Key Factors Affecting Informed Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Green Housing: A Case Study of Jinan, China

Abstract

In recent years, the issues of large energy consumption and degraded living environments have attracted considerable attention in developed and developing countries. Hence, green housing (GH) has become a popular strategy for achieving sustainable urbanization. The demand in the GH market played an important role in promoting GH. In China, whether potential consumers will pay for GH remains unclear. In this circumstance, this study aims to explore the willingness of construction practitioners, who are regarded to have more knowledge concerning GH, to pay for GH in China. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), nine critical factors related to practitioners’ willingness to pay (WTP) were examined through face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire survey. A total of 180 construction participants in Jinan were investigated in this study. A binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the collected data. The research finding revealed that only 68 respondents were willing to pay for GH. Four factors showed significant and positive influences in practitioners’ WTP, including environmental awareness, GH comfort, government incentive, and neighbors’/friends’ assessment. By contrast, GH price displayed a significant and negative influence in practitioners’ WTP. The remaining factors, namely, mature GH market, degree of popularity, publicity of GH from developers, and GH affordability, showed insignificant relationships with the practitioners’ WTP. The research findings can provide a helpful reference for policy makers to formulate effective incentive policies in the promotion of GH.