products. The earth can be saved in
this way. (Luck, Edwina, & Ginanti, 2009). As environment protection is becoming a global
concern so consumers all over the world are using green technologies and products with an aim
of making contribution in saving the environment. In fact, the idea behind green marketing is to
give the consumers a sense that, by using green technologies and products they are contributing
their part in protecting the nature. (Hartmann & Apaolaza, 2009).
Moreover, it is expected that the world population will increase more than 3 billion in the
coming 50 years, communicating a growth of 1.5% annually in the primary energy demand
within the spectrum of next 20 years. It was predicted by the International Energy Agency
(2009), that CO2 emissions in 2030 will reach 40, 2 Gt; but astonishingly by merely the year
1990; the CO2 emissions reached 28, 2 Gt.
From the above discussion, it is evident that fossils fuels are clearly not the energy for future.
Worldwide the CO2 emissions and the greenhouse gases are debated to be replaced by the
renewable energy. Hence the question whether petrol and diesel will be replaced by hydrogen
and electricity to fuel the automobile, is not a question anymore, rather is a stark reality.
Moreover, CO2 emissions are causing global warming which is massively changing the world
climate adversely. A lot of ice-caps of Arctic Ocean and Antarctica have started to melt.

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Moreover, the protective ozone layer is getting damaged too, as according to the documentary
“the Inconvenient Truth” by Al-Gore (2006), a large hole is said to be found in the ozone layer
encompassing Antarctica at the Southern hemisphere of Earth. The majority of the warming has
occurred since the rise of heavy industrialization, which has led to increase in emissions of
anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG), specifically the carbon dioxide CO2 caused by land usage
changes and fossil fuel burning activities (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
1990).
According to the Stern Review (2007), the cost of taking action against the problem of global
warming and the resulting climatic change is far smaller now, compared to a massive climatic
decision taken in the year 2050 when it may affect global economic growth of 150% at that
particular time. The main source behind GHG emissions is the fossil fuels. Majority of the Asian
countries are relying significantly on imports of fossil fuels from the developed countries to meet
their energy needs. This dependency on imports means that if some uncontrollable political or
economical event occurs in the developed nations, the supplies of fossil fuel and their prices may
get affected.
Pakistan is facing such critical issues of importing fossil fuel from developed countries. Most of
the motorists use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as compared to petrol or diesel for fuel in
automobiles. Due to this, a massive shortfall of CNG occurs for households, since in a country
like Pakistan; CNG is used as a fuel for cooking and other heating purposes. Even many
industries get affected by this CNG shortfall, since most of the CNG is consumed by the CNG
pumps to cater to their customers’ fuel needs (The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, 2013). In June 2013, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that Use of
imported POL (petroleum, oils and lubricants) products as a major source of energy has not only
led to high import bill(s), but has also created a negative environmental impact. Therefore, use of
alternate energy efficient Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) needs to be encouraged (NDTV,
2015).
According to the projections made in the context of standard reference scenarios, it is estimated
that the global GHG emissions in the emerging Asian economy, with a population of 7 billion
worldwide in the perspective of normal day-to-day usual business practices would possibly lead
to the doubling in GHG emissions by 2030 (IPCC, 2007). Most of this GHG emission is

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expected to be caused by the Asian developing countries (ADB, 2015b). Consequently, the mean
temperature of world would rise from 3.00C to 4.80C which is strikingly above the 1980-2000
levels under a high emissions scenario (ADB, 2015a). The past literature suggests in the context
of some scenarios that the estimated global temperature of the world may increase upto 6.40C by
the end of this century. At all levels of warming, it is expected that not economic levels will
occur in many countries (IPCC, 2017). The underprivileged people of developing Asian
countries, specifically located in the region of Southeast Asia are expected to be the most
vulnerable towards these climatic changes and impacts associated with them.
Pakistan happens to be located in the region of Southeast Asia; therefore, greater concern is there
in the context of global warming and its adverse impacts upon the global climate and the
associated impacts related to it. Therefore, it is high time to switch to such sources of alternative
energy which is environmental friendly, if not completely but at least partially, especially in the
automobile sector. As according to a survey conducted in 2014 and 2015 in 25 European Union
nations; more than 82% of energy is used by transportation in the European countries
(Perujo&Ciuffo, 2016). As a result, the passenger cars of accounted responsible for 63% CO2
emission. Moreover, most of the particular matters are emitted by the transportation sector
(Wolff & Perry, 2016). According to Dablanc (2015), the World Health Organization claims that
the particular matters are decreasing the average lifetime of European consumers by 9 months.
Therefore, the need of the hour is to switch gradually from fossil fuel driven automobiles causing
heavy CO2 emission towards hybrid-electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles. Hybrid-
electric vehicles use a combination of regular internal fuel combustion and electric motor.
The reason hybrid vehicles are called environmentally friendly are that the energy generation
efficiency is greater in these electric/ hybrid automobiles compared to regular internal
combustion automobiles. In case of car with regular internal combustion engine, 50 KM per day
of travelling requires about 40 kWh per day; whereas in case of hybrid or electric vehicles, it
requires just 10kWh only (Perujo&Ciuffo, 2010). Therefore, it can be clearly seen that in case of
hybrid or electric car, less pollution would be caused along with less energy consumption,
keeping the fact in mind that both internal combustion engine and hybrid cars are provided
energy from similar source.

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The marketers of these hybrid or electric cars need to be aware of what drives consumers to act
in an environmental conscious manner. This positive environmental attitude ultimately convinces
them to purchase a hybrid automobile, rather than a regular internal combustion engine
automobile. This particular study shall shed light upon how this environmental attitude is
formed, and how it affects consumers’ purchase intentions towards environmental friendly
automobiles.
The debate and supporting facts and figures above, provide the rationale behind studying the
environmental attitude of consumers in general and how it affects their purchase intentions
towards environment friendly automobiles.
ResearchQuestions and Objectives of the Study
ResearchQuestions
The study undertaken serves to shed light upon the following research questions:
Q1: In what way the environmental knowledge, environmental values and responsibility-feelings
affect the purchase intention of Pakistani consumers towards environment friendly automobiles?
Q2: What is the behavior of Pakistani consumer towards environment friendly automobiles?
Research Objectives
• To explore Pakistani consumers’ behavior towards environment friendly automobiles.
• To ascertain if there exists demand for environmentally friendly automobiles exist among the
Pakistani consumers.
Scope of Study
As discussed previously that this particular study examines the impact of Pakistani consumer’s
environmental attitudes upon purchase intentions towards environment friendly cars. Therefore,
the study has been conducted in Pakistan, specifically in the province of Punjab, i.e. Islamabad,
Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan. The respondents selected for data collection resided in posh

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areas of the four cities where the survey study took place. That is the reason behind selecting
high scale automobile dealers like Indus Motors, etc.
Significance ofStudy
From theoretical aspects; this study helps in defining the buying behavior of Pakistani consumers
towards “environment friendly automobiles. This study is an insight of consumers’ thinking
regarding environmental issues such as massive CO2emission and its harmful impact on
environment in the form of global warming.
From the perspective of manufacturers and marketers of environment friendly automobiles; this
study shall provide a thorough insight to the marketers towards understand the effect of
consumer’s environment conscious attitude upon purchase intentions towards environment
friendly automobiles. Parallel to this, the findings of research study would help marketers in
crafting creative product marketing strategies to aware the consumer of automobiles about the
harmful impact of fossil fuel emission through automobiles, in order to attract the consumer
towards environment friendly automobiles.
Lastly the findings of this particular study shall prove monumental to the environment conscious
organizations in understanding the general consumers’ inclinations towards saving the
environment from pollution, deforestation, global warming etc.
Limitations of Study
The study was conducted in four urban areas of Punjab, Pakistan. Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad
and Multan were specifically chosen to conduct the survey study. The respondents selected
belonged to purely urban target population, which limits its applicability on a general basis up to
some extent.
It is rather difficult to obtain the accurate socially desirable response from the respondents, since
issues such as “environmental consciousness” may cause biasness. The reason being, that it may
be considered ethically or politically incorrect in admitting indifferent behavior to environment
protection issues. Therefore, it is difficult to control the outside influence of others on
respondents’ opinion. Some of the respondents may not feel very protective towards
environment, but in order to keep a clean record may have claimed they are environmentally

