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國立臺中教育大學事業經營碩士學位學程

碩士論文

A Study of Purchase Intention of Green Products: the

Perspectives of Brand Knowledge, Country of Origin

Image, and Perceived Quality

綠色產品購買意願之研究:品牌知識、來源國形象與知

覺品質的觀點

研究生:曾 閔 撰

指導教授:楊宜興 博士

中華民國一百零三年六月

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A Study of Purchase Intention of Green Products: the Perspectives of Brand

Knowledge, Country of Origin Image, and Perceived Quality

研 究 生:曾 閔 Student:Min Tseng

指導教授:楊宜興 Advisor:Phil Y. Yang

國立臺中教育大學

事業經營碩士學位學程

碩士論文

A Thesis

Submitted to Master program of Business Administration

National Taichung University of Education

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

Master of Business Administration

June 2014

Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China

中華民國一百零三年六月

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致謝

人生如同一本故事書,故事內容全憑個人人生經歷去描繪,已被翻閱的頁數 書寫著滿滿的回憶,之後的一頁頁空白承載著一個個夢。而我,正在閱讀人生中 一篇精彩的情節-碩士之卷。之所以精彩,要感謝許多人的幫助,他們的支持是我 不斷成長的力量。 感謝我的指導教授楊宜興老師,在課業上老師總能適時的糾正我的盲點,給 予我最合適的建議,常讓我有種豁然開朗、柳暗花明又一村之感慨。老師在學術 上的嚴謹態度,是我可望而不可及的目標;老師在處事上的認真對待,是我一生受 用不盡的財富,有幸得到老師的指導與教誨,我一點一滴銘感於心。謝謝楊宜興 老師不厭其煩的指導,老師就像是一盞明燈,指引著我前進的方向,老師謝謝您, 您辛苦了。感謝所長丘周剛老師,謝謝所長為事經所的付出,提供學生們一個優 良的學習環境,給予學生們豐富的教學資源,獲得學生們無限的敬重愛戴。感謝 林欣怡老師,老師總會施予學生最大的耐心與幫助,引導學生培養解決問題的能 力、鼓勵學生學習各式各樣的技能,從老師身上我見識到邏輯思考與精確的分析 能力,讓我受益匪淺,從老師的身上我學會『當責』不讓的道理,讓我受用無窮。 感謝助教瑟閤姐,在我有行政事務上的疑問時,瑟閤姐都會提供最無私的幫助, 讓問題迎刃而解,並適時地給予提醒與關懷,與之相處就像朋友一樣倍感親切。 感謝我的同學兼好友們:嘉甄,一路的支持與陪伴是我難以忘懷的溫暖,從我 到我們,從秉燭夜話到無所不談,從未來目標到人生規劃,一貣經歷的一切數不 勝數,嘉甄予以的友誼與信任,讓我深受感動。詩涵,一貣互虧對方、一貣玩笑 打鬧是我正經的研究所學習中一個美好的意外,我會記得曾經一同經歷的『三小 時』的創舉、研究室的『show time』等,這些回憶每次回想貣來總讓人不自覺嘴 角上揚。宛如,宛如一個美食家,對於我任何名為問題的美食來者不拒,一一給 予詳盡的解答,是拉拔著我一同前進的幕後推手。張楊,在研究所遇到為數不多 會打桌球的人之一,曾經一貣打球是我研究所兩年寥寥無幾的運動之一,遇到勢 均力敵的對手總會激貣我的鬥志、寫論文的鬥志。感謝事經所的其他同學與學弟 妹們,有他們的支持與鼓勵,讓事經所總是充滿活力、處處驚喜、帶來朝氣。謝 謝事經所的大家,因為有他們的相伴,才能為我研究所的學習生涯增添一抹亮麗 的色彩。 感謝我的家人,我最愛的家人,他們的存在就是我一生最大的幸福,就算將 終其一生的成就獻給我的家人們,也遠遠無法表達對他們的感謝。家人們的愛護 與疼愛,是我心中永遠最溫暖的依歸。 感謝我身邊的所有人,因為有他們的存在,豐富了我的人生。 曾 閔 謹誌 國立臺中教育大學事業經營研究所 中華民國一百零三年六月

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i Table of Content Table of Content………i List of Tables………iv List of Figures………...v 摘要………..vi 中文論文綜論……….vii ABSTRACT………..xxii Chapter 1 Introduction……….1 1.1 Research background………1 1.2 Research motivation………..4 1.3 Research purposes………..7 1.4 Research procedure………7

Chapter 2 Literature Review………10

2.1 Green products………..10

2.2 Brand knowledge……….17

2.2.1 Brand image………...18

2.2.2 Brand awareness………...19

2.3 Country of origin image……….21

2.4 Perceived quality………..23

2.5 Purchase intention………24

2.6 Brand image, perceived quality and purchase intention………...25

2.7 Brand awareness, perceived quality and purchase intention………...27

2.8 The moderating role of country of origin image……….……….29

2.9 The effect of perceived quality on purchase intention………..31

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ii

Chapter 3 Methodology……….………..34

3.1 Research framework and hypotheses……….34

3.2 Research design………35

3.3 Operational definitions and measurement………....37

3.3.1 Brand image………...……….……..37

3.3.2 Brand awareness………...40

3.3.3 Country of origin image……….41

3.3.4 Perceived quality……….….42

3.3.5 Purchase intention………....44

3.3.6 Control variables………..45

3.4 Questionnaire development………..47

3.5 Pilot study………..48

3.5.1 The reliability analysis of pilot study………....48

3.5.2 The validity analysis of pilot study………49

3.5.3 The common method variance test of pilot study……….50

3.6 Methods of data analysis………...50

3.6.1 Reliability analysis………..50

3.6.2 Validity analysis……….…...51

3.6.3 Descriptive analysis……….……51

3.6.4 Analysis of variance……….…51

3.6.5 Path analysis……….…..51

Chapter 4 Research Results……….…..52

4.1 Descriptive statistics……….…....52

4.1.1 Characteristics of respondents……….…...52

4.1.2 The mean and standard deviation of variables………...55

4.1.3 CMV……….…55

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iii

4.3 Test of homogeneity………..60

4.3.1 The homogeneity of brands………..60

4.3.2 The homogeneity of gender………..61

4.3.3 The homogeneity of education………62

4.4 Path analysis……….62

Chapter 5 Discussion………..68

Chapter 6 Conclusions………...72

6.1 Theoretical contributions and managerial implications...72

6.2 Limitations and future research directions………...74

Reference………..76

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iv

List of Tables

Table 1-1 EPI Ranking under Environmental Health by Geographic Position………..6

Table 2-1 Awareness of Green Building Product Standards………..…....13

Table 2-2 The Characteristics of Green Products………..…....14

Table 2-3 Taiwan Market Size for Nutritional Supplements………..…………17

Table 3-1 The Operational Definitions and Measuring Item of Brand Image…....…..39

Table 3-2 The Operational Definitions and Measuring Item of Brand Awareness…..41

Table 3-3 The Operational Definitions and Measuring Item of Country of Origin...42

Table 3.4 The Operational Definitions and Measuring Item of Perceived Quality…..44

Table 3-5 The Operational Definitions and Measuring Item of Purchase Intention....45

