Abstract

China's rapid economic growth and population momentum have precipitated an environmental crisis on an unprecedented scale. Consequently, green consumerism is a hot topic leaving marketing managers looking for ways to influence green buying behaviors. One way to examine this problem is to compare the effect of social influence on green behaviors against countries that have experienced a similar spike in pollution owing to rapid development (e.g., the United States). Unfortunately, a gap exists in the literature with respect to how social influence impacts green purchasing behaviors. This research examines the issue across country and gender between China and the United States. The findings show that Chinese consumers are indeed more susceptible to social influence with respect to purchasing behaviors. The Chinese view social influence as a multidimensional construct with both cognitive and behavioral components. Chinese females were significantly different from other respondents with respect to cognitive and behavioral social influence.