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conscious. This is one of the major limitations of this research; as it is almost impossible to
ascertain the true opinion of people on environment protection issues, since it is likely that they
may be influenced largely by their surroundings.
In most cases purchases intentions accurately predict the resulting behavior. But there may raise
a situation, where a gap exists between intentions and behavior. In case of measuring
environmental intentions and the resulting behavior, there is high chance of this gap existing
between intentions and behavior. Usually individuals express positive intentions towards
environment friendly products and services. But this may differ significantly from their actual
behavior. Therefore, it can be deduced that a gap exists between attitude and behavior of an
individual consumer. In other words, it is difficult to judge that there exists demand for the usage
of environment friendly products. This is another limitation of this research that the results
obtained may not be the actual behavior of the consumer. In a nutshell, it can be said that
although the results can be generalized but not overly.
Structure of Thesis
The thesis is structured in such a manner that it has three main parts. The chapter 1 and 2 laid the
theoretical foundation of the research being undertaken in the later part of the study. The
chapters 3 and 4 depict the empirical methodology of undertaken study followed by results of
analysis. Whereas the chapter 5 discusses all results in detail in order to answer the four research
questions. This sums up the three main parts of the thesis.
Individually speaking, chapter 1 discusses the background, statement of problem, research
questions, objectives, scope and significance of study.
Chapter 2 lays foundation for the theoretical framework of study by discussing in detail the
research work of renowned researcher in this particular field of study. The research model upon
which this study is based is discussed in detail along with operationalization of variables of the
model.
Chapter 3 sheds light onto methodology of the study. This in detail explains the nature of
research, target population, sampling technique, data collection methodology and data analysis
tools and techniques.

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Chapter 4 describes in detail the findings of the data analysis. All results are presented in the
form of descriptive tables, graphs and other statistical techniques.
Chapter 5 discusses the interpretation of these results in context to their implications and
limitations surrounding the experimental setting. Moreover, the recommendation to marketers of
environment friendly automobiles is also discussed in this chapter, followed by outlining the
future direction the study.
Chapter 6 reveals the references used as source in the entire study.

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Chapter 2
Literature Review

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Literature Review
Green Marketing
In the present times, awareness of environmental concern has increased manifold which resulted
in making consumers conscious about how their individual behaviors influence the environment.
For some consumers, environmental issues are an extreme concern, whereas for some it is a
mainstream concern but not critical. Green marketing refers to production and effective
promotion of environment friendly products to the consumers through marketing activities which
have the lowest environmental and social impact. At the moment, environmental concern is not
just a humanitarian issue, rather it has become mandatory to be addressed by all large business
organizations, if they want to stay competitive in the market. Most of the large business
corporations are having a very proactive environmental management department. This major
shift has been caused by governments, employees, competitors and customers (Berry
&Rondinelli, 1998). Business performance majorly depends on how sound the environment
quality is kept; the investing bodies and consumers both understand this relationship. The general
public is greatly aware how governments are pressurized by the environmental issues and
stressed to step forward towards cleaner environment. But in spite of such grave environmental
concerns, apparently there is stark difference existing among the developed industrialized nations
and the developing countries. For many decades now; in industrialized countries such as USA,
strict environmental policies and regulations are implemented. According to Berry & Rodinelli
(1998), an estimate shows that in 1970 there existed 2000 environmental policies and regulations
in USA. After three more decades, these environmental regulations increased beyond 100,000. In
the developing nations, the environmental policies and regulations are far more moderate
compared to developed industrialized nations (Dean, 2002).
GreenConsumer
According to Chan (1999), behind the green movement, consumers are the ones who cause
pressure upon governments, organizations and companies to adopt and promote green marketing
activities. Since the consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, therefore
companies have to fulfill their demand for green products in order to maintain steady growth of
business. In a nutshell, it can be said that it is the consumer who has started this green movement
and the companies have to adapt this change for their survival.

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It is necessary to study the traits of green consumers to better understand the concept. There
happen to be several different ways of segmenting the green consumers. In their study of
environmental segmentation; Straughan and Roberts (1999), reviewed demographic,
psychographic and attitude dimensions in order to depict the green consumers segmentation
clearly. They considered age a very significant demographic factor towards shaping up
environmentally conscious behavior of consumer. In their study, they utilized a sample of
college students in the US to represent future environmentally conscious consumers. Their study
findings suggested that apart from demographic factors such as age; psychographic factors such
as attitude dimension and altruism should also be used, since when segmenting green consumers,
these psychographic factors played a very positive role (Straughan& Roberts, 1999).
In another research, it is revealed that customers are highly inclined towards buying and using
green products compared to non-green products (Mendleson and Polonsky, 1995). On the other
hand, there are certain obstacles which may not mould the attitude of consumer highly positive
towards green products, such as consumer confusion, low credibility and consumer cynicism.
This has led to consumers’ mistrust on companies who claimed to be offering environment
friendly products, but reality was against it. At the end of the day, consumers became skeptical
about such companies and their false claims. According to a research in the 90s, some companies
do not line up their culture in sync with their advertisement claims of being environmentally
friendly organizations. Consumers get confused and feel deceived by such companies, and may
depict an arrogant attitude towards such companies and their offerings (Carlson, Grove and
Kangun, 1993). The above information is an indication of the fact that ethically sustainable
environmentally friendly products and services should be disseminated among consumers,
ensuring that consumer itself is the in charge in making a shift towards adopting green products
and eco-friendly environment.
Consumer Attitudes
A very extensive research work framework is available in the form of literature on the topic of
attitude (Ajzen and Fishbein 1975, 1977; Sheppard, Hartwick, Warshaw, 1988). According to
Fiske et al, (2010), attitude is a subject which the social psychologists have focused and debated
up to such a large extent in the 20th century, that this term has become synonymous with social
psychology. According to Gordon Alport, “attitude is the most distinctive and indispensable

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concept in contemporary social psychology” (Allport, 1935). Gordon Allport is undoubtedly the
pioneer in research study of attitude concept. The way humans are reflected by the concept of
attitude, e.g. their individual product preferences, what motivates them and how they react when
exposed to some marketing stimulus. It can be said that understanding the meaning of attitude
and how it affects the consumer behavior is one of the most widely theoretical concepts in the
area of behavioral research (Solomon, M.R. 2010). In the area of behavioral research, no formal
definition of attitude is found; however, most psychology researchers claim that attitude is a
reflection of a person’s like or dislike for a certain attitude object. A person, an object or an event
in the world of an individual is referred to, when the term attitude object is used in this entire
thesis. The literature is fertile of abundant theories on the concept of attitude, however only the
most effective and prominent ones would be referred to in this thesis to get a thorough insight of
the attitude concept.
Richard Lapiere (1934) was the first researcher to academically and empirically study the
relationship between attitude and behavior. The research conducted by him clearly depicted that
a vivid gap existed between an individuals’ attitude towards a specific behavior and his or her
actual behavior. Using findings from a European Commission report’ Rijnsoever, Farla and Dijst
(2009), found that 75% consumers are willing to deviate from their current purchase behavior
and purchase eco-friendly products if they are priced high. Parallel to this, the same study
indicated that only 17% people were willing to abandon their present buying habits and go for
eco-friendly products. This clearly indicates that a gap is said to be found between an
individuals’ readiness or urge to change and the actual behavior.
Since attitude is a hypothetical construct, therefore the only way to measure it is indirectly. The
existence of attitude is depending upon certain types of evaluative responses towards the attitude
object (Manstead, 1996). Here an example can be taken whereby an individual holds
membership of an environment protection organization, promoting prevention of pollution
related issues; then it could be assumed that the individual being part of that organization
himself/herself has positive attitude towards general environmental issues. In 1988, a research
namely Ajzen suggested an effective categorization procedure to capture and organize different
sorts of evaluative Reponses. Ajzen was able to differentiate between verbal and non-verbal
responses, and in this way utilized them both effectively. The above example where a consumer

