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The consumer-related and product-related drivers of attitudes and purchase behaviors identified in this study should be used to position and promote green appliances using the middle class consumers as opinion leaders or endorsers. The attitude, social value and perceived behavioral control explained 83.1% of behavioral intention, which with PBC explained 24.2% of actual behavior.Ĭonsidering that the third step of the CBSM framework is to develop strategies for behavioral change, the South-African government, environmental agencies and social marketers should seek ways to reward the large segment of black middle class consumers, so that their positive green appliances attitudes and behavioral intentions can further be converted to actual purchase. The significant drivers of attitude were functional, conditional, and epistemic values (consumer-related factors), and relative advantage, compatibility, and observability (product-related factors). The integrated model explained 84.5% of attitude toward green appliances. Most of the study participants have purchased one or more green appliances ( M = 6.09). The respondents expressed positive attitudes toward green appliances ( M = 5.80 on a 7-point Likert scale and positive intention to buy green appliances ( M = 5.78). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to test 14 hypotheses.
MIDDLE CLASS DRIVER
It then integrated the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV), Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DOI), and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine the consumer-related and product-related factors helping or hindering the green appliances attitudes, behavioral intentions and actual behavior.įrom the integration of the TCV, DOI and TPB, a conceptual model was developed that proposed that consumer-related factors (functional, conditional, epistemic, emotional and social values) and product-related factors (relative advantage, complexity, compatibility and observability) will influence green appliances attitude, which with perceived behavioral control will impact behavioral intention, proposed as a driver of actual behavior.Ĭonsidering that the black middle-class are a fast growing and large (about 4.2 million South Africans) community of consumers, cross-sectional quantitative data was collected from 500 black middle class consumers through self-administered questionnaires. Thus, this study first assessed SA black middle class consumers’ green appliances attitude, behavioral intention and actual behavior. This study focuses on the first and second steps of the community-based social marketing (CBSM) framework, whereby for behavioral change, behaviors, their drivers and barriers are to be examined before strategy formulation. However, the factors helping or hindering the positive attitudes, purchase and use of green appliances need examination. Considering the growing water and electricity shortages in SA, the government advocates the use of green appliances. The middle-class market in advanced economies is projected to grow at only 0.5%-1% per year, while the dynamic middle-class market in emerging economies could register annual growth rates of 6% or more.Some 80% of the South African (SA) middle class consumers use washing machines, electric cookers, fridges, freezers and other appliances.| Related megatrends: Demography Geopower Most of it will be driven by the growing consuming classes in emerging economies. Middle class spending is expected to grow from about $37 trillion in 2017 to $64 trillion by 2030, accounting for a third of GDP growth.| Related megatrends: Geopower Demography Urbanisation China and India will represemt over 43.3% of the global middle class by 2030.Some 88% of the additional middle class population will be Asians. The size of the global middle class increased from 1.8 billion in 2009 to about 3.5 billion people in 2017 - more than half of the world population and is expected to grow to some 4 billion by 2021 and reach 5.3 billion by 2030.The number of people living in extreme poverty (US$1.9/day) has been reduced from 1.85 billion (35% of world population) in 1990 to 767 million (10.7% of world population) in 2013. | Related megatrends: Geopower Inequalities.