Table 3-6 Reliability Analysis of Pilot Study………..……….…....49

Table 3-7 CMV Test of Pilot Study………...………50

Table 4-1 Demographic Profile of Respondents………...54

Table 4-2 The Mean and Standard Deviation of Variables………..………..55

Table 4-3 The Test of CMV…………..………....56

Table 4-4 The Result of KMO and Bartlett's Test………..………...57

Table 4-5 The Results of Reliability Analysis……….………...…………59

Table 4-6 Discriminant Validity Coefficients………..……….…60

Table 4-7 The Homogeneity Test Result of Three Brands……….……..….…61

Table 4-8 The Homogeneity Test Result of Gender……….…….61

Table 4-9 The Homogeneity Test Result of Education……….……..…...62

Table 4-10 Path Analysis of Direct, Indirect, and Total Effects………..…….66

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v

List of Figures

Figure 1-1 The Percentage of Sufficient Green Products Available………….………2 Figure 1-2 The Process of the Research………...………….9 Figure 2-1 The Environmentally-relevant Measurements on Adult………….……....11 Figure 2-2 Dimensions of Brand Knowledge………..………....18 Figure 3-1 Research Framework………...………...35 Figure 4-1 Path Analysis Model and t-values………..………65

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vi

綠色產品購買意願之研究:品牌知識、來源國形象與知

覺品質的觀點

指導教授:楊宜興 博士 國立臺中教育大學事業經營碩士學位學程 學生:曾 閔 國立臺中教育大學事業經營碩士學位學程 摘要 由於環保意識的抬頭,消費者愈來愈關注綠色產品。消費者購買形態的轉變 使得市場上綠色產品如雨後春筍般出現,而美妝品尤甚。實際上,消費者對綠色 產品的購買意願並不一定會造成實際銷售的情形出現。在過去的研究中,綠色產 品的購買意願顯少探討。因此,本研究旨在探討品牌知識、來源國形象、知覺品 質間的相互作用。本研究依據三大主要綠色保養品品牌:品木宣言、歐舒丹、DHC 之消費者發放問卷,共回收 268 份有效問卷。更甚者,這三個品牌各自代表不同 的來源國,如:美國、法國、日本。而結果顯示,綠色產品的品牌知識與知覺品 質呈部份相關,而綠色產品的品牌知識與購買意願呈正相關,然而來源國形象並 不會對綠色產品的品牌知識與知覺品質間造成干擾效果。本研究進一步探討其結 果並提供管理意涵,以期加強對綠色產品購買意願的理解及提供有效綠色產品的 行銷能力來因應環保意識的崛貣。 關鍵字:綠色產品、品牌知識、來源國形象、知覺品質

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vii

中文論文綜論

壹、緒論 由於全球暖化及溫室效應的影響,人們愈加關注環保相關的議題。而隨著經 濟快速發展,人類過度消費的行為時常被報導。根據聯合國於 1992 年召開的環 境與發展大會上通過的 21 世紀議程表示,不永續的消費及生產型態是造成全球 環境持續惡化的主因。由於環保意識的抬頭,消費者逐漸傾向選擇對環境有善的 消費模式,即綠色產品。使得人們對綠色行銷、綠色環保標章、環保運動的需求 也逐漸增加(Hatane, Yosari, & Hendautomo, 2012),而企業為了迎合消費者對環保 的追求,引進了大量的綠色產品(Kangun, Carlson, & Grove, 1991)。然而,當消費 者陎臨到市場上琳琅滿目的綠色產品時,常會因為無法辨別真正屬於綠色並擁有 良好品質的產品而陷入兩難。這時,品牌可讓消費者有能力從不同的製造商中去 辨識產品,並依此推斷該製造商所生產產品的品質(Koehn, 2001)。因此,品牌的 重要性可見一斑。消費者對品牌的知識讓其在綠色產品的選購及評估上扮演著相 當關鍵的角色,若消費者對某品牌的印象較差,其綠色產品的品質也會產生負陎 的評價。總之,將環保與品牌知識結合,激發了消費者對綠色產品品質的信心及 實際的購買行為(Lin & Huang, 2012; Wheeler, Sharp, & Thiel, 2013)。

儘管消費者表達出對環境的關懷,但是他們在綠色產品的購買上卻不如預期 (Gleim, Smith, Andrews, & Cronin, 2013)。先前有研究指出,綠色態度和環保導向 行為間的關係是相當薄弱的,為了因應環保而生產綠色產品呈現不顯著的關係 (Martin & Simintiras, 1995; Wright & Klyn, 1998)。消費者的品牌知識常被視為影 響他們判斷產品及製造商的主要因素之一。而品牌的力量和最終價值主要是仰賴 消費者心中的品牌知識(Keller, 2001)。消費者對品牌所感受、認識、看見、聽到、 知覺會直接影響他們的產品的印象。因此本研究主張,需要將品牌知識納入考量 以補足消費者對綠色產品購買決策之研究。

消費者意識的崛貣讓消費者較有意願去選購他們較喜愛且熟悉的品牌(Chi, Yeh, & Yang, 2009)。一旦消費者有不佳的購買經驗時,該品牌產品的品質評價就

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會受到影響(Dodds, Monroe, & Grewal, 1991)。此外,雖然消費者基於環保的考量 而購買綠色產品,但他們其實對綠色產品的品質存在著質疑(Tsay, 2009)。因此, 雖然購買綠色產品可以幫助改善環境的品質,但是產品本身的品質是受到挑戰 的。因消費者對綠色產品的預期和實際的認知存在著差距,使得許多綠色產品不 能滿足消費者的期待而引發其購買動機(D'Souza, Taghian, Lamb, & Peretiatkos, 2006; Tseng & Hung, 2013),另外,消費者對綠色產品知覺品質的定量方法也尚 未出現(Tseng & Hung, 2013)。

來源國對消費者在評價較陌生或外來的產品時,是很重要的考量線索 (Jiménez & Martín, 2010)。產品的製造國會影響消費者的品牌知識,而先前有研 究 顯 示 , 來 源 國 會 影 響 消 費 者 的 認 知 (Chao, 1993; Verlegh, Steenkamp, & Meulenberg, 2005)及產品的評價(Bilkey & Nes, 1982; Lee, Lee, & Lee, 2013)。然而, 卻有一些研究主張來源國形象並非影響消費者評價的主要線索,其對消費者在產 品評價上的影響是不顯著的(Erickson, Johansson, & Chao, 1984; Manrai, Lascu, & Manrai, 1998)。

此外根據 Keller (1993)的研究,將品牌知識分為品牌形象與品牌知名度來探 討,事實上,品牌形象是指消費者對品牌的看法及感受,而品牌知名度則是能讓 消費者稱呼及認識一個品牌。雖然品牌形象與品牌知名度存在差異,但是對於行 銷來說都是不容忽視的課題。而過去大部份的研究主要著重在品牌形象(Jo, Nakamoto, & Nelson, 2003; Lin & Hsu, 2011; Sääksjärvi & Samiee, 2011; Salinas & Pérez, 2009)或是品牌知名度(Homburg, Klarmann, & Schmitt, 2010; Mattera, Baena, & Cerviño, 2012;Valkenburg & Buijzen, 2005; Yildirim & Aydın, 2012)。然而卻甚少 有研究將兩者與綠色產品做結合並探討。為能補足過去研究的缺口,本研究旨在 探討品牌知識、來源國形象、知覺品質對綠色產品購買意願的影響。除本章節外, 第貳章將回顧相關文獻;第叁章將建立本研究架構與研究方法;第肆章會將回收的 有效樣本 268 份進行資料分析並說明;第伍章則根據分析結果進行結果討論;最後, 在第陸章提出管理上的意涵與未來研究方向。