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is a member of environment active organization indicates non-verbal response. In order to further
elaborate the example, Ajzen is of the opinion that the response of consumer in above example
can be distinguished as behavior response. This means that the consumer has behavioral
intentions towards attitude object. The figure given below explains it further:
Table2.1: Types of Evaluative Responses (Ajzen, 1988)
Response Mode
Response Category
Affect Cognition Behavior
Verbal Expressions of
feelings towards
attitude object
Expressions of
belief towards
attitude object
Expressions of
behavioral
intentions towards
attitude object
Non-verbal Physiological
responses towards
attitude object
Perceptual
responses (reaction
time) to attitude
object
Overt behavior
responses to attitude
object
The functional approach
According to Solomon M.R. (2010), the presence of attitude is due to the fact that it bears
functional role for an individual. In other words, attitude is determined by an individual’s
motive. Attitude function has four different reasons for its existence; each reason can be
distinguished based onto the function they meet (Katz, 1960).
One of the attitude functions is termed as utilitarian function; it is based on rewards and
punishments. The attitude towards an obtained object is simply noticeable since it either provides
pleasure or pain. In this context, an example of automobile could be considered; whereby the
attitude towards an automobile could be based on rewards (e.g., fuel efficiency, luxury, etc.) or
punishments (less mileage, high maintenance costs, etc.). The second category of attitude
function is value expressive function; whereby a consumer does not focus upon a product’s
features or the benefits associated with it; rather focuses on how the product expresses his/her
individual identity. Another attitude function category is of ego-defensive attitudes, which helps

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in saving an individual form some internal or external threat. From the scope of this thesis, if a
person is positively inclined towards environment friendly cars; then he/ she may consider a
moral obligation to purchase an environment friendly car in order to save him/ her from the guilt
of causing harm to the environment. The fourth attitude function is knowledge which becomes
vital in order to understand a situation or make a rational buying decision. In the context of eco-
friendly car example; a person may feel confused or insecure if he/ she lack awareness regarding
eco-friendly cars. Knowledge helps an individual to make rational decision when faced with an
unknown situation or confronted with an entirely new category of product. Generally speaking,
all these functions work by themselves or collectively along with some other functions as well,
whatever the specific situation maybe. Whatever the case maybe; but it is fundamental for a
marketer to carefully identify the most dominant function, so that benefits in sync with that
attitude function could be portrayed in its advertisement which ultimately leads a customer to
think more positively towards the product and its corresponding advertisement (Katz, 1960).
An individual monitors his/ her thoughts and actions, which may affect the influence of attitude
functions. An individual’s expressive controls are varied by either low or high monitors. An
individual when expressing high self-monitor, is highly concerned how the surroundings would
react about his/ her actions. Therefore, an individual indulges in those actions which would lead
to positive feedback from the surroundings. Contrast to this, an individual having low self-
monitor is more concerned about their internal or personal thoughts and are not much concerned
how surroundings perceive or react upon their actions. Johar and Sirgy (1991) are of the view
that in order to craft and communicate an appealing message for the advertisement; it is
important to evaluate the type monitor a particular companies’ target audience represents.
However, it should be kept in mind that a product serves more than one purpose at the same
time. To justify this point, example of cars can be considered, where a car serves as self-
expressive by defining the identity of an individual along with commuting the individual from
one place to another by the serving the utilitarian purpose (Shavitt, 1992). The way individuals
look upon products, serve to identify whether those individuals represent high or low self-
monitors. A person has high self-monitor if it is very important for him/ her to meet all the
requirements of the social to which he/ she belongs to. Whereas an individual who is concerned
only about his/ her own preferences expresses low self-monitor (Snyder, 1974).

29
The structural approach
According to Evans, Jamal and Foxal (2009), the three-component model is one of the most
recognized and widely used approaches to explain the concept of attitude. By using this
approach, attitude-relevant response is categorized into several subgroups (Ajzen, 1989) The
three components that make up attitude are cognitive, affective and conative. Plato was the first
behavioral scientist to recognize these three attitude components, but it was further was further
reinforced by Hilgard (1980). Hilgard (1980) is of the opinion that these attitude components are
still beneficial in the attitudinal psychology research field.
An individual’s beliefs or knowledge regarding an attitude object make up the cognitive
component of attitude. It is possible that in some cases the belief or knowledge held by an
individual about an object may differ from reality. The amount of knowledge and up to what
extent the knowledge possessed is central to the attitude object may create variations in the
cognitive component. According to Linden (1994), the knowledge difference is based on the fact
whether the information is one-sided, versatile or biased. The second attitude component is based
on the positive or negative emotions or feelings an individual has about an attitude object, and
hence called the affective component. The positive or negative feelings an individual has about
an attitude object are a reflection of his/ her beliefs about that product. The third attitude
component is the readiness or tendency of an individual to respond to an attitude object based
onto his/her previously held beliefs, knowledge and feelings (Evans, Jamal and Foxall, 2006).
Therefore, it can be deduced that a person’s response to an attitude object largely depends upon
his/ her perception and information held regarding the attitude object (Ajzen, 1989). Apart from
all this, it is very important to understand here that an individual’s actual behavior may differ
from what he/ she intended to do.
Williams (1979) pointed out that values may casually be connected to resulting behavior of an
individual. Value s according to the author may serve as ruling principle factor in influencing the
evaluation, preferences and the final purchase of an individual. Therefore, it can be said that
values do play a crucial role in predicting an individual’s behavior as they affect an individual’s
buying decision process. Moreover, implicit values can also be utilized as decision-making factor
while making choice decisions.

30
Rational Choice Theory
Individuals make conscious choices and careful consideration while choosing their actions and
opinions. The social and economical behaviors of people are often explained through rational
choice theory. The bottom line behind rational choice theories is that people are expected to
think and act rationally. The individual’s choice is observed as a conscious behavior and is
influenced by the decision’s expected outcome. According to Hedstrom and Stern (2008) the
costs and benefits of different outcomes govern people’s decisions.
The theory of reasoned action by Ajzen and Fishbein (1975; 1980) came into existence because
of the significant contribution of rational choice theories. The rational choice theory is explained
in figure 2.2. The attitude-behavior model successfully helps in predicting and understanding an
individual’s behavior with this theory (Sheppard, Hartwick and Warshaw, 1988). According to
this theory in order to predict an individual’s behavior, two elements should be considered. The
motivational commitment that influences an individual’s behavior corresponds to an individual’s
intentions (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Therefore, the occurrence of actual behavior of an
individual would be influenced by stronger intentions of that individual. Manstead, Proffitt and
Smart (1983), are of the view that because of its ability to predict a human’s intention and the
resulting behavior; the theory of reasoned action has received monumental success. The integral
idea behind this theory is that an individual’s intention is a two-component function. An
individual’s attitude towards a particular behavior and subjective norm are the two elements of
an individual’s intention. The personal liking or disliking can be summarized as an individual’s
attitude towards a behavior. For example; an individual may vary in his/ her opinion regarding
purchase of eco-friendly detergents. Some people may consider it a positive gesture, others may
regard it negative to buy eco-friendly detergents.

31
Figure 2.1 Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980)
The type of behavior being evaluated and measured may affect the attitude among different
people. To further elaborate the concept, assume two people driving a car, one may be positive
and other may possess negative opinion towards driving a car. The beliefs an individual possess
and behavior evaluation form the basis of an individual’s attitude towards a behavior, but in case
of subjective norm, motivation to comply and peer pressure are taken as influencing individual’s
intentions. This is very much evident in the situation where an individual is influenced directly
by family and friend’s opinions while making a decision. If these two elements contradict one
another, then an individual might give it relative importance. This implies that the two elements
may have differing effects depending upon the intentions and behavior. In order to fully
understand the concept, it is essential to grasp why individuals exhibit specific attitudes and
subjective norms. Attitude and subjective norm are functions of different kinds of beliefs, as
shown in figure 2.3. Behavioral beliefs are the function of attitude towards the behavior; whereas
normative beliefs are the function of subjective norm. The major difference here is that attitudes
towards a behavior are more related to an individual’s personal beliefs and the subjective norms
Behavioral
Beliefs
Outcome
Evaluations
Normative
Beliefs
Attitude towards
the behavior
Motivations
to comply
Subjective Norm
Relative
importance of
attitudinal and
normative factors
normative
factors
Intention Behavior

