The Moderating Role of Trust on Pro-environmental Purchasing Behavior: The Case of Malaysian Consumers in North Malaysia

Abstract

Over the years, consumers’ concern over environmental issues increased, leading to many people seeking different solutions, such as changing their consumption behavior. Such a shift in behavior pushed firms to come up with products that are labeled green, and these green products promised to reduce environmental issues, at least partially. Nonetheless, many gaps in the stated scenario present themselves. From this dilemma, this study is introduced to investigate the influence of perceived value and environmental concern on Malaysian consumers’ pro-environmental purchasing behavior with trust as a moderating variable. A total of 394 respondents were interviewed in three states in north Malaysia. The research used SPSS and PLS-SEM to analyze the collected data. The findings of this study showed that perceived value has a significant relationship with pro-environmental purchasing behavior, while environmental concerns do not. It also found that trust in its green concept moderates the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. This paper helps better understand the pro-environmental purchasing behavior of Malaysian consumers.