Preference for green packaging in consumer product choices – Do consumers care?

TLDR

The study examines how green packaging compares to other product attributes in influencing consumer choices and argues that research should focus on actual product decisions rather than general attitudes. The authors used a choice‑based conjoint analysis with 330 drink‑product consumers to assess preference trade‑offs. Results show that consumer preferences vary across packaging, brand, price, and convenience, with a sizable one‑third segment prioritizing environmentally labelled packaging, underscoring the growing importance of ethical and environmental factors in product choices.

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, consumer environmental choice is studied by analysing the relative importance of green packaging when compared with other relevant product attributes. The empirical study is based on a choice‐based conjoint analysis of preferences for functional drink products of a sample of 330 consumers using these products. Our choice‐based approach on environmental behaviour brings new insights to previous research, which predominantly relies on attitude models. Results indicate that consumers differ in their preferences for packaging, brand, price and convenience of use of daily products. In addition, various distinctive consumer segments can be identified on the market. Contrary to several previous studies, we found that the largest consumer segment, one‐third of consumers, favoured environmentally labelled packaging as the most important criteria in their choice. The findings emphasize the increasing importance of ethical and environmental dimension in product choices. We also propose that the attention in environmental consumer research should be shifted from general attitude studies towards the study of actual product choices.