32
are a reflection of an individual’s beliefs of what others perceive and think (Ajzen and Fishbein,
1980; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1975).
Figure2.2 Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991)
Owing to the disregard to the volitional control, the authors of theory of reasoned action faced
some criticism after its publishing. This led to the inclusion of a third element by Ajzen in his
model to refine the theory of reasoned action. The element of perceived behavioral control
extended the scope of this theory and a new model was formulated. The new theory of planned
behavior indicated that intention is influenced by the previous two independent factors along
with one additional independent factor of perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991) The ease or
difficulty to perform any task is represented by the third element of this theory. Individuals tend
to have low perceived behavioral control, when performing a rather difficult behavior and vice
versa. The attitude towards behavior, subjective norms and the perceived behavioral control
mutually determine the intentions of an individual. The uniqueness of this third element is that it
determines behavior along with intentions. Two underlying factors are in favor of this notion.
The effort required towards successful completion of a task and its overall effect upon actual
behavior will increase if the individual possesses personal behavioral control. For example, there
are two people interested in learning driving a car. The person who believes he/ she will learn
driving successfully is more likely to actually succeed rather than the person with low level of
confidence. There is a second equally important explanation to prove the validity of the third
Behavior
beliefs
Normative
beliefs
Control
beliefs
Attitude
towards the
behavior
Subjective
norms
Perceived
behavioral
control
Intention Behavior

33
element. In some specific situations, individuals may have intentions to act in some way, but
can’t do so because of lack of sufficient power to monitor or control the behavior. For example, a
person is interested in buying organic rice, but organic rice is not available in the market.
Therefore, in this situation, the individual does not have power of control of situation (Manstead,
1996).
Environmental attitude models
When predicting ecological behavior, it is essential to inculcate the element of moral dimension;
so the theory of reasoned action was criticized by Kaiser et al (1999). The base reason is that in
literature of ecological behavior, welfare of people in general is more important than egoistic
nature. It means that a more adaptive framework would be appropriate in conducting
environmental attitude research. Moreover, strong evidence suggests that social thinking has a
very strong influence upon environmental decisions of individuals; this further reinforces that the
environmental attitude must incorporate moral concepts (Kaiser et al, 1999).
The literature available upon environmental attitude, and logical reasoning derived from various
studies can be segregated into three different types of approaches. It is significant to take into
account all perspectives to attain a 360° angle of the environmental attitude construct. This
ultimately will help in identifying the theory which best fits the requirements of this thesis.
The new environmental paradigm is the contemporary approach conceived by Dunlap and Van
Liere (1978). The three new factors are the ability of humans to upset balance of nature, barriers
to growth of human societies and the right of humans to rule the rest of nature. The supposition
upon which this new paradigm is based is the implicit challenge of radically changing the
fundamental and orthodox views humans have about nature and their relationship with it
(Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig and Jones, 2000). Environmental behavior has been predicted in
many studies by using this model (Luzar, Diagne, Gan and Henning, 1995; Corral-Verdugo and
Armendaríz, 2000). It is argued by a few researchers that this model lacks a strong social
psychology base, which is very crucial part of the attitude concept when predicting behavior
(Henning, Karlsson, &Mullern, 2011).
The attitude toward environment is another approach referred by few researchers in their study
(Maloney and Ward, 1973; Maloney, Ward and Braucht, 1975). According to Synodinos (1990),

34
the research by the above-mentioned researchers proved quite credible in terms of reliability.
Unfortunately, the research conducted by Maloney and Ward (1973) did not exhibit the kind of
findings to reveal that factual knowledge and ecological behavior are linked in a relationship
with each other. This is a multi-component approach as it makes vivid difference between the
cognitive, affective and conative elements of attitude component. The amount of knowledge an
individual possesses about the environment is measured by the cognitive element. The
individual’s feelings regarding environment is measured by the affective part of attitude
component. The last component is basically a function of two factors, the verbal and the actual
commitment; it measures the intention of an individual to engage in a specific behavior
(Maloney et al, 1975). In a criticism of the model used by Maloney and Ward; martin and
Simintiras (1995) said that this model was highly valid and reliable initially, but according to
some latest studies, the knowledge scale used in this particular study is very much skewed,
which means data is scattered and useless. Therefore, this model is useless for this particular
thesis, since knowledge is an attitude component deemed highly important in predicting the
ecological intentions of the consumer (Henning, Karlsson, &Mullern, 2011).
Olsen (1981) and Gamba and Oskamp (1994) said that the theory of reasoned action could be
considered as skeleton or building block of all environmental attitude model theories (Kaiser et
al., 1999). Therefore, working on these lines, Kaiser et al (1999) proposed a research model
within the framework of theory of reasoned action, but inculcated some other factors as well,
which are essential for measuring the environmental attitude and behavior.
All environmental attitude theories were evaluated in order to find their significance in
forecasting intentions towards purchasing eco-friendly automobiles. Even though, all theories
describe environmental attitude component up to some extent but the model best fir for this
thesis is discussed below.
The research model of this particular study
Environmental knowledge, environmental values and responsibility feelings are the three
components which largely influence the purchase intentions when purchasing environment
friendly automobiles as proposed by Kaiser et al (1999). The responsibility feelings are
additionally added into the rational-behavior theory and norm-activation theory in the model

35
proposed by Kaiser et al (1999). Firstly, this is considered very essential as most research done
on environmental attitude model forgets to address the moral dimensions (Kaiser et al., 1999).
Secondly although the media hype created in the 2000s about becoming environmentally
conscious may have changed the attitude of people towards environment, but the essential
components of environmental knowledge, environmental values and responsibility feelings still
are very important. Thirdly Kaiser et al (1999) has utilized many other theories from past
environmental attitude and behavior researches, which has made this model fit for measuring the
ecological intentions of consumers. Furthermore, this model has been applied upon two different
continent’s population, which indicates it is accepted generally by all (Kaiser et al, 1999).
The fourth argument in support of using this model in this particular thesis is that the theory of
planned behavior is an accomplished construct used successfully in many previous researches,
which supports the fact that this model is highly suitable for this undertaken study as well
(Ajzen, 1991; Godin and Kok, 1996). In a study conducted by Masser, White, Hyde, Terry and
Robinson’s (2009), it indicates that even if some moral dimension aspects were added to predict
the intentions and behaviors of people towards blood donation, the model gave accurate and
reliable results. This further gives strong argument in support of the fact that this model should
be used to predict consumer intentions for environment friendly automobiles in this undertaken
thesis.
Environmental Knowledge, Values, ResponsibilityFeelings and Intentions
According to Kaiser et al (1999), environmental knowledge, environmental values and
responsibility feelings when used together predict consumers’ ecological purchase intentions in a
more effective manner which in turn effects the ecological behavior of consumers.
In order to develop an environmental attitude; environmental knowledge is a pre-requisite
(Kaiser et al., 1999). The concepts of systematic and action-based knowledge are segregated
within the area of cognitive psychology. The functionality of the ecosystems is based on
systematic knowledge of an individual. The relationship existing between CO2emission and the
green house is an example of the systematic knowledge. It can be said that systematic knowledge
is simple because it does not require knowing how an individual’s behavior impacts the
environment. Frick, Kaiser and Wilson (2004) are of the opinion that when a person has an

36
understanding how his/ her behavior is affecting the environment, this is action-based
knowledge. Here it can be exemplified by saying that if consumers have this understanding that
by using eco-friendly car, there would be less CO2emission. Intentions are used to mediate the
subjective norms to predict the behavior in the theory of planned action behavior. Kaiser et al
(1999) used environmental values instead of subjective norms to forecast the ecological
behavior. Environmental concern and behavior are strongly related in a study by Schwartz
(1994). The findings from his study suggest strong correlation existing between a person’s values
and commitment to pro-environmental actions. Hence it can be said that a strong relationship
exists between environmental values and ecological behavior. This is very much supported by
Vinson, Scott and Lamont (1977) in their argument that an individual’s values greatly influence
upon his/ her actions in different situations. This can be exemplified by saying that if a company
gets insight of the consumers’ values, then it would be in a better position to provide services
which match consumers’ preferences.
Moral dimension was added by Kaiser et al (1999) into his ecological behavior model by
combining the rational-choice theory and norm-activation theory. The reason why moral
dimension should be incorporated in this model is twofold. Norm-activation model after the
Kaiser model is the second most widely used model to predict ecological behavior of consumer.
This model when incorporated with moral norms measures ecological behavior more effectively.
The first reason is of more practical nature, whereas the second reason is of more philosophical
origin. Moral and conventional norms are used in this model which is basically connected to two
different types of social emotions, one is the feeling of shame or embarrassment when the
conventions are dishonored and the individual abuses the moral standards (Keltner and Buswell,
1996). Both these norms do contribute towards affecting the ecological behavior but in different
ways. Conventional responsibility means accepting and practicing all those conventional
manners which are socially acceptable in a society. For example, it is a conventional manner to
respect elders or not smoke in front of elders in Pakistan; but an individual might only practice
this conventional manner to gain acceptance in surrounding. However, he/ she may in reality be
against such conventional manners, but to gain approval of society is compelled to practice these
conventional manners. Environmental responsibility is generally perceived as moral-related,
since it is believed that individuals who are environmentally conscious have moral thinking. In
another study, it was found that social norms only effect the behavior of an individual; and are