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ix

貳、文獻探討 綠色產品

所謂「綠色」是指環境保護的交替作用(Shrum, McCarty, & Lowrey, 1995), 且常用來指一個產品或服務在經濟發展的同時能夠保存至下一代。由於環保意識 的抬頭,綠色產品的發展不僅是一個重要議題(Wee et al., 2011),更是消費者選 購產品的優先考量,因為綠色產品的設計可以降低能源及自然資源的消耗 (Blengini et al., 2012; Wee et al., 2011)還能避免造成環境的衝擊和傷害(Tomasin et al., 2013)。Dangelico and Pontrandolfo (2010)指出,綠色產品是對環境傷害較低 的產品,且比貣一般的產品,對環境較也較有益。而消費者對環境的關注也會影 響其對綠色產品的購買(Roberts & Bacon, 1997)。綠色產品不只可以避免環境的衝

擊,還能 改善企業 的 績效 並獲 得競爭優 勢 (Dangelico & Pontrandolfo, 2010; Tomasin et al., 2013)。而隨著綠色市場的成長,在 2008 年總市值為 5 千億美元, 可見環保的潮流逐漸成為市場的主流(Kaprelian, 2007)。表 2-1 是近年來對綠色產

品的相關研究,因為綠色產品已成為全球熱門的趨勢之一,近年來更是吸引愈多 的關注,而表 2-1 是本研究依據綠色產品的特性所區分的三個構陎:環保、組織、 財務。

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x

表 2-1 綠色產品的特性

構陎 作者 特性

環保 Tseng and Hung

(2013)

減少自然資源消耗 降低環境衝擊 改善環境品質 提高環保意識

Lin and Huang (2012) 降低污染 避免環境傷害 減少有毒物質產生 Tomasin et al. (2013) 減少使用 重覆利用 循環使用 回收再用 回收拯救 回收再造 組織 Tsai (2012) 增加競爭優勢 滿足綠色消費需求 節省原物料成本 具回收價值 Dangelico and Pontrandolfo (2010) 使用回收材料 使用回收能源

Smith and Yen (2010) 延長產品生命週期 改善產品回收再利用 財務 Tomasin et al. (2013) 改善財務績效 改善企業績效 提升使用效率

Su, Wang, and Ho (2012)

降底再造成本 降底增量成本

品牌知識

品牌在行銷上是很重要的因素,因為人們常會注重產品的品質,而品牌通常 代表著品質(Chiang & Jang, 2006)。品牌知識是指消費者心中存在著對品牌所有 相關的描述及評價(Keller, 2003)。換句話說,品牌知識是與消費者行為做連結, 並影響他們的購買行為。Keller (2003)將品牌知識分為兩個構陎:品牌形象與品牌

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知名度。同樣地,Alimen and Cerit (2009)、Esch, Langner, Schmitt, and Geus (2006)、 Faircloth, Capella, and Alford (2001)的研究皆使用這兩構陎去評估及分析品牌知 識。而品牌形象又可分為功能性、象徵性、經驗性;而品牌知名度則是由品牌回 想及品牌辨識所構成。

品牌形象

品牌形象在市場上扮演相當重要的角色(Mudambi, Doyle, & Wong, 1997)。它 不只是企業重要的無形資產,更是管理者需考量的關鍵因素(Ho, Chang, Hung, Chen, & Chiu, 2009)。品牌形象是一種主觀的認知現象,透過自身的闡釋存在消 費者的心中(Dobni & Zinkhan, 1990)。品牌形象可讓消費者從眾多不同的競爭者 中去辨識某一企業的產品(Padgett & Allen, 1997),它可以是一個名字、一個設計、 或是一種顏色來代表一家企業(Chi, Yeh, & Huang, 2009)。品牌形象反映消費者對 品牌的認知(Cretu & Brodie, 2007),因為品牌形象是消費者對產品的連結(Dobni & Zinkhan, 1990),且此認知會影響該品牌在市場上的定位(Hu, Liu, Wang, & Yang, 2012)。而品牌形象包含三個構陎:功能性、象徵性、經驗性(Park, Jaowrski, & Maclnnis, 1986)。

品牌知名度

品牌知名度可讓消費者辨識其較喜愛的品牌(Farhana, 2012)。品牌知名度是 指消費者有能力從不同的情況下去回想及辨識一個品牌(Aaker, 1996; Keller, 2001),忽視產品的類別,而是基於消費者的感知頻率(Hellofs & Jacobson, 1999)。 品牌知名度可以強化消費者對品牌的記憶,讓其有能力從眾多的品牌名稱、標誌、 符號、特性、口號及包裝中去辨識該品牌(Farhana, 2012)。因此消費者可以透過 品牌知名度簡化決策的過程(Macdonald & Sharp, 2000)。而品牌知名度需要被重 視,因為它可幫助品牌贏得領導地位,並提升企業的競爭優勢,還可維持公司長 期的價值(Macdonald & Sharp, 2003)。

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來源國形象

在全球化的時代下,瞭解來源國效應已成近年來的趨勢(Maheswaran, 2006)。 當消費者陎臨到陌生的產品時,來源國形象則扮演著相當重要的外部線索 (Manrai et al., 1998),而這會直接影響消費者的認知及評價(Jiménez & Martín, 2010)。品牌來源國是指產品的製造及設計的國家(Chao, 1993)。Nagashima (1970) 將來源國形象定義為消費者心中對特定國家產品所產生的印象。Roth and Romeo (1992)則指出,來源國形象是消費者對特定國家產品的認識,基於他們先前對該 國家產品的認知及行銷的強弱。消費者可以透過來源國來瞭解產品的製造地點。 而比貣較差的來源國形象,如果品牌的來源國形象較佳的話,愈容易被消費者接 受(Verlegh et al., 2005)。因此來源國形象對消費者在品牌的抉擇上扮演著重要角 色。 知覺品質

當消費者做決策時,知覺品質是相當關鍵的考量因素(Jin & Suh, 2005)。若 消費者對產品的知識有限或不熟悉時,消費者通常較傾向從知覺品質的外部線索 來判斷產品的品質(Oh, 2000; Rao & Monroe, 1988)。Bhuian (1997)將知覺品質定 義為消費者對產品規格或附加價值的評價。簡言之,知覺品質是消費者對產品優 勢的判斷(Hanzaee & Yazd, 2010)。知覺品質是消費者對產品總體品質的認知,也 是其主觀判斷及感受產品品質的結果(Dodds et al., 1991; Zeithaml, 1988),消費者 會根據先前的經驗及感受來評判產品的品質(Chi, Yeh, & Yang, 2009)。因此,知 覺品質並不需要與實際產品品質連結,而是消費者先前購買產品的經驗來判定產 品的品質(Li, 2009)。隨著環保議題逐漸受到重視,消費者對綠色產品的興趣也大 大提升(Elliott, 2013)。而愈有環保意識的消費者愈會對綠色產品的品質較具信心 (Lin & Huang, 2012)。

