Green consumption across borders: a hybrid meta-analytic investigation exploring cultural values, human development and internet access

Purpose The purpose of this study is to combine two types of meta-analytical approaches, i.e. SEM-based meta-analysis and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA)-based meta-analysis. It also integrates the underpinnings of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and attitude-behavior-context theory in the green consumption context to propose solid relationships between the factors driving green consumption and uses a moderation analysis to address the inconsistent findings reported regarding these relationships. Design/methodology/approach By integrating the findings from 144 studies, a meta-analysis was performed, adopting several analytical methods: path analysis, moderation analysis and fsQCA. Findings SEM-based meta-analysis suggests that socio-psychological factors enhance purchase intention towards green offerings, which in turn drives green purchase behaviour. fsQCA-based meta-analysis shows how socio-psychological factors and contextual factors jointly in different combinations lead to high and low green purchase behaviour. Moderation analysis finds that consumers’ cultural identities, development status of the country and internet access level of countries cause inconsistencies in the green consumption literature. Research limitations/implications The authors selected papers published in English; hence, other relevant papers in this domain published in other languages might have been missed. Also, the authors might have missed some relevant papers that did not use the keywords specified for the paper search. Practical implications The findings are useful to marketers of green offerings in designing strategies, i.e. specific messages, targeting different customers based on countries’ cultural identities, development status of the countries and internet accesses level of countries, to harvest positive customer responses. Originality/value This study proposes a hybrid meta-review approach by combining SEM-based meta-analysis and fsQCA-based meta-analysis, thereby advancing the methodological rigour of the meta-analytic approach. Further, this study incorporated socio-psychological factors and contextual factors driving green consumption based on the integration of TPB and Attitude-Behavior-Context theory. Moreover, the authors have investigated the possible reasons for inconsistent findings reported in the literature.