37
aware of it strongly (Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004). This means that norms are ineffective in
affecting our actions if they are not deeply rooted in our consciousness.
There seems to exist some barriers to pro-environmental behavior (Blake, 1999). Personal
responsibility is one of those hurdles which is related to the locus-0f-control concept. This means
that in some situations, an individual cannot influence that situation through his/ her own
behavior, therefore acts in a manner which is less pro-environmental. Thus, keeping
responsibility feelings into the model is justified (Kaiser and Shimoda, 1999).
In this particular thesis, ecological behavior intentions are of central value as used previously in
the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1977). In the model proposed by Kaiser et al
(1999), ecological behavior intentions are a function of environmental values, environmental
knowledge and responsibility feelings. Hence the stronger the intentions, there is stronger
likeliness that the behavior would be performed.
Fig 2.3: Theoretical Framework
Independent Variable Dependent Variable
Proposed Hypotheses
It is assumed that the ecological behavior of consumers would be affected by following factors
while making purchase decision for environment friendly automobiles.
Responsibility
Feelings
Environmental
Values
Environmental
Knowledge
Ecological
Behavior
Intentions

38
In line with the debate done earlier while defining the research framework for this particular
study; it is believed that responsibility feelings will affect intentions while purchasing
environment friendly automobiles (Kaiser et al, 1999).
H1: Responsibility feelings positively influence upon the ecological behavior intentions to
purchase environment friendly automobiles.
Another factor which is correlated to ecological behavior intentions is environment knowledge.
It is believed that the knowledge an individual possess about his/ her environment will affect the
purchase intentions towards buying environment friendly automobiles (Henning, Karlsson,
&Mullern, 2011). This led to the second hypothesis of this study:
H2: Environment knowledge has a positive influence upon the ecological behavior intentions to
buy environment friendly automobiles.
The last but not the least hypothesis to be tested in this particular study is environmental values
and its impact on intentions to buy environment friendly automobiles. It is believed that
environment values positively influence the intentions of a consumer to buy environment
friendly automobiles (Henning, Karlsson, &Mullern, 2011). Therefore, the formulated
hypothesis is:
H3: Environmental values have a positive influence upon the ecological behavior intentions to

40
ResearchMethodology
ResearchPhilosophy
The research philosophy of this particular research is phenomenology (applied research), since
the reality is objective and people can easily know this reality. Moreover, symbols can be
utilized to describe and explain this objective reality (Nightingale, 2012). In this study, variables
are used to describe and explain the objective reality.
ResearchApproach
This particular study utilizes the causal research approach. Causal research is essentially a
conclusive research, where the foremost aim is to find evidence relevant to different cause-effect
relationships (Malholtra, 2004). According to Malhotra (2004), causality is with the increase of
occurrence of x, the probability of occurrence of y increases. This study specifically revolves
around the factors which affect the intentions of an individual and to inspect the relationship
between them. The causal research approach is very much appropriate with the purpose of this
particular thesis, as according to Malholtra and Birks (2007), when determining the nature of
relationship existing between the causal variables and the dependant variable; causal research
approach is the best.
This particular thesis examines closely the elements influencing an individual’s environmental
attitude and the affect it has upon ecological intentions; therefore, this research approach is very
much appropriate for this undertaken study. The research model used in this particular study is
adapted from Kaiser et al (1999), which is basically an extended version of Fishbein and Ajzen’s
(1975; 1980) theory of reasoned action. This model is testing the correlation existing between an
individual’s environment attitude (responsibility feelings, environment values and environment
knowledge) and its impact upon his/ her intentions to purchase environment friendly
automobiles. The theory of reasoned action is still believed to be a fundamental theory for
predicting behaviors especially in the area of green marketing and green consumption. Although
this theory is present in its revised form, but still is popular among researchers for studying
consumer behavioral intentions since its inception in the 1980s.

41
Nature of Research
The research nature of this particular study is explanatory in nature, as it does not only intend not
only to describe data and characteristics about the population, but rather explain when, how and
why such phenomena appeared or occurred.
Construct of Survey
This particular study demands collecting primary data, as it is more relevant and much
interesting and enriches the existing body of knowledge. Quantitative approach was chosen to
collect, determine and analyze the attitudes of people toward environment and its influence upon
their behavioral intentions to buy environment friendly automobiles. The reason why quantitative
approach was chosen is this that allows measurement of environmental attitude in a systematic
and functional manner (Bradley, 2010). Since this particular study utilizes the quantitative
approach, therefore the best research instrument for this study would be questionnaire. As this
study revolves around studying and measuring the concept of attitude; therefore, questionnaire
would serve to provide a standardized format carrying questions measuring the attitude and its
affect on intentions of people. This would help in retrieving information from the entire sample
of people in a convenient way (Brace, 2004).
The questionnaire is designed in such a way that it will ensure collection of accurate and
unbiased data in a timely manner. Self-administered questionnaire technique is chosen to collect
data from the target audience in this specific study (Kaizerer a; 1999).
Designof the Questionnaire
The introductory part of questionnaire described the purpose of this research and the duration of
time it will take to complete it. It was ensured to all respondents that the questionnaire responses
would be kept anonymous, in order to keep them relax and comfortable. Such kinds of
instructions save time and gave the respondent an objective idea about what is required of him/
her through this questionnaire.
Sincere efforts were made to keep the questionnaire simple and logical. Questions which mislead
or were double barreled and cannot be responded were avoided, according to the guidelines of

42
Malhotra and Bricks (2007). Moreover, the questionnaire was kept quite clear which increases
response rate (Brace, 2004).
The questionnaire comprised of attitude rating scales in the form of likert scale to measure
respondent’s attitudinal dimensions. A 5-point likert scale was used, since it provides
appropriate discrimination and is easy to comprehend (Brace, 2004). The questionnaire
contained structured questions.
The layout of the questionnaire was kept in a way that the interesting questions came first,
followed by the boring ones later. This stimulates the respondent to answer and the response rate
increases (Malhotra and Birks, 2007). The questionnaire was divided into six parts; the 6th or the
last part included questions about respondent’s background, as they are the most uninteresting
for the respondent. Questions regarding responsibility feelings, knowledge and values were
placed in the beginning.
The questionnaire was adapted from the very well and highly acclaimed construct of Kaiser et al
(1999). However, the questions were slightly rephrased according to the English-speaking
requirements of Pakistani respondents.
Pretesting ofQuestionnaire
During the development of a questionnaire, it is important that the respondents should
understand and interpret each and every question. Generally speaking, the very initial draft of
questionnaire is too long, contains redundant questions, ambiguous statements etc. According to
Aaker, Kumar, Day and Leone (2011), pretesting of questionnaire is important, as it eliminates
all such problems by identifying and rectifying all shortcomings. Language barrier was one other
significant barrier, as English is not the mother tongue of Pakistani; therefore, it was important to
pretest and find if they were able to comprehend the questionnaire or not.
During the pretest of this questionnaire, an air of open-mindedness was kept to accept all kinds
of criticism. If the questionnaire is to the point and short, a rather small sample size is enough for
pretesting (Aaker, 2011). This pretest of this questionnaire was conducted on 70 people (15% of
sample, which is 500). During the pretest, debriefing approach was used. In debriefing approach,
the respondent is not provided with any kind of assistance (Aaker et al, 2011). During the entire

