1. Green product in Malaysia: Still a
long way to Go
Authors :
Ismi Rajiani *)
Nurul Zazirah Nizam *
Kamarudin Abu Bakar *)
*) Universiti Teknikal Malaysia,
Melaka
Presented in Sustainable Consumption Conference, Hamburg,
Germany, Nov 6-8, 2011

2. Determinants of Consumer
behavior:Green product in
Malaysia: Still a long way to Go
Presenter:
Dr. Ismi Rajiani
Faculty of Technology Management and Technopreneurship
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia, Melaka
Hang Tuah Jaya 76100 Durian Tunggal
Melaka, Malaysia
+602833203
ismi@utem.edu.my
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

3. ABSTRACT
• In the early 2000’s green technology is a buzz
word. However in a developing country like
Malaysia, customers’ acceptance of green
products is still low due to the low number of
environmentally friendly products acceptance
compared to their non-green counterparts. On
the basis of benefit and cost analysis, the
purpose of this study is to identify the factors
influencing customers’ decision in buying green
product. This study argues that customers’
intention to buy green products are determined
by benefit-to-self, benefit to environment,
comparative cost and attainable cost. A survey
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

4. Marketing and sustainability
• environmental issues in marketing have
advanced definitions of key concepts such as
sustainability, green marketing, sustainable
marketing (Wiese & Sherman, 2011)
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

5. Sustainability
• The first way in which marketing can become
more sustainable is through the development
and use of green marketing (Gordon, Carrigan
and Hastings, 2011)
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

6. Concerns when considering green
marketing (Gordon, et al, 2011)
• needs to be incentivized by the government
• consumer doubts still persist about green
product performance
• much publicity about company’s efforts on
sustainability is often perceived as merely PR
activities
• largely neglecting individual consumer behavior
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

7. Consumer Behavior in Green
Marketing Issue?
• Though companies and government have done
all the best they can to boost a green marketing
effort to sustainability purpose if consumers do
not change their own behaviors then no
significant improvement will be achieved mainly
in developing countries like Malaysia
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

8. Malaysian Government Policy
Model to Sustainability
AFFIRM
Awareness
Faculty
Finance
Infrastructure
Research
Marketing
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

9. Research Gaps
Variety of green product offered in North America
and Europe but not in Asia (Yam & Tang , 1998;
Sudiyanti, 2009).
• In Malaysia, although green products are not
new articles, but on the other side, there is no a
significant growth in green products market. It is
suspected that the main reason behind this
situation is because Malaysian consumers’
environment consciousness is still weak.
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

10. Research Gaps
Thus, the present study
attempts to fill up this gap by
examining Malaysian
consumers’ attitudes
towards green products and
in turn, its impact on green
purchase intention.
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

11. Underpinning Theory
Lezin’s (2009) Theory of Reasoned Action
Human is rational and will systematically use any
available information (Cost and Benefit Analysis).
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

12. Sampling
• Malaysian living in Malacca who visited store
known as green product distributors regardless
they come for shopping or sightseeing only and
willing to participate in survey.
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

13. Images of the Consumers
• The Hero (Campbell, 2005)
• The Dupe (Campbell, 2005)
• The Snob (Kartajaya, 2004)
• The Social Responsible (Ogle et al, 2004).
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

14. Images of the Consumers
• The Hero : carefully allocates scarce resources
to the purchase of goods and services in such a
manner as to maximize the utility obtained
• The Dupe: of the passive, manipulated and
exploited subject of market forces
• The Snob: selects goods with the specific
intention of using them to create or maintain a
given impression, identity or lifestyle
• The Social Responsible: demonstrate concern
such issues as labour practices, production
conditions,environmental impacts.
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

15. Result of The Research
Descriptive Statistics
Mean Std. Deviation N
ibuy 4.5258 1.22386 360
ebenefit 5.4225 1.26727 360
bself 5.3857 1.27336 360
ccost 5.1515 1.14104 360
acost 4.8075 1.34288 360
Variables r Strength of relationship Sig value Relationship (α =0.05)
(Guilford’s Rule of thumb)
I toBuy * Environment benefit 0.40 Low correlation 0.00 Significant (0.00 <0.05)
I to buy * benefit to Self 0.44 Moderate correlation 0.00 Significant (0.00 <0.05)
I to buy * Comparative cost 0.45 Moderate correlation 0.00 Significant (0.00 <0.05)
I to buy * attainable cost 0.42 Moderate correlation 0.00 Significant (0.00 <0.05)
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

16. Result of The Research
Coefficients a
Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients
Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
1 (Constant) 2.452 .256 9.578 .000
ebenefit .382 .046 .396 8.317 .000
2 (Constant) 2.095 .263 7.972 .000
ebenefit .137 .072 .142 1.913 .057
bself .313 .071 .326 4.396 .000
3 (Constant) 1.591 .280 5.683 .000
ebenefit .077 .071 .080 1.087 .278
bself .185 .075 .192 2.456 .014
ccost .295 .066 .275 4.469 .000
4 (Constant) 1.342 .281 4.785 .000
ebenefit .075 .070 .078 1.080 .281
bself .160 .074 .166 2.160 .031
ccost .182 .070 .170 2.601 .010
acost .203 .049 .223 4.154 .000
a. Dependent Variable: ibuy
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

17. Result of The Research
• The highest contribution comes from attainable
cost (0.223), second highest comes from
comparative cost (0.170), third highest comes
from benefit to self (0.166) and the lowest
contribution comes from environment benefit
(0.078).
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

18. One of green marketing in Malaysia
Malaysian Airline reduces fuel
consumption by flying more
direct routes.
It is expensive though, then
people take other airlines
Attainable cost still the main
consideration.
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8

19. Conclusion
• Consumers in Malaysia is neither The Dupe,
The Snob , nor The Social Responsible. They
are The Hero - the active, calculating and
rational consumer who carefully allocates scarce
resources to the purchase of goods and services
in such a manner as to maximize the utility
obtained.
Presented in Sustainable Consumption
Conference, Hamburg, Nov 6-8, 2011 6-8