Assessing the Factors Impacting Consumer Behaviour Towards Green Marketing And Eco-Friendly Products in Nagaland

: Environmental issues are becoming increasingly popular as people and governments worldwide grow more conscious of them. Green marketing emerged as a result, and businesses now employ it as one of their profit-making and environmental-protection strategies. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a gradual rise in the use of green marketing. Green eco-friendly items are now the focus for both consumers and manufacturers, leading to product innovation. When making purchases, green consumers, also called eco-conscious or sustainable consumers, prefer goods and services that are sustainable and favourable to the environment. Today's media and social movements are also raising consumer awareness of the potential environmental effects of products. Marketers have embraced the idea of green marketing in order to thrive in the face of these societal shifts. This study aims to investigate how green marketing affects consumers' attitudes and buying behaviour. The study was conducted in Nagaland using a structured questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and the data was analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The EFA identified three constructs of consumers’ attitudes toward green marketing and eco-friendly products, viz. “Environmental Concerns and Green Products”, “Customer Trust”, and “Purchase Intention”. The survey revealed that Nagaland consumers have a positive outlook on eco-friendly and green products. Consumer behaviour toward purchasing green eco-friendly products are unaffected by demographic factors.

Its primary goal is to keep a check on the rise in global temperature to no more than 2°C and ideally to 1.5°C.To address the effects of marketing on the environment, the American Marketing Association (AMA) held the first workshop on ecological marketing in 1975.One of the first books on green marketing, "Ecological Marketing," was written from the workshop proceedings.Globally, big businesses and governments have increasingly adopted the quest for sustainability as their goal and top priority.Numerous studies have argued that the current consumption pattern is unsustainable and will eventually lead to disasters if left unchecked (Enkvist & Vanthournout, 2008).Environmentally irresponsible products and an unsustainable consumption pattern are the root cause of many environmental problems.Ensuring that meeting current needs does not interfere with future generations' ability to meet their needs is crucial for sustainable development (Brundtland, 1987).According to Fisk (1974), the emergence of green marketing, also known as ecological marketing, was prompted by the need to link private companies' profit-making goals with long-term economic sustainability for society.

Green Marketing:
American Marketing Association (AMA) defines "green marketing" as the promotion of goods that are thought to be ecologically friendly, and it includes strategies like product modification, adjustments to the production process, modifications of the packaging and advertising messages.The phrase "green marketing" was first used by McDaniel and Rylander (1993) to describe the efforts made by marketers to create strategies aimed at environmentally conscious consumers.Green marketing, sometimes called sustainable marketing or environmental marketing (Coddington, 1993), is the endeavour of a corporation to create, market, price, and deliver goods that do not negatively impact the environment (Pride & Ferrell, 1993).Green marketing is defined by Polonsky (1994) as any activity that aims to create and facilitate exchanges to meet human needs or desires in a way that has the least negative impact on the environment.Peattie (2001) identifies three stages in the development of green marketing.The initial stage was "Ecological Green Marketing", where all marketing initiatives during this time were centred on identifying environmental issues and providing solutions."Environmental Green Marketing" was the second phase, where the emphasis shifted to clean technology, which involves developing innovative goods to address waste and pollution problems.The third phase we are currently in is "Sustainable Green Marketing", in which governments and large corporations began prioritising sustainability.

Green Consumer:
Elkington (1994) defined a "green consumer" as someone who would avoid products that could endanger their own or others' health or seriously harm the environment in production, use, or disposal, use excessive amounts of energy, produce toxic waste, use raw materials derived from threatened species, involve the needless use of animals or animal cruelty, negatively impact other nations, etc.In traditional marketing, goods and services are offered to customers at a reasonable price that meets their needs.One of the most crucial presumptions in green marketing is that consumers are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products (Veluri, 2012).Consequently, marketers face two challenges viz., in addition to creating and marketing goods and services that customers are willing to buy, they also need to educate their customers about the fact that many ecological issues are caused by human activity through the use of environmentally irresponsible products.Therefore, this research paper examines consumer awareness of green marketing and their propensity to purchase green goods.

