CONSUMER SKEPTICISM: ATTITUDE – BEHAVIOR GAP IN GREEN MARKETING AND THE ROLE OF ECOPRENEURS IN THE MARKET

Abstract

Environmental damages are the result of unconscious behaviors of mankind. Since they have started to recognize their detrimental effect on the planet, a new era has started. “Green” idea was proposed in the early 1960s and 1970s. It was called a kind of “awakening” for consumers. This idea is integrated into many sectors such as marketing and entrepreneurship. Green marketing refers to a holistic marketing concept which involves the production, promotion, consumption of goods and services, distribution and other transactions with less harm to the environment. Ecopreneurship is also known as environmental entrepreneurship and refers to create the supply of natural resources, solve environmental problems and promote sustainable development within the activities of entrepreneurship. Consumers also have a significant effect on the market; a green market principally can be shaped by consumers’ needs, wants and awareness. Therefore, consumers have an active role in the market but consumers’ attitudes and behaviors do not match mostly. There are some factors that affect their purchasing behaviors such as price, promotions, loyalty, advertisements and so on. The market needs some proactive players in order to keep the activities alive and they are ecopreneurs. Their motivations for doing business are not only based on making a profit, their environmental sensitivity effects the flow of greening act inside the market advantageously. In this study, consumers’ attitudes and behaviors gap and the reasons for this gap will be examined and the beneficial roles of ecopreneurs will be defined in the scope of green marketing.

Keywords: Green Marketing, Ecopreneurship, Consumers’ Attitude-Behavior Gap, Environmental Protection.