Green Consciousness of Consumers in a Developing Country: A Study of Egyptian Consumers

Abstract

ABSTRACT The last three decades have seen a progressive increase in worldwide environmental consciousness due to rising evidence of environmental problems. Environmental protection is increasingly becoming a necessity and part of a bigger agenda in the urbanising world of developing countries. Given the increasing deterioration of the environment, Egypt as in most developing countries should prevent pollution and preserve its natural resources. Egyptian consumers are just at the stage of green awakening. The Egyptian government and companies should respond to the green challenge by knowing whether or not Egyptian citizens are concerned about green issues. Environmental attitudes constitute a significant part of environmental consciousness. Therefore, this paper empirically investigates the attitude of Egyptian consumers towards the environment in general. A survey was developed and administered across Egypt. A total of 122 Egyptian consumers responded and completed the questionnaire. Results contradict the traditional wisdom that environmental concern is a luxury afforded by only the wealthy and shed a light upon the possibility of going green in Egypt. This will help the Egyptian government better understand consumers' level of concern about the environment, develop effective environmental policies required to achieve sustainability and reinforce green purchase through legislation. Moreover, companies will have insight about how to profile green consumers in Egypt, and better develop green marketing messages that will functionally and emotionally appeal to their target customers. Keywords: Pro-environmental Attitude, Green Marketing, Environmental Consciousness