LITERATURE REVIEW:
The concept of "green marketing" dates back to the 1970s when consumers and marketers became more aware of environmental issues.Nowadays, everyone is concerned about environmental degradation and climate change, and most people have realised they have a big part to play in protecting the environment.This realisation means people are willing to change their consumption patterns due to society's growing environmental concern.Businesses are also attempting to adapt to this new concern by engaging in green marketing initiatives and changing their behaviour.
Environmental marketing, sometimes called green marketing, is a new paradigm in societal marketing that includes all of the efforts made to create, package, advertise, distribute, use, and recycle products in a way that considers the environment.Thus, green marketing is a comprehensive marketing idea in which products and services are produced, consumed, and disposed of in a way that minimises environmental harm (Menon & Menon, 1997).Companies rebrand their products into different lines, highlighting the environmental advantages and using this idea to remarket their current product line while abiding by environmental safety regulations.
Growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly products led to this new marketing strategy, in which businesses consider environmental factors when creating their marketing mix (Coddington, 1993).Changing from conventional to green products may initially seem expensive, but it will undoubtedly be both adventurous and economical in the long run.In traditional marketing, goods are created to satisfy consumer needs at a reasonable cost, and products' main advantage is communicated to their intended market.Green marketing is way more complex as it involves developing products to satisfy the customers' requirements at an affordable price without compromising the product's core benefit and having less detrimental impact on the environment, be it in the manufacturing process, transportation, warehousing, consumption, usage or disposal.Correia et al. (2023) looked into how much respondents' gender, educational qualification, and environmental attitudes were impacted by green marketing communications, as well as whether or not consumers' attention to these messages influences their propensity to make green purchases.Nekmahmud and Fekete-Farkas (2020) attempted to determine Bangladeshi consumers' decisions regarding green product purchase intention.The researcher used the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model to address the research void concerning green purchase decisions by incorporating supplementary constructs like perceived green quality, environmental concerns, and future green estimates.Mahmoud (2018) investigated how employing a green marketing mix affected Sudanese customers.The statistical analysis revealed a strong correlation between the willingness of customers to purchase and the green marketing mix.Sharma and Trivedi (2016) looked into what influences consumers' decisions to buy environmentally friendly products and found that eight factors mattered the most, viz.demography, eco-labels, eco-brands, environmental advertising, environmental awareness, green products, green prices, and green promotions.They claimed that the most significant barrier to the adoption of green products was their high cost.Kong et al. (2014) performed factor analysis and found that people's intentions to make green purchases are positively influenced by eco-labels, green product value, and green corporate perception.In comparison, green packaging or advertising does not influence people's intentions to purchase green products.

Objectives of the Study:
No such study on customer attitudes toward green marketing in Nagaland was found.Furthermore, there was no evidence of any research on customer attitude measurement in this region of India using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA).In light of this, the following objectives were formulated for the study:  To evaluate consumers' behaviour towards green environment-friendly products. To determine the factors influencing green consumers' attitudes.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: 3.1 Universe and Sample for the Study:
Using a structured questionnaire to gather data, the study used a quantitative research design.Questions about consumer awareness, knowledge, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and purchase intentions regarding environmentally friendly products were included in the survey questionnaire.Convenience sampling was used to select the sample from a broad group of consumers of various products.During market hours, the researchers went to the crowded market areas in Kohima and Dimapur to gather data.Friends, family members, and students from different institutions also participated in online surveys using Google Forms.
According to the Nagaland Statistical Handbook (2020), the district of Dimapur had a total population of 3,78,811 as of the 2011 census, with 1,97,394 men and 1,81,417 women, while 2,67,988 people reside in the Kohima district, with 1,38,966 men and 1,29,022 women.Thus, 6,46,799 individuals made up the study's universe.The primary data for the study was provided by 581 consumers in the districts of Kohima and Dimapur.15 of the 581 respondents' questionnaires were deemed incomplete, so they were removed from the study.Consequently, 566 people made up the study's sample size.The period of data collection was September 2021-July 2022.Descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were used to analyse the data, examine the relationships between variables, and identify critical factors affecting consumers' attitudes.

Development of Questionnaire:
Following a literature review, the authors determined a number of variables to gauge consumer attitudes regarding environmentally friendly products.The Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) served as the foundation for identifying and adopting the study's factors.The well-known social psychology theory, the TPB, describes how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control influence people's intentions and subsequent behaviours.The TPB states that people's attitudes, views of the social norms surrounding a behaviour, and sense of control over engaging in the behaviour all influence their decision to engage in it.The TPB offers a useful framework for comprehending how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control interact to forecast consumers' intentions and subsequent actions about buying environmentally friendly products.
The constructs of "environmental concern," "green marketing and environment-friendly products," and "green advertising" can be seen as influencing people's attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control over buying eco-friendly products in the context of consumer behaviour toward eco-friendly products.Environmental concerns, for instance, may affect buying intentions about eco-friendly products.In contrast, advertising and green marketing influence people's perceptions of the social norms surrounding the purchase of these products.Pricing, convenience and accessibility could influence people's sense of control over buying environmentally friendly goods.
In this study, 30 statements were docketed into three major components, and the TPB theory was used to establish the relationships between the statements.In order to investigate how consumer behaviour in Nagaland is influenced by green marketing and eco-friendly products, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted using the following factors.Products that pollute the natural environment during production, use, and disposal should be levied higher taxes.

