The Effect of Perceived Value on Green Consumption Intention with Emphasis on Double-Entry Mental Accounting and Consumption Sensitivity

Objective

Promoting the culture of green consumption is one of the necessities of today's society. Because the role of consumers in protecting the environment is undeniable. Moreover, the increasing demand for green products shows the sensitivity of consumers towards environmental issues and their perception of the importance of such products. Perceived value is a dynamic concept that is generally affected by several factors. Perceived value significantly affects the purchase of green products. Furthermore, one of the severe concerns of green consumers is promoting the green consumption. The theory of double-entry mental accounting is one of the tools that can investigate the way consumers' emotions and feelings change during the consumption process. According to this theory, people use a double-entry mental account (pleasure attenuation and pain buffering) when shopping. Based on this, this study attempts to investigate the effect of consumers' perceived value on their intention to consume green products with emphasis on double-entry mental accounting and consumption sensitivity.

Methodology

In terms of the method, this study is descriptive-correlation and structural equation modeling. The population of this study includes the consumers of Fars and Khuzestan provinces and the sample size is 308 people. The required data was collected through a questionnaire. The questionnaire used was on the 5-point Likert scale and included two separate sections. The first section included demographic information and the second section included questions related to research variables. Research data has been analyzed using structural equation modeling and through SPSS version 26 and Amos version 24 software.

Findings

According to the research findings, perceived benefits (functional value, social value, emotional value and green value), perceived sacrifice (economic risk and time risk) and double-entry mental accounting components (the coefficient of pleasure attenuation and the coefficient of pain buffering) have a significant effect on green consumption intention. According to the findings, among the components of perceived benefits, the highest value belongs to the functional value of green products. Among the perceived sacrifice components, the value of the economic risk is higher than the time risk. The findings showed that the effects of perceived benefits on purchase decisions are more than perceived sacrifices. Furthermore, the components of double-entry mental accounting have a partial mediating effect on the relationship between benefits and perceived sacrifice with green consumption intention. It means that double-entry mental accounting causes the perceived benefits and sacrifices of consumers to change because of different levels of payment. According to the research findings, improving the pleasure attenuation can increase people's consumption experience and, as a result, reduce the pain buffering and increase the people's intention to consume green. Finally, consumption sensitivity has a moderating effect on the relationship between perceived benefits and green consumption intention, as well as the coefficient of pleasure attenuation and green consumption intention. It means that by increasing the pleasure attenuation and reducing the pain buffering, we can hope to improve the perceived value of consumers and also their green consumption intention.

Conclusion

Therefore, better understanding of components such as perceived benefits, perceived sacrifice, double-entry mental accounting and consumption sensitivity by manufacturers and consumers can play a great role in promoting green consumption culture. In this regard, the providing incentive packages or the paying small gifts can make the price of green products more attractive for consumers. In general, sales strategies can be a good stimulus to increase the pleasure attenuation and reduce the pain buffering for green products.