The environmentally friendly or ‘sustainable’ products have been launched in various markets in response to the growing concerns for the environmental deterioration and the alarming effects of climate change in past years. However, the uptake of green products does not seem to fully reflect the self-claimed pro-environmental concerns and attitudes. Consumers who profess to be environmentally conscious and believe they could help slow down environmental deterioration do not necessarily purchase eco-friendly products. This discrepancy between behaviour and attitude has been termed as ‘intention-behaviour gap’ or ‘green gap’. This study aims at exploring the green gap in the purchases of high-involvement products such as skincare products. Focus groups and thematic analysis were conducted. It was found that environmental concern was virtually non-existent in making purchase decisions with regard to skincare products because the perceived product effectiveness is found to be the key determinant of the choice of skincare products. Other factors such as weak social norm, weak perceived consumer effectiveness, and a sense of powerlessness facing the environment degradation, to some degree, attribute to the consumers’ justification of their non-green consumption practices. Implications for closing the gap have been drawn for marketing practitioners and policy makers. Directions for future research are also provided.

中文翻译：

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高投入采购决策的绿色鸿沟：一项探索性研究

过去几年来，人们对环境恶化和气候变化的惊人影响日益关注，已在各种市场推出了环保或“可持续”产品。但是，绿色产品的使用似乎并不能完全反映出人们自称的对环境的关注和态度。自称环保意识并相信可以帮助减缓环境恶化的消费者不一定购买环保产品。行为和态度之间的这种差异被称为“意图-行为鸿沟”或“绿色鸿沟”。这项研究的目的是探索在购买高投入产品（例如护肤产品）方面的绿色差距。进行了焦点小组和主题分析。已经发现，在做出有关护肤产品的购买决定时几乎不存在环境问题，因为人们发现感知到的产品有效性是选择护肤产品的关键决定因素。其他因素，例如社会规范薄弱，消费者感知的效率低下以及面对环境退化的无能为力，一定程度上归因于消费者对其非绿色消费实践的正当理由。对于市场营销从业者和决策者，已经提出了缩小差距的暗示。还提供了未来研究的方向。消费者感知的效率低下以及面对环境恶化的无能为力在一定程度上归因于消费者对其非绿色消费实践的正当理由。对于市场营销从业者和决策者，已经提出了缩小差距的暗示。还提供了未来研究的方向。消费者感知的效率低下以及面对环境恶化的无能为力在一定程度上归因于消费者对其非绿色消费实践的正当理由。对于市场营销从业者和决策者，已经提出了缩小差距的暗示。还提供了未来研究的方向。