CFE 9
Green Marketing and Environment-Friendly Products GMP 10 I am acquainted with the concept of green marketing.GMP1 11 Green, eco-friendly products help to protect the environment and natural resources.

GMP2 12
The products I use should not be harmful to the environment.GMP3 13 I will recommend environmentally friendly products to my friends and colleagues.GMP4 14 I avoid products that have a negative impact on the environment.GMP5 In the questionnaire, respondents were given five options ranging from 1 to 5, 1 stood for strongly disagree and 5 for strongly agree.Therefore, each question's quantitative score ranged from 1 to 5, with a minimum score of 1 and a maximum score of 5.
The first stage in any data analysis process is determining the reliability of the study's data.The Cronbach alpha value of the data was calculated using the SPSS software.Nunnally (1978) proposed 0.7 as a suitable reliability coefficient.The Cronbach Alpha value of 0.836 was calculated, indicating that the data acquired for this study was highly reliable.

RESULTS: 4.1 Demographic Profile:
The collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as mean, percentages, and frequency.Non-parametric statistics such as the Mann-Whitney U Test and the Kruskal Wallis Test were also used to see if there were any significant differences between the demographic variables and the consumer attitude.The distribution of responders was ascertained using percentages and counts of frequencies.2 displays the data on the respondents' demographic profile, and it can be observed that the sample selected for the study is heterogeneous, as special care was taken to ensure that it accurately represented the population.

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA):
To do an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), the reliability and validity of the obtained reduction must be established, and the sample size must be adequate.The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity were used (Chawla & Sondhi, 2011).The derived KMO statistics value was 0.770, more than 0.5, and Bartlett's Test p-value was 0.000, less than the significance level of 0.05.Thus, we can conclude that the sample data from the study was suitable for Exploratory Factor Analysis.4 shows the total variance explained for factors influencing customer attitudes toward green marketing and environmentally friendly products.With Eigenvalues greater than one, ten groups or dimensions were extracted and 66.891% of the variance was explained.5.The questionnaire's factor matrix and rotated component are displayed in the table, and a cut-off point for the coefficient is decided to interpret the results, which are typically taken greater than 0.5 (Chawla & Sondhi, 2011).Source: Primary data After performing the varimax rotation method with Kaizer normalisation in SPSS software, Group 1 consists of items CFE3, CFE6, CFE9, GMP4, and GMP7.Similarly, Group 2 consists of items ADV4, ADV6, ADV7, and ADV8.Group 3 consists of GMP5 and GMP6; Group 4 consists of GMP9, GMP10, and ADV5; Group 5 consists of GMP12 and GMP13; Group 6 consists of ADV1 and ADV3; Group 7 consists of CFE2 and GMP1; Group 8, Group 9 and Group 10 consists of only one item each viz.CFE7, CFE5, and CFE1 respectively.Groups 8, 9, and 10 each include only one item; Groups 3, 5, 6, and 7 only have two items.According to Fabrigar et al. (1999) and Costello and Osborne (2005), each group in factor analysis must have at least three items.As a result, Groups 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are omitted from further investigation and interpretation.The remaining groups, 1, 2, and 4, have 12 items in total, the most important and relevant factors influencing consumer attitudes regarding green marketing products.
Table 6 depicts the three new groups as well as their new nomenclatures.These three new groups account for 27.878% of the total variance.The Exploratory Factor Analysis identified three primary constructs of consumers' attitudes about green marketing and environmentally friendly products in Nagaland, as shown in Table 6.

Measurement of Consumer Attitude towards Green Marketing Products:
As mentioned in the previous section, the measurement scale employed in this study was a five-point scale for the identified 12 items.As a result, the maximum possible score was 60, and the minimum possible score was 12.The score here signifies the overall level of Consumer Attitude.As a result, high scores suggest a favourable attitude.The estimated overall Consumer Attitude level can be interpreted as follows.Source: Primary data The Consumer Attitude score's mean value was 44.02, which falls under the favourable category.Therefore, it can be concluded that Naga consumers favour green marketing and eco-friendly products.

Testing of Hypothesis:
The Whitney U Test and Kruskal Wallis Test were conducted to test the study's hypotheses.The results of these tests are summarised below in Table 8.
Table 8: Hypothesis testing results

Hypothesis
No.