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購買意願

購買意願是評估消費者行為的重要指標(Wu, Yeh, & Hsiao, 2011)。在購買產 品之前,消費者會基於先前的經驗和外部的環境來搜集產品資訊,接著開始進行 產品的評估與比較,直到所搜集到的資料達到一定標準時才產生購買行為(Lin & Lin, 2007)。購買意願是指消費者在未來有傾向或有意願購買某樣產品的可能性 (Wu et al., 2011),而這個可能性會隨著購買意願的增加而提升(Dodds et al., 1991)。 由於環保已成為全球最熱門的趨勢之一(Su et al., 2012),消費者對綠色產品的購 買需求也隨之增加(Alwitt & Pitts, 1996)。儘管綠色產品的價格相對較高,但消費 者卻願意付較多的錢去購買綠色產品(Shrum et al., 1995; Su et al., 2012)。簡而言 之,比貣非綠色產品,消費者對綠色產品的購買意願較高(Wheeler et al., 2013)。

品牌形象、知覺品質與購買意願

消費者對環保與綠色產品消費的研究已成為近來的趨勢(Ramayah, Lee, & Mohamad, 2010; Strizhakova & Coulter, 2013)。人們愈加關注環保行為,且更有意 願付較多的錢購買綠色產品(Strizhakova & Coulter, 2013)。確切地說,年紀愈大 的消費者會認為綠色產品的品質較佳,也更願意購買綠色產品(Tsay, 2009)。而透 過品牌形象,消費者有能力去辨識產品和其品質(Lin & Lin, 2007)。若綠色產品 的品牌形象愈佳的話,消費者也會對認知品質產生一致的評價(Chiang & Jang, 2006),也就是說品牌形象愈佳,知覺品質也愈佳(Grewal, Krishnan, Baker, & Borin, 1998)。基於上述文獻,本研究提出:

假說一:綠色產品的品牌形象與知覺品質呈正相關

由於消費者對綠色產品的關注日益明顯(Strizhakova & Coulter, 2013),使得 購買意願也因環保的考量而受影響(Hartmann & Apaolaza-Ibáñez, 2012)。換句話 說,消費者通常將他們對環境的關注反應在對綠色產品的購買上 (Martin & Simintiras, 1995)。因此,比貣非綠色產品,購買綠色產品對消費者來說更有吸引 力。當消費者認為產品的品牌形象較高的話,其購買意願也會提高(Kamins &

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Marks, 1991)。消費者陎臨品牌形象較高的產品,通常會有較高的購買意願(Lin & Lin, 2007)。基於上述發現,本研究提出:

假說二:綠色產品的品牌形象與購買意願呈正相關

品牌知名度、知覺品質與購買意願

品牌知名度會影響消費者對品牌的認知(Macdonald & Sharp, 2003)。若產品 有較高的品牌知名度時,其評價也會跟著提高。而品牌知名度愈高的產品愈容易 受到消費者的青睞,因其有較好的品質評價(Dodds et al., 1991; Grewal et al., 1998)。因此,品牌知名度很可能會正向影響知覺品質(Oh, 2000)。品牌知名度愈 高,知覺品質也會較高(Dodds et al., 1991)。隨著環保意識的抬頭,綠色產品受到 空前的歡迎。而一些消費者認為,綠色產品不只可以改善環境的品牌,它同時也 有好的品質(Tsay, 2009)。基於上述發現,本研究提出: 假說三:綠色產品的品牌知名度與知覺品質呈正相關 若產品有較高的品牌知名度,則愈容易贏得消費者的喜愛進而提高其購買意 願(Chi, Yeh, & Yang, 2009)。且只有品牌知名度的產生,購買意願才會發生 (Rossiter, Percy, & Donovan, 1991)。因此品牌知名度會對消費者在產品的選購上 產生強烈的影響(Chi, Yeh, & Yang, 2009; Macdonald & Sharp, 2000)。此外,消費 者對環境的態度也會讓他們有較高的意願去購買綠色產品(Ramayah et al., 2010)。 基於上述發現,本研究提出:

假說四:綠色產品的品牌知名度與購買意願呈正相關

來源國形象的調節角色

比貣發展中國家,若產品由已開發國家製造的話,會被認為有較好的品質 (Johansson & Nebenzahl, 1986)。來源國線索會影響知覺品質(Insch & McBride, 2004; Teas & Agarwal, 2000)和產品評價(Liu & Johnson, 2005; Srinivasan et al., 2004)。因此,許多良好形象的品牌會與高來源國形象做連結(Godey et al., 2012)。

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Papadopoulos and Heslop (1993)主張,良好的品牌形象會降底來源國的影響。同 樣地,一個家喻戶曉的品牌,來源國線索對消費者的產品評價來說影響微乎其微 (Erickson et al., 1984)。然而,卻有一些研究認為來源國形象對消費者的產品品質 知覺具有相當重要的影響。消費者通常較喜愛產品來自於形象較佳的來源國,因 此,可以發現來源國效果影響甚大,以致於品牌的選擇與購買決策就顯得微不足 道(Liu & Johnson, 2005)。事實上,在衡量產品時,來源國線索會對知覺品質產生 正向顯著的影響(Teas & Agarwal, 2000)。當消費者對產品較熟悉時,他們很有可 能會去評估產品的來源國訊息,因為有了這些資訊,消費者才能覺得放心 (Johansson & Nebenzahl, 1986; Johansson et al., 1985)。如此一來,來源國形象對 綠色產品的品質評價來說扮演著相當重要的角色。基於上述發現,本研究提出: 假說五:來源國形象調節綠色產品的品牌形象與知覺品質間的關聯 假說六:來源國形象調節綠色產品的品牌知名度與知覺品質間的關聯 知覺品質對購買意願的影響 知覺品質會直接影響消費者的購買,尤其在消費者對他們將購買的產品毫無 頭緒時(Aaker, 1991)。通常來說,當消費者認為產品具有良好的品質時,產品的 購買意願也會較高(Gatti, Caruana, & Snehota, 2012)。此外,許多研究也指出,知 覺品質會正向地影響消費者的購買意願(Akdeniz AR, 2012; Bhuian, 1997; Carman, 1990; Garretson & Clow, 1999; Ranjbarian, Sanayei, & Kaboli, 2012)。換句話說,若 消費者的知覺品質愈高,其購買意願也會受到影響並跟著提高(Yee & San, 2011)。 事實上,有機產品的品質比貣一般傳統的產品較高(Hjelmar, 2011),且消費者對 環境的態度會影響其對綠色產品的購買意願(Alwitt & Pitts, 1996)。而有許多消費 者較願意購買有機產品,因認為其品質較高(Hjelmar, 2011)。基於上述發現,本 研究提出:

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知覺品質的中介角色

由於環保的考量,消費者對品牌的態度會直接及間接地影響綠色產品的購買 意願(Hartmann & Apaolaza-Ibáñez, 2012)。Chiang and Jang (2006)提出品牌形象會 影響知覺品質,且會進一步產生購買行為。此外,消費者對知名品牌產品的購買 意願較高,因為他們相信品牌知名度較高的產品會有一定的品質。Oh (2000)也 證實品牌知名度會與知覺品質呈正相關。若產品有較高的品牌知名度,愈容易贏 得消費者的信心,進而提高其購買意願(Chi, Yeh, & Yang, 2009)。當消費者陎臨 到他們較喜愛的品牌,他們往往會認為產品有較好的品質,產生較高的購買意願。 基於上述發現,本研究提出: 假說八:綠色產品的品牌形象對購買意願的影響會讓知覺品質產生中介的效 假說九:綠色產品的品牌知名度對購買意願的影響會讓知覺品質產生中介的 效果 叁、研究方法 研究架構 基於文獻回顧,本研究提出研究架構。品牌形象與品牌知名度為自變數;來源國 為調節變數;知覺品質為中介變數;而購買意願則為依變數,並形成研究架構如 圖 3-1 所示:

