With rapid population and economic growth comes increasing consumption and production patterns which have burdened the environment. The raw materials and the processes used to meet the rising population demand require both renewable and non-renewable materials/energy, and also generate emissions. While the concept of environmental degradation may have become popular in Nigeria, the concepts of green purchase and/or green marketing is not. Green purchase refers to all activities that involve the buying/exchange of eco-friendly (green) products by consumers with the aim of conserving resources and protecting the environment. Green marketing on the other hand refers to all activities that involve the promotion and sales of eco-friendly products by industries or enterprises. Although a lot of eco-friendly products are available and marketed globally, green purchase has been said to be dependent on consumption values, price and consumer receptibility especially to new technologies. Green purchase has also been reported to be dependent on consumer behavior which is believed to be influenced by the level of environmental knowledge and values each individual possesses. Other notable factors that influence green purchase include consumer’s emotion, perceived product effectiveness, connectedness to nature and consumers’ socio-environmental background. Quite a number of green products already exist in the Nigerian markets but which of the identified influencing factors is topmost in the mind of Nigerians as regards green purchase? Is green marketing even a thing in Nigeria?
The best strategy for green marketing has been said to be green product usage. Green products can be found within the four major elements of the human life that generate large amounts of carbon dioxide. They include Food, housing, clothing and transportation. For food, literature reports show that fresh/organic foods and vegetables are topmost on consumers’ choices in Nigeria. While this is good for the environment, this choice is thought to be a product of culture, health concerns and abundant availability of these products in the market as opposed to environmental knowledge and values. Buying of eco-friendly vehicles in Nigeria have also been found to be socially inclined (done to improve social strata and image) and largely impeded by price and epileptic power supply in the country. As for clothing, price and durability are thought to be top on the preference list of Nigerians especially in relation to the current economic realities of the nation. Green products in housing and furnishings are hardly considered except where financial savings are largely marketed along with these products as is the case with energy saving bulbs. What then can be considered as the concept of green products to Nigerians? Does demography affect the Nigerian green consumption behaviour? What factors motivate and demotivate green product usage in Nigeria? What are the purchasing intents of Nigerians as regards green products?
To answer these questions, primary data were collected through questionnaire from 161 Nigerians living in Nigeria. These respondents were sampled from across the nation with 34% of them living in the South West geopolitical zone. About 26.5% of respondents live in the North West, 16.7% in the North Central, 13.6% in the South East, 5.6% in the South South and 3.6% in the North East. Further demographic classification shows that 63% of the respondents are male while 61.1% are between 31 and 50 years old. Only 15.4% of respondents are above 51 years of age and respondents within the age range of 19-30 years constituted 23.5% of respondents. Similarly, more than half (56.8%) of the respondents have earned a first degree, 24.1% have a Master’s degree, 16% have a doctorate and 3.1% are secondary school leavers. Less than 30% of respondents earn below the minimum wage of N30,000 while 50% earn above minimum wage. The remaining 21% of respondents described their income level as way above minimum age.
Eventhough only 73 of the 161 respondents indicated that they understand and are familiar with the word ‘sustainable’, 65.4% of respondents opined that environmental sustainability is the most effective factor that persuades them to buy a green product. This is suggestive that green buying amongst Nigerians is more of conformism to global beliefs than actual knowledge. This is also evident in the fact that only 23.5% of respondents are familiar with the words ‘green product’ and only about half of these understand green products to mean ‘products that protect the environment’. While respondents are ready to buy green products for the sake of environmental sustainability (whether knowledge based or conformism based), they indicated that price/cost of usage of green products is a major factor that can demotivate them from green buying. Other major demotivating factors cited include unavailability, unawareness and product inefficiency.
But are green products really unavailable in the Nigerian markets? This ‘demotivating’ factor is up for debate as 89.1% of respondents agreed to using at least one green product in their homes. Examples of green products put forward by respondents include re-usable shopping bags, energy saving bulbs, re-usable coffee cups, solar power systems, energy saving and/or rechargeable home appliances, stainless steel water bottles, plants and wood materials and recyclable materials. While 4.6% of respondents, opined that they don’t use green products in any form, 6.3% erroneously considered soap, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), regular toothbrush, green tea, birds, fossil fuel, regular pressing iron and every indecomposable waste material as green product. However, no significant relationship was found between the sex and age of respondents and green product usage. Similarly, no significant relationship was found between green product usage and the income level. There is however, a significant relationship between educational qualification of respondents and green purchase. Similarly, the higher the educational qualification, the more convinced the respondents are that environmental consciousness as a positive brand image in organizations.
Interestingly, respondents showed commendable knowledge of the term ‘eco-friendly’. About 93% of respondents understood the term to mean “beneficial and protective of the environment”. Respondents were however divided on what can be classified as an ecofriendly product. Of the six eco-friendly products listed in the questionnaire, only 32.7% of respondents considered all the listed products to be ecofriendly. While 42% considered re-usable shopping bags as ecofriendly, only 8% considered stainless steel water bottles as an ecofriendly product.
This begs the question, how much do people, especially Nigerians, really know about environmental sustainability and how much are they willing to know? Despite the fact that less than half of the respondents (45.1%) alluded to being familiar with terms like green house gases, fossil fuels and renewable energy, only two respondents sought to know what green products actually are. In fact, 22.8% of respondents indicated that price and cost of maintenance is topmost on their minds before making any purchase.
Considering the current global climate crisis and the rapid environmental degradation experienced in most parts of the world, increased green product usage can enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. This study found that apart from educational qualification, other demographics have no significant effect on green product usage. This study also found that people are willing to go green for the sake of the environment but are unsure or unaware of what ‘going green’ actually means or entails. If price and perceived unavailability of green products are a major challenge to green buying (as indicated by respondents), can green marketing drive product sales in Nigeria? Can an increase in awareness programs, promotional activities and advertisements influence and redirect personal consciousness and values towards environmental protection and sustainability? Can people love the environment and seek beyond price and maintenance cost, to protect it? Or will it continue to be a case of food before love? In conclusion, let us take to heart the closing remark of one of the respondents, “the planet is ours, protecting the mother earth is the only heritage we can handover to the next generation”.