Green Marketing Practices and Consumer Purchase Intention toward Sustainable Products: An Empirical Study of Urban Consumers in India

Abstract

Growing awareness of climate change, environmental degradation, and unsustainable consumption patterns has generated increasing policy and commercial interest in green marketing as a mechanism for steering consumer behaviour toward sustainable products. In India, a rapidly expanding middle class, heightened exposure to global sustainability discourse, and regulatory initiatives such as the Extended Producer Responsibility framework and the BEE star rating system have begun to reshape the consumer landscape. Yet empirical evidence quantifying the relative influence of specific green marketing factors on Indian consumers' purchase intentions toward sustainable products remains fragmented and methodologically limited. This study examines the impact of five green marketing dimensions, namely Green Product Attributes, Green Brand Perception, Environmental Concern, Green Advertising Believability, and Perceived Green Trust, on Consumer Purchase Intention toward sustainable products among urban consumers in India. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 350 respondents across five Indian cities using stratified random sampling. The data were analysed using Pearson correlation analysis and hierarchical multiple regression. Correlation results confirm that all five green marketing dimensions are significantly and positively associated with Consumer Purchase Intention, with correlations ranging from r = 0.543 to r = 0.634. The hierarchical regression model, controlling for gender and monthly household income, explains 65.8% of variance in Consumer Purchase Intention (R-squared = 0.658, Adjusted R-squared = 0.649, F = 104.47, p less than 0.001), with the five green marketing dimensions contributing 57.7% incremental variance above the controls. Perceived Green Trust (Beta = 0.224) and Green Product Attributes (Beta = 0.197) emerge as the strongest predictors. The findings provide actionable guidance for marketers, brand managers, and policymakers seeking to accelerate sustainable consumption in the Indian urban market.