EXPLORING GREEN PACKAGING ACCEPTANCE IN FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS IN EMERGING ECONOMY: THE CASE OF MALAYSIA

Background: Green packaging plays an important role to reduce environmental wastes and protect the environments which aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). However, the lack of environmental awareness, inconvenience of support, cost, and lack of government enforcement is the most frequently cited reasons for discouraging green packaging usage. This study aims to establish a model to understand the motivational drivers of green packaging acceptance from the lens of the Theory of Consumption Value.

Methods: Data from self-administered questionnaire were obtained for this qualitative study to address the affirmation hypotheses. A total of 426 questionnaires were distributed among the shopping centres consumer’s in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Each individual was approached at the major shopping centers where the green packaging was in practice.  The researchers employed a partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach using the SmartPLS 3 package to analyze the data.

Results:  Findings from this study indicated that three values have a significant impact on consumer's green packaging acceptance which is emotional, functional, and social value while conditional and epistemic have no statistical impact on consumer's green packaging acceptance.

Conclusion: These research findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the drivers that motivate consumers to shift from traditional packaging to green packaging and subsequently contributing to long-term urban sustainability and quality of life predominantly in the emerging economy. Future researcher should be taken forward by undertaking further studies which include longitudinal and comparative studies of consumer acceptance towards green packaging in both developed and developing countries.