43
course of time, the respondents were observed to find any confusion on their face or in their
actions. A time of ten minutes was selected prior to pretesting, as the standard completion time
of questionnaire. It was observed that majority of respondents were able to fill the questionnaire
within the specified time of 10 minutes. Once all respondents filled the questionnaire; they were
asked about structure, layout, phrasing of questions. They were also asked if they found certain
questions misleading. This process was exercised on every 5th respondent, their queries were
noted and the questionnaire was revised. Some respondents found few words difficult to
interpret, so those words were replaced with easier ones. The process was repeated two times
more, till the time all respondents admitted they found the questionnaire easy to comprehend.
Once this was done, each question of questionnaire was reviewed and discussed to find if it was
appropriately placed in the questionnaire. When all steps were completed, pretest was over; and
the researcher’s objective was achieved (Aaker et al, 2011).
Research Data Collection
Sampling Frame
The population is Punjab province of Pakistan. Consumers were selected from large metropolitan
cities of Punjab i.e. Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan cities of Pakistan due to their
higher incomes. And the average per month salary of individuals of Islamabad is (PKR 93,199),
Lahore (PKR 91,130), Faisalabad (PKR 57,500), and Multan (PKR 77,500). Data has been taken
from the (http://www.salaryexplorer.com. 2015. Accessed on 09-06-17). Renowned car dealers
like Atlas Honda Ltd, Suzuki company outlet, Deewan motors (SECP, 2017). were approached
to acquire data from consumers.
Sample Unit
Sample unit are the consumers of automobiles, specifically the ones whom are interested in
purchasing environment friendly or hybrid cars.
Sample Size
The sample size kept was 500. In Islamabad and Lahore, 150 consumers were involved in survey
study and 100 each from Faisalabad and Multan cities. The sample size has been calculated via
the sampling calculator explained by (Raosoft, 2004). The reason of selecting these cities is this

44
that more educated and high-income consumers reside in these 04 larger cities of Punjab.
Population of Lahore according to 2016 census is 6,310,888, Islamabad 601,600, Faisalabad
2,506,595 and Multan 1,437,230 (World Population Review, 2016).
Sampling Technique
The sampling technique used is proportionate random sampling. The reason for utilizing this
technique is that actually population size of the 04 cities is not known accurately. And timeframe
of study is 05 months. So, convenience sampling is a better technique.
Data Analyses Techniques
Reliability
Reliability is defined as, “The extent to which a measurement reproduces consistent results if the
process of measurement may be repeated” (Malhotra and Birks, 2007). In simple words, if
repeated measurements are made, how much the accurate results are. Cronbach’s Alpha test was
used to measure internal consistency of questionnaire (Henning, Karlsson, &Mullern, 2011). If
the value of Cronbach’s Alpha is 0.7 or higher, it shows satisfactory reliability.
Validity
Validity is defined as, “the extent to which a measurement represents characteristics that exist in
the phenomenon under investigation” (Malhotra& Birks, 2007). In simple terms, a measure has
high validity if it is measuring what it was supposed to measure. In this study, high validity is
important, as the entire study is based on measuring attitudes of consumers. Based onto
attitudinal differences, this study will foresee the affect on individual preferences.
Validity also depends on how well familiar are the respondents with the concept being
researched. Furthermore, the population being investigated should also be clearly and deeply
understood by the researcher. The questions should be error free; this can be done by asking the
right questions, avoiding confusing language etc. Moreover, biased and leading questions should
be avoided. Similarly estimates and generalizations should be avoided at all costs, since this
leads respondent to make their own assumption of what the researcher is actually asking

45
(Malhotra& Birks, 2007). All this has been achieved through pretesting. Pretesting has assured
that all questions are well formulated, unbiased with simple understandable language.
Statistical Methods used inthe Analyses
The collected data was analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 21 software. Initially univariate
analysis was done to find general information about the data in the form of frequency
distributions of gender, age and other such variables.
After univariate analyses, factor analysis was performed to reduce the number of variables. It is
easier to apply multiple regression analysis on fewer numbers of variables (Malhotra, 2004).
Finally, regression analysis was performed to understand the relationship existing among the
dependant and independent variables (Henning, Karlsson, & Mullern, 2011).

46
Chapter 4
Results and Findings

47
Results and Findings
The sample
The total numbers of respondents involved in this study were 500, and they belonged to 04
different cities; Lahore, Islamabad, Multan and Faisalabad. Out of 500 questionnaires, 47
questionnaires either got wrong responses or missing responses. Therefore the descriptive
analysis was performed only on those questionnaires which were valid. The respondents’ trend
shows that males were in majority compared to women. There were 337 males and 116 females
whom responded to the questionnaire as indicated in table 4.1. As far as age group is concerned,
it is predominated by 31 and older age group, 56.29% respondents fall in this category. This is
followed by 28.7% respondents who fall in age group of 21-30 years. Whereas only 15%
respondents fall in below 21 years age group.
Table 4.1 Gender of Respondents
Frequency Percent %
Male 337 74.392
Female 116 25.60
Total 453 100
Table 4.2Age of Respondents
Frequency Percent %
Below 21 years 68 15.01
21-30 years 130 28.7
31 and older 255 56.29
Total 453 100

48
Attitude Variables
Responsibility Feelings
The analysis performed on the section of responsibility feeling questions can be found intable
4.3. The valid number of responses is 453, out of which 47 are invalid responses and not counted
here. The respondents were provided with likert scale to measure their level of agreement of
disagreement with responsibility feelings statements. The mean value of all questions in the table
has high value, which is a clear indication, that respondents have noteworthy feelings of
responsibility towards the environment. One of the questions’ is reverse coded. The question
was; “in my point of view CO2emissions is something I feel responsible for”. The reason of
including negative connotation questions was to judge how responsive the respondents are while
filling the questionnaire. Although during interpretation of results, reversing the answers coding
was easier, if some respondent answered the lowest option in likert scale, it was reversed to
highest value in SPSS software. Another remarkable observation is the comparison of questions
2 and 3. Respondents feel they are less responsible in creating air pollution; whereas they feel
they are personally responsible for CO2emissions, although both questions are measuring the
same variable. The reason could be the negative phrasing of question no.2.
Table 4.3 Responsibility Feelings Variables
Q1: I
consider
myself at
least partly
responsible
for
contributing
to
greenhouse
effect.
Q:2In my
point of
view CO2
emissions is
something I
feel
responsible
for.
Q:3I feel
personal
responsibility
for polluting
the air.
Q:4Driving an
environmentally
friendly
automobile
would make me
feel less guilty of
driving.
Q:5I feel
personally
responsibility
to leave the
earth in good
shape for
future
generations.
N
Valid
453 453 453 453 453
Mean 4.22 4.35 3.56 3.79 4.32

49
Environmental Values
The table 4.4 indicates results from the section of questions concerning environmental values.
This question too received valid answers from 453 respondents, so there were 47 wrongly filled
or invalid responses. The trend shows clearly that respondents have high values of mean score
regarding environmental values. Almost all the questions measuring the construct of
environmental values have a mean of more than 4, which is very high. A worth noting aspect
here is that question numbers 4 and 6 were of negative connotation, therefore were reverse coded
in SPSS. Their mean value is also high; this shows low responsiveness of respondents while
filling questionnaire.
Table 4.4 Environmental Value Variables
Q1: I feel
upset
when
companie
s emit
large
quantities
of CO2.
Q:2Future
generations
would have
access to a
healthy
environmen
t when they
grow up.
Q:3The
environmen
t is worth
preserving.
Q:4Environ
mental
issues are
greatly
exaggerated
.
Q:5I feel upset
when companies
or governments
exploit the
planets’ natural
resources for
short-term
profits.
Q:6I do not
care for the
environment
.
N
Vali
d
453 453 453 453 453 453
Mea
n
4.65 4.59 4.88 4.22 4.69 4.55

