Purpose

From the last few decades, environmental issues have become a global concern. Consumption activities are given much attention in the marketing literature, whenever the question about protecting the environment arises. The responsibility of the consumer toward the environment is a major concern and the purpose of this study is to prioritize factors responsible for determining environmental responsibility among young consumers. This research will provide valuable insights to the marketers in targeting those particular areas which according to young consumers are highly ranked/prioritized for being environmentally responsible.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, data were collected from 400 young consumers from Punjab and Chandigarh. Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (F-AHP) was applied to prioritize or rank the factors on the basis of significance for being environmentally responsible. The primary factors considered for further analysis were knowledge and awareness, attitude, green consumer value, emotional affinity toward nature, willingness to act and environment-related past behavior.

Findings

Results of the study depicted knowledge and awareness as the highest-ranked and prioritized factor for young consumers to become environmentally responsible, while environment-related past behavior emerged as the least important factor for consumers' environmental responsibility.

Research limitations/implications

Data were collected from the young consumers of Punjab and Chandigarh only and only a few factors of consumers' environmental responsibility were considered for further analysis which depicts the limitation of the study.

Practical implications

The research study is highly useful for the government and the business firms to target the highly prioritized factors of environmental responsibility which will promote green consumption practices and behavior among young consumers.

Originality/value

Previous researches have explored the factors of environmental responsibility and modeled their relationships. However, the present study has employed the multi-criteria decision-making technique to provide valuable insights for marketers, academicians and practitioners about the drivers of consumers' environmental responsibility which adds value to the existing knowledge base.

中文翻译：

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使用模糊层次分析法确定环境责任的优先因素：来自印度的证据

目的

从过去的几十年开始，环境问题已成为全球关注的问题。每当有关保护环境的问题出现时，市场营销文献都非常关注消费活动。消费者对环境的责任是一个主要问题，本研究的目的是优先考虑决定年轻消费者对环境责任的因素。这项研究将为营销人员提供有价值的见解，以针对年轻消费者认为对环境负责的特定领域。

设计/方法/方法

在这项研究中，数据来自旁遮普邦和昌迪加尔的 400 名年轻消费者。模糊层次分析法 (F-AHP) 用于根据对环境负责的重要性对因素进行优先级排序或排序。进一步分析考虑的主要因素是知识和意识、态度、绿色消费者价值、对自然的情感亲和力、行动意愿和与环境相关的过去行为。

发现

研究结果将知识和意识描述为年轻消费者对环境负责的最高和优先因素，而与环境相关的过去行为则成为消费者对环境责任最不重要的因素。

研究限制/影响

数据仅从旁遮普邦和昌迪加尔的年轻消费者那里收集，并且仅考虑消费者环境责任的少数因素进行进一步分析，这说明了研究的局限性。

实际影响

该研究对于政府和企业针对环境责任的高度优先因素非常有用，这些因素将促进年轻消费者的绿色消费实践和行为。

原创性/价值

以前的研究探索了环境责任的因素并模拟了它们之间的关系。然而，本研究采用多标准决策技术为营销人员、学者和从业人员提供有关消费者环境责任驱动因素的宝贵见解，这为现有知识库增加了价值。