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xvii 圖 3-1 研究架構圖 研究設計 愛美是人類的天性,保養品在台灣有七成的市佔率,且每年的總收益高達 429 億新台幣。根據統計資料顯示,在 2007 年全球的保養品市場中,天然有機 保養品的成長幅度高達 30%,但是一般傳統保養品卻只成長 5%。可見天然有機 保養品已逐漸成為消費者選購的重要概念,因此本研究以天然有機保養品為實驗 產品。而品木宣言、歐舒丹、DHC 皆是全球著名的保養品品牌,具都經由世界 上最具權威的有機認證機構 ECOCERT 認證通過。此外,這三個品牌分別代表不 同的來源國:美國(品木宣言)、法國(歐舒丹)、以及日本(DHC)。因此本研究以這 三大天然品牌來進行探討。本研究問卷是透過網路問卷的方式來發放,而選取的 受訪者須有購買經驗或最有意願購買這三個天然保養品品牌之一,抽樣方式是以 立意抽樣為主。 問卷設計 本研究問卷共包含 7 個部份,共 32 個題項,並以李克特 7 點尺度量表來衡 量,1 表示非常不同意;7 表示非常同意。其中有 3 個題項為反向是,是為預防共 同方法變異的問題。

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xviii 肆、研究分析 敘述性統計分析 本研究總共回收 268 份有效問卷,其中有 244 位女性(91%)、24 位男性(9%); 在年齡的部份,有 37 位年齡在 20 歲以下、142 位年齡介於 21 到 29 歲之間(53%)、 70 位年齡介於 30 到 39 歲之間(26%)、16 位年齡 40 到 49 歲之間(6%)、有 3 位年 齡在 50 歲以上(1%)。在教育程度上,有 188 位已取得大學學位(70%)、37 位學 歷在研究所以上(14%)、 43 位則是高中學位(16%)。在婚姻狀態方陎,大部份的 受訪者皆為單身,有 205 位(76%)、其餘 63 位已婚(24%)。 信、效度分析 本研究所有題項的Cronbach’s alpha 皆介於 .964 ~ .967 之間,大於 .7 的標 準,顯示出本研究問卷具有良好的信度(Nunnally, 1978)。此外本研究利用驗證式 因 素 分 析 來 進 行 模 型的 操 作 , 結 果 發 現 所有 題 項 的 因 素 負 荷 量 皆 大 於 .5 ( .598~ .945)、組合信度大於 .6 ( .899~.957)、平均變異萃取量(AVE)大於 .5 ( .632~.818),顯示出本研究具有良好的收斂效度。此外,表 4-1 顯示,所有變數 AVE 值平方根皆大於變數間的相關係數,意指本研究具有良好的區別效度。 表 4-1 區別效度 變數 1 品牌形象 2 品牌知名度 3 來源國 4 知覺品質 5 購買意願 1品牌形象 .795 2品牌知名度 .719 .800 3來源國 .591 .623 .860 4知覺品質 .701 .698 .768 .904 5購買意願 .736 .757 .703 .787 .834 同質性檢定 本研究以三個不同的品牌(品木宣言、歐舒丹、DHC)做同質性的檢定,結果 發現三個品牌對品牌形象(F=1.717, p> .05)、品牌知名度(F=2.528, p> .05)、來源

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xix 國形象(F=1.756, p> .05)、知覺品質(F=.100, p> .05)、購買意願(F=.248, p> .05)並 沒有顯著的差異,表示變數間並不會因品牌的不同而產生差異,三個品牌具有同 質性(表 4-2)。 表 4-2 品牌同質性檢定結果 變數 Mean F value 品木宣言 (n=98) 歐舒丹 (n=95) DHC (n=75) 品牌形象 5.76 5.52 5.57 1.717 品牌知名度 5.55 5.41 5.19 2.528 來源國形象 5.59 5.73 5.87 1.756 知覺品質 5.64 5.71 5.67 .100 購買意願 5.73 5.64 5.65 .248 *p< .05, **p< .01, ***p< .001 路徑分析 假說一:綠色產品的品牌形象與知覺品質呈正相關。綠色產品的品牌形象對 知覺品質的路徑係數為 .119 (t=.288, p>.05),沒有達到顯著水準,表示綠色產品 的品牌形象對知覺品質不會有直接的影響關係。因此假說一不成立。 假說二:綠色產品的品牌形象與購買意願呈正相關。綠色產品的品牌形象對 購買意願的路徑係數為 .224 (t=2.586, p< .01),有顯著正向影響,表示綠色產品 的品牌形象愈高時,消費者的購買意願也會較高。因此假說二成立。 假說三:綠色產品的品牌知名度與知覺品質呈正相關。綠色產品的品牌知名 度對知覺品質的路徑係數為 .970 (t=2.159, p< .05),有顯著正向影響,表示綠色 產品的品牌知名度愈高時,產品的知覺品質也會較高。因此假說三成立。 假說四:綠色產品的品牌知名度與購買意願呈正相關。綠色產品的品牌知名 度對購買意願的路徑係數為 .305 (t=3.208, p< .01),有顯著正向影響,表示綠色 產品的品牌知名度愈高時,消費者的購買意願也會較高。因此假說四成立。 假說五:來源國形象調節綠色產品的品牌形象與知覺品質間的關聯。來源國

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xx 形象對綠色產品品牌形象與知覺品質的路徑係數為 .796 (t=1.054, p> .05),沒有 達到顯著水準,表示來源國形象並不會對綠色產品的品牌形象與知覺品質產生干 擾效果。因此假說五不成立。 假說六:來源國形象調節綠色產品的品牌知名度與知覺品質間的關聯。來源 國形象對綠色產品品牌知名度與知覺品質的路徑係數為 . -1.314 (t=1.855, p> .05),沒有達到顯著水準,表示來源國形象並不會對綠色產品的品牌知名度與 知覺品質產生干擾效果。因此假說六不成立。 假說七:綠色產品的知覺品質與購買意願呈正相關。綠色產品的知覺品質對 購買意願的路徑係數為 417 (t=4.406, p< .001),有顯著正向影響,表示綠色產品 的知覺品質較高時,產品的購買意願也會較高。因此假說七成立。 為了檢驗假說八和假說九,本研究進一步探討變數間的直接效果與間接效果。 從表 4-3 可得知,品牌形象對購買意願的直接效果為 .224,間接效果為 .050, 直接效果大於間接效果,表示知覺品質並不會產生中介效果,因此假說八不成立; 而品牌知名度對購買意願的直接效果為 .305,間接效果為 .404,兩者均達顯著, 表示知覺品質會對兩變數間產生部份中介的效果,因此假說九成立。 表 4-3 路徑分析的直接效果、間接效果與總效果 路徑 直接效果 間接效果 總效果 品牌形象 知覺品質 .119 - .119 品牌形象 購買意願 .224** .050 .274*** 品牌知名度 知覺品質 .970* - .970* 品牌知名度 購買意願 .305*** .404*** .709*** 知覺品質 購買意願 .417*** - .417*** *p< .05, **p< .01, ***p< .001

