Predicting young customers’ intention to repurchase green plastic products: incorporating trust model into purchase intention model
| Published date | 08 February 2021 |
| Date | 08 February 2021 |
| Pages | 441-456 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-04-2020-0150 |
| Subject Matter | Strategy,International business |
| Author | Dwi Suhartanto,Ani Kartikasari,Raditha Hapsari,Bambang Setio Budianto,Mukhamad Najib,Yackob Astor |
Predicting young customers’intention to
repurchase green plastic products:
incorporating trust model into purchase
intention model
Dwi Suhartanto, Ani Kartikasari, Raditha Hapsari, Bambang Setio Budianto,
Mukhamad Najib and Yackob Astor
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to assess young customers’ repurchasing intentions toward green plastic
products by incorporating greentrust model into green purchase intention model. It also evaluates the
role of gendermoderation in the green repurchaseintention formation model.
Design/methodology/approach –A total of 314 young consumers of green plastic products in
Bandung, Indonesia were determined for this study. This study used variance-based partial least
squares (PLS) to evaluatethe proposed model and examine the hypothesized relationship, by meansof
SmartPLS 3. The construct validity and reliability were evaluated by testing the measurement model,
while theproposed hypotheses were examinedby testing the structural model.
Findings –The assessment of the proposed model using PLS reveals that t he incorporation of green trust
model increases the prediction strength of green repurchase i ntentions model on green plastic products.
Further, this study shows that, in general, gender did not moderate the formation of green repurchase
intentions.
Research limitations/implications –Besides broadening the green repurchaseintention theory, this
finding offers a direction for green plastic businesses to improve their capability and their marketing
strategies. This study offers an importantcontribution in understanding young consumers’ intentions to
buy green plastic products, although it has several drawbacks. In the future, to increase its
generalization, this study can be replicated on young consumers in other developing and developed
countries,and this model can also be tested in othersegments.
Originality/value –To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no published studiesthat have
tested the repurchase intentionmodel for green plastic products, and none of the past studies have
incorporated these models to explain repurchase intention toward green plastic products.
Furthermore, the inclusion of gender roles in green repu rchase intentions for green plastic products
is important tobe explored.
Keywords Green trust, Green perceived quality, Green plastic, Green repurchase intention,
Green satisfaction, Young customers
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Disposable plastic packaging has been increasingly and widely consumed, although it is almost
impossible to decompose and thus harmful to the environment and living creatures (Leal Filho et
al., 2019). Because of its natural characteristic, to date, globally, only about 9% of plastic waste
has been recycled while the rest have been dumped in landfills, flown into the sea or combusted
(Geyer et al.,2017).Considering the negative effects of conventional plastic on the environment,
Dwi Suhartanto is based at
the Department of Business
Administration, Politeknik
Negeri Bandung, Bandung,
Indonesia. Ani Kartikasari is
based at the Department of
Global Value Chain and
Trade, Lincoln University,
Lincoln, New Zealand.
Raditha Hapsari is based at
the Department of
Management, Universitas
Brawijaya, Malang,
Indonesia.
Bambang Setio Budianto is
based at the Department of
Civil Engineering, Politeknik
Negeri Bandung, Bandung,
Indonesia. Mukhamad
Najib is based at the
Department of
Management, Institut
Pertanian Bogor, Bogor,
Indonesia. Yackob Astor is
based at the Department of
Civil Engineering, Politeknik
Negeri Bandung, Bandung,
Indonesia.
Received 15 April 2020
Revised 11 July 2020
15 August 2020
Accepted 24 October 2020
DOI 10.1108/JABS-04-2020-0150 VOL. 15 NO. 3 2021, pp. 441-456, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1558-7894 jJOURNAL OF ASIA BUSINESS STUDIES jPAGE 441
there is growing awareness of the importance of consuming environmentally friendly plastic or
green (biodegradable) plastic products (Van Rensburg et al., 2020). Unlike conventional plastic,
green plastic can lessen greenhouse gas emissions throughout its production chain (Van
Rensburg et al., 2020). However, as with other green products, the cost to produce green
plastic is higher than for conventional plastic products (Leal Filho et al., 2019). As a result, the
price of green plastic products is still high and their consumption levels are low (Van Rensburg
et al., 2020). Therefore, understanding strategies to create customers trust and increase
repurchase intention are important, not only for green plastic businesses, but also for the
environment (Pahlevi and Suhartanto, 2020).
Having favorable customer behavior is essential to survive and be competitive in an eco-
friendly market (Prakash and Pathak, 2017;Woo, 2019). Creating customer favorable
behavior is important for any business as it sparks customers’ intention to repurchase and
willingness to pay more even if the price increases (Dean and Suhartanto, 2019;Lu et al.,
2020). Considering its importance, many studies have been devoted to examine the
behavioral intention model and,arguably, quality-based behavioral intention model is one of
the most widely adopted to explain customers’ future behavior (Chandra, 2019;Suhartanto
et al.,2019
). This model, proposing that perceived quality,perceived value and satisfaction
are the antecedents of customer intention to repurchase, has been confirmed in many
studies including in green products (Mohd Suki, 2015;Wang, 2017;Zhang et al.,2020).
However, past studies (De Toni et al., 2017;Farias et al.,2019) indicate that adding new
variables to the behavioral intention model can potentially raise the explanation strength of
green repurchase intention. In other words, extending this model could provide a better
prediction of customers’ intentionto repurchase green products.
Recent studies in green products suggest that customer trust i s an important aspect to induce
customers to select a product as well as to influence their future behavior (Gupta et al., 2019;
Marakanon and Panjakajornsak, 2017). To examine trust in an eco-friendly environment
product, Chen (2013) proposes a green trust model, with green product quality, green
perceived risk and green satisfaction as the drivers of consumers’ tru st. The subsequent
studies in green products (Cheung et al.,2015;Martı
´nez, 2015;Pahlevi and Suhartanto, 2020)
confirm the association between trust, product quality, percei ved risk and satisfaction. Related
to the quality-based behavioral intention model, the gree n trust model shares product quality
and satisfaction as its drivers. In addition, other st udies note that trust raises customer
assertion and, subsequently, sparks their repurchase intenti on of the product (Martı
´nez, 2015).
This discussion implies that there is a connection between the green trust model and quality-
based behavioral intention model. As consumer green b ehavior is complex (Shukla, 2019;
Zhang et al.,2020), the integration of these two models hypothetically enhances the
rationalization of customer repurchase intentions toward green plas tic products.
Recent studies suggest that socio-demographic characteristics are important factors in
influencing consumer behavior, but these have received less attention in the literature
(Shapoval et al., 2018). To comprehend the green consumer behavior, researchers began
to scrutinize gender roles (Allen and Spialek, 2018;Bhutto et al., 2019). For example, a
recent study (Allen and Spialek, 2018) has shown that gender is the factor that affects the
association involving customer experiences with products and their behaviors, such as
repurchase and endorse intention. However, further studies on this issue have produced
inconsistent results. For example, scholars revealed that gender influences behavioral
intention formation in a servicecontext (Lee, 2009;Shapoval et al., 2018), but Mattila (2000)
found that gender does not significantly influence behavior. Another study in green
products (Bhutto et al., 2019) reporteda mixed result. Therefore, the influence of gender on
the formation of green repurchase intentions is still not well understood. Thus, the inclusion
of gender roles in green repurchase intentions for green plastic products is important to
contribute to this debate.
PAGE 442 jJOURNAL OF ASIA BUSINESS STUDIES jVOL. 15 NO. 3 2021
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