50
• Environmental Knowledge
The variable environmental knowledge is also measured through likert scale. The results for this
variable are depicted in table 4.5. It is quite visible from the results that there is high mean value
for almost all the questions except question 6 and 7, having relatively lower mean values. This
means that people in Pakistan have sound knowledge about the environment and the issues it is
facing in the present times. Questions 3 and 7 are worth nothing; as they are reverse coded in
SPSS due to their negative connotation. The valid responses to this section of environmental
knowledge are again 453, excluding the 47 missing or wrongly filled cases.
Table 4.5 Environmental Knowledge Variable
Q1:
Automobiles
are a
contributing
factor to
CO2
emissions.
Q:2Electrical
and hybrid
automobiles are
in general more
environmentally
friendly.
Q:3
Automobiles
are not a
contributing
factor to the
greenhouse
effect
Q:4Driving a
fuel-efficient car
reduces CO2
emissions.
N
Valid
453 453 453 453
Mean 4.33 4.08 4.44 3.57
Table 4.6 Environmental Knowledge Variable
Q5:
Automobiles
can
contribute to
smog in
large cities.
Q:6
Aggressive
driving
leads to
increases
CO2
emissions.
Q:7 In general
diesel engines
consume
more fuel
than regular
engines.
Q:8 Automobiles
contribute to air
pollution.
N
Valid
453 453 453 453
Mean 4.22 3.76 3.86 4.4

51
Behavioral Intentions
The mean value for when the cost of environmentally friendly car is more compared to cost of a
regular car is 3.56, as evident in table 4.7. In case of less attractive design and lower
performance, similar results are reflected with values of mean of 3.67 and 3.55. The variables of
low quality and low comfortability received the lowest mean scores. This means that respondents
are not willing to compromise on comfortability and quality by purchasing environment friendly
automobiles. Overall the valid responses in this case are also 453.
Table 4.7: Behavioral Intentions
Q1: I would
buy an
environment
ally friendly
car even if
the cost is
equivalent to
a regular
car.
Q: 2I would
buy an
environment
ally friendly
car even if
the cost is
higher than a
regular car.
Q: 3I would
buy an
environment
ally friendly
car even if
the quality is
lower than a
regular car.
Q: 4I would
buy an
environment
ally friendly
car even if
the
performance
is lower than
a regular
car.
Q: 5I would
buy an
environment
ally friendly
car even if it
has a less
appealing
design.
Q:6 I would
buy an
environment
ally friendly
car even if it
is less
comfortable
N
Vali
d
453 453 453 453 453 453
Mea
n
3.43 3.56 3.21 3.55 3.67 3.31
Confirmatory FactorAnalysis
The questionnaire of this particular study was designed in such a way that factor analysis for
each section of questions, e.g. environmental knowledge, environmental values, responsibility
feelings and intentions can be calculated. The components once extracted from the three sections
of questions are used as independent variables, whereas the components extracted from
intentions is used as dependant variable. Factor analysis was also performed through SPSS, with

52
principle component analysis (PCA) being the method and for rotation Varimax was set. The
reason Varimax rotation was used was that there are four constructs to be measured, which this
method handles very effectively (Henning, Karlsson, &Mullern, 2011). The SPSS is
programmed to extract factors with an Eigenvalue greater than 1, using the Kaiser’s criterion.
The values only larger than 1, can be utilized for some later measurements according to Kaiser’s
criterion. The variance of each factor included in the factor analysis is represented by
Eigenvalue. In order to see the graphical view of the factors, a scree test was performed, which
strengthens the decision. The eigenvalue of each factor is plotted and detected further for
analysis. According to Cattell (1966), those factors which fall above the elbow or mark in the
plot are to be considered. The scores of all factors were considered and saved as new variable,
and was further used in the study for conducting regression analysis.
For this particular study; factor analysis was conducted on 500 respondents regarding
environmental value, responsibility feelings, environmental knowledge and intentions as the
variables which are to be reduced through factor analysis for ease of analysis. All items with
negative connotation were reverse coded.
Table 4.8: Factor loadings from responsibility feeling variable
Factor
Responsibility
Feeling 1
I consider myself at least partly responsible for contributing to
greenhouse effect.
0.772
In my point of view CO2 emissions is something I feel responsible
for.
0.731
I feel personal responsibility for polluting the air. 0.612
Driving an environmentally friendly automobile would make me
feel less guilty of driving.
0.845
I feel personally responsibility to leave the earth in good shape for
future generations.
0.793
When factor analysis was applied on environmental responsibility variable, it resulted in two
factors, which represents respondent’s responsibility feelings. The table 4.8 all questions related

53
with this particular variable and the two factors extracted from the test are available. The factor
loadings correspond to the correlation coefficients between the variables and the factors and are
the foundation when attributing a label to different factors. The factor loadings are also
accompanying to identify clear difference among the two created factor scores. The first of the
two factors are concerned with pollution and CO2emissions. The second factor is more about
feelings of guilt as given in table 4.8. The two factors clearly distinguish from one another.
Table 4.9: Factor loadings from environmental value variable
Factor
Environmental
Values 1
I feel upset when companies emit large quantities of CO2. 0.899
Future generations would have access to a healthy environment
when they grow up.
0.875
The environment is worth preserving. 0.822
Environmental issues are greatly exaggerated. 0.712
I feel upset when companies or governments exploit the planets’
natural resources for short-term profits.
0.845
I do not care for the environment. 0.734
The second factor analysis that was conducted on the environmental values question also
resulted in the creation of two factors as shown in table 4.9. The questions in environmental
values 2 were reversed in coding because of the negatively formed phrasing. In the table, it is
clear that there exist underlying dimensions connecting the different variables. For the second
factor the underlying dimension is that the questions have been reversed in coding and that they
are relating to your relationship with the environment.

54
Table 4.10 Factor loadings from environmental knowledge variable
Factor
Environmental
Knowledge 1
Automobiles are a contributing factor to CO2 emissions. 0.576
Electrical and hybrid automobiles are in general more
environmentally friendly.
0.786
Automobiles are not a contributing factor to the greenhouse effect 0.786
Driving a fuel-efficient car reduces CO2 emissions. 0.775
Automobiles can contribute to smog in large cities. 0.650
Aggressive driving leads to increases CO2 emissions. 0.791
In general diesel engines consume more fuel than regular engines. 0.786
Automobiles contribute to air pollution. 0.736
The third factor analysis was conducted on the questions that were concerned about
environmental knowledge and resulted in two extracted factors as table 4.10 shows. The
questions in the environmental knowledge factor 2 were reversed in coding due to their
negatively formed phrasing which may have resulted in the separation between the two factor
scores. As can be seen in the table the factor loadings are very much acceptable and ready to be
used in consequent regression analysis.
The final section of questions concerning the respondents’ intentions resulted in only one
extracted factor. This has greatly facilitated the regression analysis since this study only needed
one dependent variable in subsequent analysis. However, one question was included because of
ambiguous phrasing. It was decided to exclude the question “would you buy an environmentally
friendly car even if the cost is equivalent to a regular car” because it was different in its character
since all the other questions required some kind of sacrifice. The questions in the factor are
found in table 4.11.

55
Table 4.11 Factor loadings from behavioral intentions variable
Factor
Ecological Behavioral
Intentions 1
I would buy an environmentally friendly car even if the cost
is higher than a regular car.
0.677
I would buy an environmentally friendly car even if the
quality is lower than a regular car.
0.589
I would buy an environmentally friendly car even if the
performance is lower than a regular car.
0.845
I would buy an environmentally friendly car even if it has a
less appealing design.
0.756
I would buy an environmentally friendly car even if it is
less comfortable
0.854
Cronbach’s Alpha Test
As recommended by Malhotra (2004), Cronbach’s test was applied with an acceptance level of
0.6 to check the internal consistency of the questionnaire. Except responsibility feelings, where
the Cronbach’s alpha score was less than 0.7. In general, the Cronbach’s alpha will increase
when the inter-correlation between the test variables increase, indicating a high internal
consistency.
Table 4.12 Cronbach’s Alpha scores measuring internal consistency
Construct Cronbach’s Alpha Score
Environmental Responsibility 0.689
Environmental Values 0.812
Environmental Knowledge 0.789
Behavioral Intentions 0.755

56
All the variables are having significant correlation with each other. This table also shows there
does not multicollinearity exists in the data.
Correlations
Responsibilityf
eeling
Environmental
value
Environmental
knowledge
Behavioralin
tention
Responsibilityfeeling Pearson Correlation 1 .454**
.407**
.544**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000
N 212 212 212 212
Environmentalvalue Pearson Correlation .454**
1 .587**
.618**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000
N 212 212 212 212
Environmentalknowledge Pearson Correlation .407** .587** 1 .638**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000
N 212 212 212 212
Behavioralintention Pearson Correlation .544** .618** .638** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000
N 212 212 212 212
**. Correlation is significantatthe 0.01 level (2-tailed).

