An extension of consumer environmental behavior research among expatriates

Purpose – A wealth of research has explored different configurations of consumer environmental beliefs, attitudes, and values, and their influence on consumer environmental behavior. It is essential that a more comprehensive understanding of what lies at the root of consumer environmental beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors be developed. This study aims to address some of the limitations in the current literature by theorizing and examining a consumer environmental behavior model that includes three antecedents, a mediator, and a moderator construct. The authors offer a new configuration that includes moderated and mediated effects of consumer cognitive, psycho-social and demographics variables on consumer environmental behavior. Design/methodology/approach – This study was administered to respondents from Saudi Arabia. The sample consists of Saudi-Arabians, non-Saudi Arabs, Americans, Europeans, South-East Asians, sub-continentals as well as other expatriates. Unavailability of sample frames necessitated the past researchers to use some kind of judgmental sampling techniques in Saudi Arabia. A total of 677 usable responses were used for this study. Findings – The model included three antecedents – consumer environmental awareness, consumer perception of human-nature relationship, and consumer perception of local environmental condition – representing the most important categories of predictors of environmental behavior identified in meta-analysis. The effects of these antecedents on consumer environmental behavior were mediated by consumer environmental responsibility, which, in turn, influenced consumer environmental behavior. The model also assumed that consumer faith in science and technology moderated all the four relationships involving antecedents, mediator and the outcome. Originality/value – The findings of the study identified several important observations. First, the roles of environmental psycho-social and cognitive variables in determining consumer environmental behavior are contingent upon levels of faith in science and technology and may not be direct but rather indirect through the mediator of consumer environmental responsibility. More importantly, the authors have provided support for a non-conventional moderated and mediated model of consumer environmental behavior.