Index of Paper Presentations for the Parallel Sessions - Academy of ...

It is in the backdrop of this stated role and responsibility of consumers in restricting environment degradation andthe need to clearly identify ‗green segments‘ that the present paper is an attempt to understand the term‗environmental consciousness‘ and its linkages with environmentally conscious consumer behaviour. The extantliterature review on environmental consciousness has thus led to pursuit of following objectives:1) To investigate the term ―Environmental Consciousness‖ and identifying the underlying components ofEnvironmental Consciousness.2) To identify the antecedents of Environmental Consciousness.3) To propose aframework explaining the linkage between Environmental Consciousness, it‘s antecedents, components, andbehavioral outcome.4) To identify the variables, if any, that may intervene Environmental Consciousness andEnvironmentally Conscious Consumer Behavior.ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF CONSUMERSEnvironmental concern among consumers has attained substantial momentum and is continuing to alter consumers'basic habits (Stisser, 1994). With this, consumers have become major force to reckon with for attaining theobjectives of environmental protection and sustainable development. Researchers have been attracted to seek abetter understanding of various factors that determine the performance of environmentally responsibleWide range of studies has focused on ‗environmental consciousness‘ and pro-environmental behavior. Though, theterm came out of political and everyday language (Hofrichter 1992),nonetheless it is one of the central constructs inthe literature used to explain pro environmental consumer behavior (Schuster, 1992). Further, a deeper insight intothe dimensions of environmental consciousness could extend a great support in measuring it and understandingenvironmentally conscious consumer behavior.Environmental consciousness, as a form of social orientation,is more relevant in the context of businessorganizations, and it translates the degree to which an organization produced a product which is advantageous to thenatural environment while minimizing negative impacts on the environment (Kang and James, 2007).As an element of the individual belief system, environmental consciousness refers to specific psychological factorsrelated to individuals‘ propensity to engage in pro-environmental behaviors (Zelezny and Schultz, 2000). It‘s acomplex system of values and attitudes, and is also a part of the social consciousness (Monhemius, 1992; Wimmer,1992).