GREEN MARKETING ACCEPTANCE AMONG YOUNG CROATIAN CONSUMERS

Recent global changes in our environment and society, implicate the need for more awareness about the importance of sustaining the environment, and consequently our own life quality. The increase of ecological consciousness leads towards the new segment of the so-called green consumers who prefer products and service without or with less negative effects on our living environment. The appearance of this group of consumers has enabled the development of a new marketing approach called the green marketing, lately known as the sustainable marketing as well. The green marketing favours production and consumption that consider their implication for the environment and society. The empirical research of this study is based on the application of a model of planned behaviour in order to establish the variables which are best predictors of intentions of young consumers (in the first place) regarding buying and using environmental friendly products and services. The results implicate that attitude of concern regarding our environment, knowledge about the environment and the awareness about the importance of preserving the environment are statistically significant predictors of buying intentions, while subjective norm has proven as a not statistically significant predictor. Additionally, the result shows that female respondents are more concerned about sustaining the environment, as well as the older age groups.