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xxi 伍、結果討論 本研究結果發現品牌形象、品牌知名度與知覺品質會對綠色產品的購買意願 產生顯著的影響。另外,本研究也發現綠色產品的品牌形象並不會對知覺品質產 生顯著的影響,因為綠色產品的設計有益於環保、人類的健康、以及維持永續發 展的目的,因此人們會對生產綠色產品的品牌抱持著正陎的態度,進而有較高的 品牌形象。然而雖然因為兼顧環保而有良好的品牌形象,但並不代表每樣綠色產 品的品質也成正比,因產品品質有優劣之分,導致產品品質認知也有所差異。此 外,本研究結果也發現來源國並不會對綠色產品的品牌形象與品牌知名度對知覺 品質的影響產生干擾的效果,因為本研究來源國的選取主要為已開發的國家(美 國、法國、日本),其品牌皆具有一定的知名度,因此消費者並不會花額外的精 力去確認產品的來源國進而影響其知覺品質。 陸、學術貢獻、管理意涵及研究方向 過去大部份有關環保議題的研究主要著墨於綠色行銷或綠色消費,然而卻甚 少談及綠色產品的品牌知識。因此本研究探討了品牌知識、知覺品質、來源國形 象對綠色產品購買意意願的影響。而管理者也可建立良好的品牌知名度讓消費者 產生高品質的知覺,進而有較高的購買意願。消費者通常會對注重環保與綠色產 品開發的企業給予正陎的評價,而為了促進產品的推廣,企業可以推出綠色產品 的銷售來贏得消費者的信心並改善其競爭優勢。對企業來說,綠色產品可以使其 盡到對環境與社會的責任,並且達到永續經營的目的,這也是綠色產品運用的優 勢所在。 在未來建議上,未來研究可以將綠色產品的品牌與非綠色品牌進行比較,用 以得知消費者是否是基於環保的考量而去購買綠色產品;未來研究也可以將涉入 理論或消費價值理論做整合來探討購買意願的影響,或是加入知覺有用性的變數 來分析對綠色產品購買意願的影響。

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A Study of Purchase Intention of Green Products: the

Perspectives of Brand Knowledge, Country of Origin

Image, and Perceived Quality

Advisor: Dr. Phil Y. Yang

Master program of Business Administration National Taichung University of Education

Student: Min Tseng

Master program of Business Administration National Taichung University of Education

ABSTRACT

Driven by environmental concern, consumers are gradually aware of green products. The transformation of consumer orientation leads to a variety of green products available in the marketplace, especially in the cosmetics products. Empirically, the purchase intention of green products does not necessarily lead to the practical sales. The purchase intention of green products has rarely been discussed in the prior researches. This study investigates the interplay of brand knowledge, country of origin image and perceived quality to shed light on the reasons. This study conducts a survey of 268 green cosmetics customers from three major brands, including ORIGINS, L'OCCITANE, and DHC. Specifically, these brands stand for different country of origin such as the U.S., France, and Japan. The results show that brand knowledge of green products is partially related to perceived quality but is positively related to purchase intention. However, the country of origin image does not moderate the relationships between brand knowledge of green products and perceived quality. This study discusses the findings and provides the management implications. This study contributes to enhance the understanding of the purchase intention of green products and provides the insight of effective green products marketing, due to the arousing of environmental concern.

Keywords: Green products, brand knowledge, country of origin image, perceived

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Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Research background

Due to the impacts of global warming, people are taking the issue of environmental protection more seriously than ever. Environmental consciousness and environmental protection are expected to prosper in the mind-set of each person. With the rapid development of the economy, the behavior of over consumption is frequently being reported. According to the Agenda 21 which was drawn up by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production are the major causes of the continued deterioration of the global environment. Prior study indicated the inhabitants of industrialized countries consume four to eight times more resources than people who live in agricultural societies and use 15 to 30 times more resources than people living in hunter-gatherer societies (Slater & Warhurst, 2009). The conditions of resource waste, environmental destruction, and even economic crisis are totally against the values of pursuing green energy saving.

Putting environmental protection into practice is an important element to establish a country’s green image. Consumers purchase green products to reflect their attitudes of supporting environmental protection. Figure 1-1 shows the consumers of green products from emerging countries and developed countries from 2002 to 2013. Specifically, most of the countries are emerging markets (e.g., India, China, Pakistan, Russia, Mexico, and Turkey). The trend indicated these developed and emerging markets are paying increasing attention to environmental concern and green products. These countries show a stable rise in the perceived availability of sustainable goods. Shrinking minorities of consumers in these countries expressing enough sustainable products are on offer. In addition, the Figure shows a steep rise in the perceived

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availability of sustainable goods until 2009-2011. Thus, after the economic depression from 2009 and 2011, the availability of green products started to rise to reflect the bounce in the demand for green products.

Figure 1-1 The Percentage of Sufficient Green Products Available

Source: Jones (2013)

Moreover, taking the top five green countries around the world as an example, many countries started to adopt a great number of strategies to reduce environmental impact. In 2008, the Norwegian government purchased related technologies and equipment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40%; Sweden has gradually transferred to the use of biogas in vehicles in 1999 instead of the normal methane because of the introduction of a carbon tax in 1991; As of 2011, Costa Rica was planning to be a country with zero emissions of industrial carbon dioxide by

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developing new types of alternative energy sources, such as wind energy, solar power, biomass, hydropower, and geothermal power; In 2008, Switzerland was gradually reducing the amount of emissions by offering 20% discounts to those who arrived in hotels by hybrid cars, which has reduced their carbon output by 80% each year; The Icelandic Government has encouraged the residents in this small country to use "green" technology and the dependence of the energy sphere from coal was only 18% because Iceland developed a renewable energy policy that met 82% of its needs in 2009 (Ivana, 2010). Countries all want to prevent environmental degradation from the behavior of consumption and advocate the concept of green consumption. The issue of environmental protection is a very important trend in the field of marketing because it is one of the key factors to maintain everlasting development (Liu, Kasturiratne, & Moizer, 2012; Rex & Baumann, 2007; Sharma & Iyer, 2012).

Driven by environmental concern, consumers have gradually been inclined to choose environmentally friendly consumption patterns (i.e., green products). This is directly reflected in the increasing demand for green marketing, eco-labeling, and environmental movements (Hatane, Yosari, & Hendautomo, 2012), which cause companies to introduce various green products to respond to the growing concern for the environment (Kangun, Carlson, & Grove, 1991). However, when consumers face these varieties of green products, they may feel confused and cannot make up their minds to choose because they cannot distinguish what products are really green and also reach a certain quality. In this way, brands make consumers enable to identify and separate one producer from another, and have the ability to trace one good back to the manufacturer that holds responsibility for its quality (Koehn, 2001). Consumers’ brand knowledge may play a key role in green products purchases and affect the evaluation of green products. If consumers have a negative perception of a brand, the quality of the green product would be perceived negatively. In sum, the combination

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of environmental concern and brand knowledge stimulate consumers’ confidence in the quality of green products and actual purchasing behavior (Lin & Huang, 2012; Wheeler, Sharp, & Thiel, 2013). Therefore, brand knowledge and perceived quality are both important to the purchase intention of green products.

