Direct effects on consumers’ perceptions and

Studies have found evidence of a relationship between Schwartz’s (1992) personal values, specifically, the self-transcendence values (altruistic and biosphere) that involve considering collective consequences for others and the society, as well as the self-enchantment values (egoistic) that involve considering individual costs and self-benefits with several pro-environmental behaviors (De-Groot & Steg,

2008; Perlaviciute & Steg, 2015). In addition, Schultz and Zelezny (1999) reported that values like universalism positively relate while tradition and power negatively relate to the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) and econcentrism (Dunlap et al., 1992; Thompson & Barton, 1994). However, the authors have not found a positive relationship of benevolence, but instead, determined that tradition, power, and security positively relate to anthropocentrism. In their study, Schultz et al. (2005) found that self-transcendence positively relates to biosphere environmental concerns but negatively to self-oriented environmental concerns.

This means that, when consumers prioritize the environment over themselves, their self-transcendence values tend to rise and positively influence their environmental concerns. Groening, Sarkis, and Zhu (2018) argue that individuals with self-transcendence and openness values are likely to engage in green behavior, whereas individuals who value self-enhancement and conservation are unlikely to be green. However, in the study by Urien and Kilbourne (2011), consumers high on generativity (an individual’s belief that his/her current behavior has consequences that extend into future generations) and self-enhancement values are concerned about the environment. These findings are similar to those of the study by Teng, Wu, and Huang (2014), who found a positive relationship between self-transcendence values and travelers’ environmental concerns.

Stern (2000) argues that egoistic, altruistic, and biosphere values are relevant to explaining individuals’ pro-environmental behavior. Similar effects have been shown in other studies. For example, the study by Hedlund (2011) reveals that the universalism values of self-transcendence positively relate to environmental concern, whereas the power and achievement aspects of self-enhancement values are insignificant. Likewise, Bonera, Corvi, Codini, and Ma (2017) show a direct positive relationship of universalism values with consumers’ eco-behavior. In the context of green electricity determining consumers’ attitudes, Hansla, Gamble, Juliusson, and Garling (2008) find that self-enhancement values negatively and self-transcendence values positively associate with consumers’ attitudes. In the study by Mork et al. (2017), the universalism of self-transcendence positively relates to consumers’ attitudes toward increased use of organic produce in public institutions.

In their study, Onur, Sahin, and Tekkaya (2012) find that eco-centric, altruistic, and biosphere values are the best predictors of consumers’ environmental concerns compared with egoistic values. Similarly, in the hospitability research, Rahman and Reynolds (2016) find that travelers’ biosphere values positively influence their willingness to sacrifice for green hotels. It seems that biosphere values are important determinants in the context of travelling; in another study, biosphere values positively influenced travelers’ attitudes toward green hotels (Yadav, Balaji, & Jebarajakirthy, 2019). The findings of Jacobs, Petersen, Horisch, and Battenfeld (2018) further support the assumption that consumers’ biosphere and altruistic values positively affect their sustainable clothing attitude, while egoistic and hedonic values do so negatively. Further, altruistic values positively

influence consumers’ personal norms, environmental attitudes, and subjective norms but negatively influence the perceived barriers (Ngyun, Lobo, & Greenland, 2017). Overall, the above research findings indicate a clear and important role as a direct influencer of Schwartz’s (1992) self-transcendence and self-enhancement values in the context of environmental behavior.

Previous research has examined the direct influence of IND versus COL cultural values on consumers’ green perceptions and attitudes. For example, Leonidou, Leonidou, and Kvasova (2010) find that COL values not only influence consumers’

inward environmental attitude but also have a significant effect on their outward environmental attitude. In a similar research attempt, Samarasinghe (2012) finds that collectivism positively influences consumers’ environmental attitudes. Segev (2016) reports that there is a positive relationship between collectivism and consumers’ pro-environmental attitudes. Collectivism also positively influences consumers’ attitudes toward the sustainable practices of companies, such as the corporate sustainability practices (Hur & Kim, 2017; Ng & Burke, 2010). In a similar research attempt, Xiang et al. (2019) found a similar effect and demonstrated that the relationship between a collectivist orientation and climate-friendly behavior is stronger than that of an individual orientation. Recently, in their study, Le, Tran, Nguyen, and Cheng (2019) found that IND negatively but COL positively influences consumers’ attitudes toward environmental purchase consequences. These findings perhaps reveal that, most of the time, consumers’

COL cultural values influence their green preferences for the greater good as opposed to immediate benefits.

Other studies have examined COL cultural values in terms of different green consumption motivations. For example, Lee, Kim, Kim, and Choi (2014) find that COL values positively influence consumers’ environmental concerns, as well as their perceived effectiveness. Similarly, Kirmani and Khan (2016) find that COL relates positively not only to consumers’ environmental concerns but also their attitudes toward green products. In another study, the researchers find that collectivism not only positively relates to consumers’ green attitudes but also their subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (Sreen, Purbey, & Sadaranjani, 2018). In the context of green purchases, Nguyen, Lobo, and Greenland (2017) find that the influence of COL on social norms and attitudes is positive, but it has a negative influence on consumers’ perceived inconvenience perceptions.

Another stream of research has revealed mixed findings. Eom, Kim, Sherman, and Ishi (2016) report that, for IND consumers, their individual preferences are strong predictors for a “greener” world than those of COL consumers. Loureiro and Kaufmann (2014) reveal similar findings. The researchers conclude that, in countries like the United States, Portugal, Cyprus, Serbia, and South Korea, with different scores on IND versus COL, people in more individualistic and masculine societies are relatively more proactive and assertive in their attitudes, decisions, and reactions toward sustainability. IND and COL both have significantly positive relationships with consumers’ green perceptions and attitudes in some studies. For

example, Muralidharan et al, (2015) find a significant effect of environmental concern on green buying behavior of both Indians/collectivists and Americans/individualists. Similarly, Chen, Chen, and Tung (2018) find that COL and IND positively relate to consumers’ product attitudes; however, only COL positively influences consumers’ environmental attitude. There are further interesting findings. For example, in Mexico, Spain, and Germany in which people are high, medium, and low, respectively, on COL cultural dimensions, Higueras̻ Castillo et al. (2019) find that consumers’ collectivism relates positively to consumers’ energy saving behavior in Mexico and Spain but not Germany. In addition, the findings of Barcellos, Bossle, Perin, and Vieria (2014) show that IND and COL positively relate to attitudes toward the environment and nature.

Researchers have sometimes found a negative relationship of COL with consumers’ environmental behavior. For example, in their study, Lee et al. (2014) find that COL/altruistic values negatively influence consumers’ environmental activist behavior. From these findings, one can conclude that COL and IND cultural values both sometimes play a significant role in influencing consumers’

green perceptions and attitudes.

2.4.2 Direct effects on consumers’ behavioral intentions and actual