57
Coefficientsa
Model
Unstandardized Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
T Sig.B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) .085 .333 .254 .800
Responsibilityfeeling .405 .081 .267 5.031 .000
Environmental value .238 .050 .284 4.748 .000
Environmental knowledge .319 .051 .363 6.211 .000
a. DependentVariable:behavioral intention
Model Summaryb
Model R R Square
Adjusted
R Square
Std. Error of
the Estimate
Change Statistics
Durbin-
Watson
R
Square
Change
F
Change df1 df2
Sig. F
Change
1 .743a
.552 .546 .41159 .552 85.584 3 208 .000 1.908
a. Predictors:(Constant), Responsibilityfeeling, environmentalvalue, environmentalknowledge.
b. DependentVariable:behavioralintention
(R2) Measure of the proportion of the variance of the dependent variable about its mean that is
explained by the independent, or predictor, variables. The coefficient can vary between 0 and 1.
If the regression model is properly applied and estimated, the researcher can assume that the
higher the value of it, the greater the explanatory power of the regression equation, and therefore
the better the prediction of the dependent variable. In this research R2 value is 0.552. Which
show the variance in the dependent variable due to independent variable.

58
The results from the model indicated one factor with a high β-value which explains that this
factor influences the dependent variable. The β-value is the slope of the independent variable; it
represents the expected change of the dependent variable when the in-dependent variable is
changed by one unit at the same time as the other variables are held constant. On the bases of
above table all of the three hypothesis are accepted, because of their beta value and relationship
is also being significant.
This means that from the three hypotheses only one was accepted.
H1: Responsibility feelings have a positive impact on the ecological behavior intentions to buy
environment friendly automobiles.
Accepted
H2: Environmental Knowledge has a positive impact on the ecological behavior intentions to
Accepted
H3: Environmental values have a positive impact on the ecological behavior intentions to buy
environment friendly automobiles.
Accepted
DiscussiononResults
ResponsibilityFeelings
Responsibility feelings as proposed by Kaiser et al (1999) would be the necessary factor
representing the moral dimension to predict ecological behavior. From our findings, we could
not interpret this dimension to significantly influence intention among Pakistani students when it
comes to predicting intentions for purchasing environmentally friendly automobiles. We believe
that there are several factors that may have come into play here which affected the results of our
research. First, there are reasons to suspect that the respondents in our survey may adapt
according to the social norm. Second, we believe that respondents may answer in a way
according to the belief that their actions have no affect on the outcome. Third, people that are not
aware of moral norms are not affected by them. Fourth, we have a cultural difference which we
believe may be able to have an impact on the results of our research.

59
As mentioned in our theory by Kaiser et al (1999) and Keltner and Buswell (1996) the moral
dimension has been argued to be included in the ecological attitude model based on the reasons
that it is widely used when describing environmental psychology and that it incorporates two
important social norms. The conventional responsibility refers to the individuals wish to be
socially accepted by its surrounding. This means that conventional responsibility influences
individuals to act in a manner that he or she believes is expected of them. However, with this in
mind it can also be interpreted that the respondents in our survey may have been influenced by
the conventional responsibility to respond in a way that is inconsistent with their personal
preferences in order to adjust in line with the norms in our society. This means that even if the
results did not imply that the factors of responsibility feelings had any influence on the intention
there is still not evidence enough to completely neglect the possibility that the factor could be
significant in another study.
In our theoretical framework section, we discussed that there exist some barriers in order for
people to engage in pro-environmental behavior. The perception that one cannot influence a
situation by their own behavior influences people to act in a less pro-environmental manner
(Blake 1999). The implication of this in our research is that people may answer in a certain way
because they do not believe that their own action will have any effect on the outcome. Thus, the
respondents in our survey may believe that their influence on the environment may not be
enough in order to justify a change in their behavior. For example, when driving an
environmentally friendly car this may appear as an insignificant change for the environment
since your action will not have a direct visible effect. It may be argued that in order to reach a
direct visible effect the whole population needs to change the behavior.
As discussed in the theoretical framework social norms may only have an impact on our
behavior when they are deeply rooted in our consciousness as argued by Cialdini and Goldstein
(2004). It may be argued that the absence of social norms when it comes to environmental
concern among Pakistani consumers inhibit the prediction towards intention for environmentally
friendly automobiles. Furthermore, criticism can be made against the chosen model because it
was developed in the 1990’s and has therefore become outdated. This means that many of the
respondents in our survey were only children when this model was developed and may for that
reason not be appropriate for this generation. However, we believe that our chosen model still

60
provides a thorough foundation for predicting environmental intentions. The model by Kaiser et
al (1999) still incorporates what makes up an attitude, but the model may need some
modification in order to adapt to the changes that have been evident after the environmental
boom. What was self-evident in the 1990’s may not be true today even if many of the important
elements of an attitude remain the same.
We believe that cultural differences may also have been a contributing factor to our result. Kaiser
et al (1999) made their survey on the European and the American market. Since the difference in
lifestyles between Pakistani and western countries may have de-creased in recent years cultural
patterns still have an impact on the actions and beliefs of these individuals. Even if the Pakistani
respondents that have participated in our questionnaire have been living in Sweden for some
time, their heritage may still remain evident when answering the questions in our survey. As part
of cultural dimensions, one reason for our result can be Pakistani individuals’ tendency to answer
questions in a certain manner in order not to lose face, accuse or insult another individual. As
mentioned by Malhotra and Birks (2007) consumer responds using their cultural frame of
reference which was obvious in our results.
Environmental Knowledge
As our model and theory proposed environmental knowledge was argued to have a strong
connection to the behavior intention of individuals’. Kaiser et al (1999) argue that environmental
knowledge should play an important role in order to form any kind of environmental attitude and
should also explain much of the variance of ecological behavior intentions. However, in our
research we found out that the coefficient of determination R², which represents the amount of
variability that can be explained by the model was very low and this applies to all the
components. Moreover, the factor did not either have any significant correlation with the
purchase intention variable which points to the fact that the results of our research contradicts
much of the results that Kaiser et al (1999) have found out in their study. In their research, they
found that environmental values and environmental knowledge together could answer for up to
40% of the variance in ecological behavior intention.
The results from our regression analysis turned out to be interesting mostly because the mean
values of the different question variables were very high as can be viewed in table 4.7. From our

61
reasoning throughout our thesis we have believed that environmental knowledge should have an
influence on ecological purchase intentions. Our results appear to be inconsistent with our
reasoning and the theories that we have presented in our theoretical framework section. Our
reasoning was based upon the notion that environmental knowledge was the foundation in order
to make up any kind of attitude (Kaiser, Wolfing and Fuhrer, 1999). It may be argued that
environmental knowledge should be measured using other types of questions such as multiple
choice or open questions. These alternatives would not be appropriate due to the difficulty of
interpreting and generalizing open question and the model is based on the attitude concept with
the use of a likert scale. Moreover, Kaiser et al (1999) mentions that the concept of
environmental knowledge varies depending on which statistical technique that is being used.
This can have some explanation value when looking at the results presented in our thesis since
our findings differ significantly.
Furthermore, in our theory section we discussed the difference in cognitive psychology between
systematic knowledge and action-based knowledge (Frick, Kaiser and Wilson, 2004). Systematic
knowledge is more superficial knowledge and is very simplistic in its form while action-based
knowledge is deeper and involves an understanding about how an action can cause
consequences. In our questionnaire, we involved more systematic knowledge based questions
than action-based knowledge questions which may have caused a skewed response from our
respondents and could have influenced our environmental knowledge factor to become
insignificant. It could therefore be argued that to better capture our respondent’s knowledge it
would be wise to use more action-based knowledge questions. For example, to ask questions that
really puts the respondents on the spot to understand and reflect on a problem that may not be
evident at a first glance.
Ajzen (1980) argues that intention represent the motivational commitment that affect behavior.
In line with this reasoning stronger intention would therefore predict a greater likelihood of
performing the specific behavior. In this model intentions serves as a function of subjective norm
and attitude towards a behavior which is very important in the theory. As explained by Ajzen
(1980) the subjective norm is explained as the influence of the surrounding environment, largely
by for example family and friends. Attitude towards a behavior is the personal favor or disfavor
to a certain kind of activity. Instead of using the e environmental attitude model by Kaiser et al

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