H1
There is no significant difference in consumer attitude towards green Source: Primary data Mann-Whitney U Test conducted for hypothesis H1 generated a p-value of 0.317.Therefore, at a 5% significance level, the null hypothesis could not be rejected, and there is no significant difference in consumer attitude towards green products and the respondents' gender.For hypothesis H2, the Kruskal Wallis Test gave a p-value of 0.780, which is greater than the 0.05 significance level, and we failed to reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the respondents' age does not affect consumers' attitudes towards green products.Similarly, we also failed to reject the H3 hypothesis as the p-value generated was 0.512 at a 5% significance level.For the H4 hypothesis, the p-value (0.910) generated was greater than the 0.05 significance level, we failed to reject the null hypothesis as there is no significant difference in consumer attitude towards green products in relation to their marital status.As for hypothesis H5, the pvalue (0.113) generated was greater than the significance level of 0.05, leading to the failure to reject the H 5 hypothesis and conclude that there is no significant difference in respondents' attitudes towards green products in relation to their income level.Lastly, for hypothesis H6, the p-value was 0.472, greater than the significance level of 0.05.Therefore, the authors failed to reject H6, and there is no significant difference in respondents' attitudes towards green products in relation to their occupation.Overall, it can be said that regardless of their demographic affiliations, Kohima and Dimapur district residents have similar attitudes towards green, eco-friendly products.

DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS: 5.1 Major Findings of The Study:
In the twenty-first century, global warming and climate change have caught the attention of every nation as these issues have become a universal concern due to their far-reaching consequences for the environment, economy and society.Environmental protection from further deterioration has become the top priority of governments worldwide, including India.However, environmental protection is achievable with the active support of the population, and the present state of people's attitudes toward environmentally friendly green products in Nagaland is presented in this study.
Consumers in Nagaland feel positively about products that are promoted through green marketing.Regardless of their demographic affiliations, the consumers of eco-friendly products in Kohima and Dimapur, Nagaland districts share similar attitudes.These results are contrary to the findings of Sharma (2015), who discovered that respondents' perceptions and attitudes regarding green products are influenced by factors such as age, income, marital status, and level of education.
The present study explored the identified factors that affect the consumer attitude towards green ecofriendly products and identified three significant constructs: "Environmental Concerns and Green Products", "Consumer Trust", and "Purchase Intention".These three constructs represent 12 critical items that influence the consumers' attitude towards green, eco-friendly products.Vazifehdoust et al. (2013) and Kong et al. (2014) also attempted a similar approach, and their findings are comparable to the findings of this study.

Contributions of the Study:
This study is the first of its kind in Nagaland and analytically measures consumer attitudes toward environmentally friendly, green products.The people of Nagaland feel positively about environmentally friendly products, which is a very positive indication for the nation's policymakers to create appropriate and workable environmental protection guidelines.A few government administration officials with whom the authors spoke expressed their opinion that eco-friendly products are more expensive and less readily available than the traditional alternatives in the market.This makes it more difficult for the government to implement many environmental protection directives effectively.This study will assist officials and workers in this field in identifying areas of concern and offer solutions.This study will assist officials and administrators in identifying areas of concern and offering solutions.This study will also encourage other academicians and students to learn more about environmental protection and the public's attitudes.

Limitations of the Study, Scope for Further Research and Conclusions:
This study was carried out based on the factors identified by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to empirically analyse the factors affecting consumer behaviour towards green marketing and eco-friendly products in the Nagaland districts of Dimapur and Kohima.Extending the study's geographical scope beyond Kohima and Dimapur to include the state's other districts and rural areas is possible.Additionally, comparative cross-sectional and longitudinal studies can be carried out to gain an additional understanding of consumer attitudes toward environmentally friendly green products.Since a non-probabilistic convenience sampling strategy was used in this study, errors in estimating different statistical results cannot be completely ruled out.Other random sampling methods can be used to carry out comparable investigations.Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) can be used to confirm further the factors or constructs found in this study.The Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach can also be applied to developing and confirming a theoretical model.
According to this study, no significant differences in consumer attitudes concerning the demographic variables were found.However, more such research can be conducted by identifying and examining moderating and mediating variables influencing consumer attitudes toward green, eco-friendly products.
We are increasingly concerned about environmental issues and their detrimental effects, leading to a rise in global concern and concerted efforts to protect Mother Nature and Planet Earth in recent years.Issues like deforestation, holes in the ozone layer, excessive greenhouse gas emissions, fast depletion of natural resources and shrinking biodiversity, pollution, and global warming are still unsolved for the average citizen of our country and the world today.However, the objectives can be met if the public actively participates in environmental protection initiatives.

Table 2 : Demographics Description of Respondents
15I actively look for environmental information like eco-labels or green certification on the products I purchase.