Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

This paper explores some factors underlying individuals’ green attitudes and behaviors that exist when making purchasing decisions. The objective is to provide insights into the consumers’ perceptions of eco-friendly products in terms of quality, price, and environmental impacts. It addresses the complexity of the environmental attitude-behavior gap and the challenges “green consumers” may face in the markets. Overall, the paper is able to use data from a small sample of U.S. consumers to suggest a misconception that people believe eco-friendly products to be helpful or have a positive impact on the environment. It also suggests that people’s perceptions of “eco-friendly” may differ from product line to product line. Therefore, this author joins the growing number of scholars who suggest a need for improved messaging and more transparency in the green market.