1.2 Research motivation

In addition to governments, academia and corporations are also increasingly interested in manufacturing green products to reduce the impact on the environment (Dutta, Trappey, & Trappey, 2010). In academia, researchers mainly focus on finding ways to minimize the damage to the environment, such as integrated waste management and life cycle assessment (Blengini, Busto, Fantoni, & Fino, 2012), exploring sustainability in supply chains (Tomasin, Pereira, Borchardt, & Sellitto, 2013), and changing manufacturing processes and conducting end-of-life management (Wee, Lee, Yu, & Wang, 2011). For corporations, companies pursue environmentally sound products to make their environmental claims credible (Blengini et al., 2012) and improve their performance (Tomasin et al., 2013).

Despite consumers expressing concern for environmental protection and green products, they do not purchase them as much as expected (Gleim, Smith, Andrews, & Cronin, 2013). Previous studies showed the relationship between “green” attitudes and environmentally oriented behavior is rather weak. The manufacturing of green products in response to environmental issues is insignificant (Gill, Crosby, & Taylor, 1986; Martin & Simintiras, 1995; Wright & Klyn, 1998). Consumers’ brand knowledge is often regarded as one of the main factors influencing their judgment of the product and its manufacturer. The power of the brand and its ultimate value to the firm mainly depends on the brand knowledge that has been formed and created in consumers’ minds (Keller, 2001). What consumers feel, learn, see, hear, and perceive

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about a brand will directly affect their impression of the product. This study argues one needs to consider brand knowledge to supplement the investigation of purchase decisions for green products. This is one of the research motivations of this study.

The rising of consumer consciousness has made consumers purchase their favorite and familiar brands (Chi, Yeh, & Yang, 2009). Once consumers have a bad purchase experience, their feeling and attitude toward the brand of that product and also the quality judgments of the product will be influenced (Dodds, Monroe, & Grewal, 1991). In contrast, if consumers have a positive feeling about a product, they will perceive that brand’s products as being good quality. Moreover, consumers buy green products due to environmental concerns, but they believe that green products are usually low quality (Tsay, 2009). Therefore, although purchasing green products can help improve environmental quality, the qualities of the products themselves are in doubt. Since gaps exist between customer’ expectations and their perceptions of green products, many green products cannot fulfill customer’ expectations and win their support (D'Souza, Taghian, Lamb, & Peretiatkos, 2006; Tseng & Hung, 2013). An approach to quantify consumers’ perceived quality of green products has not yet been provided (Tseng & Hung, 2013). This is the second motivation of this study.

In this rapidly changing global environment, a product’s country of origin association is not just a single country phenomenon (Chao, 1993). The country of origin is an important image to consider when studying consumer evaluation of unfamiliar and foreign products (Jiménez & Martín, 2010). The countries where the products are made may influence consumers’ brand knowledge. Prior studies showed country of origin affects consumers’ perceptions (Chao, 1993; Han, 1994; Verlegh, Steenkamp, & Meulenberg, 2005) and product evaluations (Bilkey & Nes, 1982; Hong & Wyer, 1989; Lee, Lee, & Lee, 2013; Maheswaran, 1994). Moreover, Esty, Srebotnjak, and Kim (2008) investigated the Environmental Performance Index (EPI)

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as a global measurement and ranked the environmental quality and policies in the world. They found the top five countries reputation for environmental health by geographic peer group, including East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and Americas (see Table 1-1). However, prior studies argued country of origin image is not the main cue that determines consumers’ evaluations. It has exerted an insignificant impact on consumers’ product evaluations (Erickson, Johansson, & Chao, 1984; Johansson, Douglas, & Nonaka, 1985; Manrai, Lascu, & Manrai, 1998). Compared to product quality and price, country of origin image is regarded as less significant by consumers as a choice determinant (Elliott & Cameron, 1994). Thus, this study is motivated to understand whether the green products’ country of origin image may influence consumers’ brand knowledge and perceived quality and to what extent it will affect it.

Table 1-1 EPI Ranking under Environmental Health by Geographic Position East Asia and the Pacific Europe Americas

Country Rank Country Rank Country Rank

Australia 1 United Kingdom 1 Canada 1 New Zealand 2 Ireland 2 United States 2

Japan 3 Sweden 3 Cuba 3

Malaysia 4 Germany 4 Chile 4

South Korea 5 France 5 Costa Rica 5 Source: Adapted from Esty et al. (2008)

Most previous studies focused on either brand image (Jo, Nakamoto, & Nelson, 2003; Lin & Hsu, 2011; Sääksjärvi & Samiee, 2011; Salinas & Pérez, 2009) or brand awareness (Homburg, Klarmann, & Schmitt, 2010; Mattera, Baena, & Cerviño, 2012;

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Valkenburg & Buijzen, 2005; Yildirim & Aydın, 2012). Further, in the study of Keller (1993), he split brand knowledge into brand image and brand awareness. In fact, brand image is talking about what consumers think and feel about a brand, but brand awareness is used to let consumers name and know about the brand. Brand image and brand awareness differ and are important for marketing; however, there is little research on linking these two brand concepts with green products. This study considers this as the third motivation.

1.3 Research purposes

To fill the research gaps, this study aims to examine brand knowledge and perceived quality of consumers and the effect of country of origin in the context of purchasing green products. For understanding consumers’ perception of the quality of green products, whether country of origin image plays an important or insignificant role in consumers’ perceptions and purchasing decisions is a further research motivation. Thus, this study includes green products, brand knowledge, country of origin image, perceived quality, and purchase intention as subjects for discussion.

According to the research motivation and research gaps, the purposes of this study are to examine (1) the effect of brand knowledge of green products on perceived quality and purchase intention, (2) the mediating effect of perceived quality on brand knowledge of green products and purchase intention, and (3) the moderating effect of the image of country of origin on green products’ brand knowledge and perceived quality.

1.4 Research procedure

The beginning of this study focuses on the research background, research motivation, research gap, and research purposes. This study elaborates on the topic

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and sketches the structure of this research in Chapter 1. Second, this study reviews the literature on green products, brand knowledge, country of origin image, perceived quality, and purchase intention. By doing so, this study constructs a research framework and develops several research hypotheses in Chapter 2. Third, after rationalizing the theoretical foundations of hypotheses development, this study develops a questionnaire. Fourth, this study analyzes the data from collecting samples. Last, according to the results of the analysis, this study conducts a discussion and reaches a conclusion. The procedure of this study is shown in Figure 1-2.

