Aspects regarding determinants of consumer behavior of ecological products

Abstract

Climate change, water and air pollution, global warming, the decline of fauna and flora, eutrophication, correlated with the demands of the modern consumer, led to the formation of a new, much more complex approach regarding the sector of ecological products and its main determinants. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the factors that can influence the decision to buy organic products by consumers. In addition, this study provides recommendations that can be considered by consumers when increasing and reinforcing green behavior towards green products. The objectives of the study aim to evaluate the influence of different types of variables (related to person, environment, product and reference group) on the decision to purchase organic products. One of the concepts proposed in the management of environmental problems by involving consumer participation is sustainable consumption. The recommendations are hereby derived from the relevant academic research, theories and results of this research. Both purchasing and consumption behavior can be influenced by certain information received from internal or external sources manifested in the form of stimuli. Thus, the consumer becomes aware of the emergence of a need suggested by different internal stimuli, such as: hunger or thirst, stimuli that, at a given moment, reach a high enough level to become impulses. Knowing these ratios allows the anticipation of future market reactions, reactions that are difficult to predict without a full understanding of the economic and psychological processes underlying consumer behavior.