Impact of green marketing of eco-friendly products on the green behaviour of a selected group of consumers in Colombo District, Sri Lanka: Evaluating the influence of green products, environmental awareness, and the role of media

Sri Lanka is a country that tends to be more environmentally friendly due to the growing awareness of the severe damage that has been done to the environment. Sri Lanka's marketing strategy is less concerned about promoting ecologically friendly goods. At present, urban people have developed a trend of choosing eco-friendly products over alternatives. This study was based on consumers using supermarkets to buy their daily essentials in the Colombo District. Colombo was specially selected as it is the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The aim of the present study was to find whether the green products influence consumer purchasing behaviour, how the media impacts the consumers and the environmental awareness of consumers. The data were collected using a self-administered online questionnaire consisting of multiple-choice questions. Questions were based on gathering information on the demographic factors of consumers, factors that are considered when buying a green product and the role of media in green marketing. Altogether, 130 volunteer respondents participated in this study, and the response rate was 86.66%. Data reliability was around 65% (Cronbach alpha: 0.647). According to the results, the female population with higher income and education showed a higher buying attitude towards green products than males. Price is the most crucial factor when buying a green product. Social media was identified as the primary influencer of green marketing in the Colombo District. The statistical analysis found a significant relationship between reasons to reject green products and items bought from supermarkets, the characteristics of green products and reasons to reject them and gender and characteristics of green products (p< 0.05). A statistically significant relationship was found between media and the marketing elements and between gender and marketing elements (p < 0.05).