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Figure 1-2 The Procedure of the Research

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5,6

Research Motivation and Purpose

Literature Review

 Green Product  Perceived Quality  Brand Knowledge  Purchase Intention  Country of Origin Image

Research Framework and Hypotheses

Data Analysis

Discussion and Conclusion

Research Background

Data Collection

Questionnaire Development

Sampling Methods

Decide Analysis Methods

Pilot Study

Produce Formal Questionnaire

Chapter 2 Chapter 1

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Chapter 2 Literature Review

2.1 Green products

The term “green” is used interchangeably with pro-environmental (Shrum, McCarty, & Lowrey, 1995) and often refers to the products/services that allow for economic development while conserving for future generations. Because of environmental concern, the development of green products has not only become a significant issue (Wee et al., 2011), but also become consumers’ priorities because green products are designed to reduce the consumption of energy and natural resources (Blengini et al., 2012; Wee et al., 2011) and prevent from environmental harm and impacts on air, water, and soil (Tomasin et al., 2013). Dangelico and Pontrandolfo (2010) pointed out that green products are the products which have a lower environmental impact and provide higher environmental benefits compared to conventional products. Green products also can be defined as the products that are designed not only to lessen the consumption of natural resources required, but also minimize the adversely environmental impacts during the life-cycles of these products (Janssen & Jager, 2002; Tseng & Hung, 2013). Hence, green products can be described as the products that not only have less of an environmental impact but also are less detrimental to human health than those traditional products equivalent (Speer, 2011). Consumers’ environmental concern is suggested to influence purchasing behavior of environmentally sound products (Roberts & Bacon, 1997). Green products can not only prevent from environmental impact but also improve the firms’ performance and gain competitive advantage (Dangelico & Pontrandolfo, 2010; Tomasin et al., 2013). With the green marketplace growing with a projected worth of US$500 billion for 2008, the environmental movement becomes increasingly mainstream (Kaprelian, 2007). Based on environmentally-relevant measurements that surveyed by Simmons (2007), the number of behavioral greens, i.e., consumers with

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the most environmental behaviors and attitudes, has increased by 7.3 million and the green consumers consist of 62.4 million adults in 2007. Besides, more and more people gradually think greens and increasingly concern environment that has reached 47.5 million in 2007 (see Figure 2-1). It is obvious that consumers are increasingly inclined to choose environmental friendly consumption pattern (i.e., green products).

Figure 2-1 The Environmentally-relevant Measurements on Adult

Source: Simmons (2007)

To address the emerging trends of environment, marketers emphasize the eco-friendly products and incorporate green attributes of products into their existing products as a marketing strategy. For example, recycled paper, recycled plastic goods, dolphin-safe tuna, and Rainforest Crunch ice-cream are the examples of products positioned on the basis of environmental appeal (Banerjee, Gulas, & Iyer, 1995). According to the definitions for product certifications or standards, three categories are classified into: First-party standard/certification, Second-party standard/certification, and Third-party standard/certification.

55.1

43.7

60.1

42.8

62.4

47.5

0 20 40 60 80 100

Behavioral Greens Think Greens

in m il li on s Spring 2005 Spring 2006 Spring 2007

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According to the research of Air Quality Sciences (2009), First-party standard/certification is an individual or organization that offers a product, service or process that provides some type of verification of label, assurance, or certification to a standard or set of criteria (e.g., GreenSpec Directory). Second-party standard/certification is described an industry-based association, to which an individual or organization belongs, that provides the label, standard, or set of criteria for certification toward which a product, service, or process may aspire (e.g., ENERGY STAR, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and WaterSense). Third-party standard/certification is a product, service, or process that meets specified, standards, or industry-independent criteria according to the verification and is considered the leadership standards; besides, it provides the opportunity for market transformation and greater assurance that marketing claims truly reflect the products’ “green” capabilities (e.g., Cradle to Cradle, Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), Green Seal, and GREENGUARD Certification Program). Although these eight programs have significant differences, there are still building owners, homebuilders, contractors, and consumers feel confused in the market place. The Table 2-1 shows the comparison and percentage of the knowledge and awareness of eight green building product standards/certifications among industry players.

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Table 2-1 Awareness of Green Building Product Standards

Standard Program Logo Percent

Second-party standard ENERGY STAR 83%

First-party standard GreenSpec 21%

Third-party standard FSC 21%

Green Seal 19%

Second-party standard SFI 18%

Third-party standard Cradle to Cradle 16%

GREENGUARD 14%

Second-party standard WaterSense 14%

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Dangelico and Pontrandolfo (2010) concluded the product life cycle into three primary phases: before usage (including materials’ extraction, production processes, transportation processes), usage, and after usage (end-of-life). Specifically, green products provide consumers with a longer product life, a better energy efficiency, and cleaner materials that reduce the impact on the environment (Wee et al., 2011). In fact, the main category of green products can be distinguished respectively as materials (e.g., a product only uses recycled or natural materials), energy (e.g., a products only uses energy from renewable sources, and pollution (e.g., a product does not pollute) (Dangelico & Pontrandolfo, 2010). In 2000, there were about 50 companies obtaining and applying European Eco-label for their products, while at the beginning of 2010, this number has amazingly grown to more than 1000 (Dangelico & Pontrandolfo, 2010). It can be observed that consumers gradually tend to prefer choosing green products, resulting in more companies pursuing green approved.

Table 2-2 is the recent studies that investigate mainly in green products. That’s because green products have become a popular issue and attract more and more attentions in recent years. The following is the characteristics of green products from the view of ecology, organizations, and finance.

Table 2-2 The Characteristics of Green Products

Dimensions Authors The characteristics of green products Ecology Tseng and Hung

(2013)

Lessening consumption of natural resources

Minimizing the environmental impacts Improving environmental performance Rising environmental awareness

Murat AR (2012) Delivering environmental benefits

Decreasing in CO2 emissions Saving in water use

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Reducing waste and environmental damage for planet

Lin and Huang (2012)

Lowering pollution

Preventing environmental harm Limiting the harm of environment Reducing environmental impacts

Wee et al. (2011) Using less natural resources

Reducing or eliminate toxic substances

Dangelico and Pontrandolfo (2010)

Having a lower environmental impact Providing high environmental benefits Reducing the harm of society

Having less pollutant

Reducing pollution caused by others

Organizations Tomasin et al. (2013) Recovering

Reusing Recycling Redesigning Reducing

Remanufacturing

Improving processes and quality

Tsai (2012) Enhancing competitiveness in green

market

Meeting consumer demand for green Using fewer raw materials

Recycling potential Being repeatedly used

Dangelico and Pontrandolfo (2010)

Achieving competitive advantage Using less amount of materials Using only recycled materials

Using energy from renewable sources

Smith and Yen (2010)

Conforming to environmental regulations Facilitating subsequent product

maintenance

Improving product recycling, reusing, and remanufacturing

Finance Tomasin et al. (2013) Improving financial performance

Improving company performance Using energy efficiency

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Blengini et al. (2012) Changing transportation distance

Saving energy/material

Su, Wang, and Ho (2012)

Lowering the costs of remanufacture Lowering incremental costs

In Taiwan, the imports account for the bulk of green products market due to consumer perceptions of international brands has superior quality. The green products market in Taiwan is expected to maintain a strong growth in coming years as a result of market trends: a growing awareness of the health benefits of green products, the desire to pursue healthier lifestyles, an aging population, increasing purchasing power, the expansion of sales channels, and a growing acceptance of supplements by Taiwanese nutritionists and doctors (Wang, 2011). Furthermore, the retail market for green products in Taiwan is mature and competitive. Taking the nutritional supplements with green and natural ingredients for example, Taiwan in 2010 was the fourth largest nutritional supplements market that the consumers purchased US$965 million worth of nutritional supplements in Asia, behind Japan, Korea, and China (see Table 2-3). The market of green products in Taiwan has growth rate at a healthy 8-10% per year (Wang, 2011).

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Table 2-3 Taiwan Market Size for Nutritional Supplements Unit: USD millions 2009 2010 2011(estimated) 2012(estimated)

Total Market Size $892 $965 $1,050 $1,135

Total Local Production 278 288 300 305

Total Exports 55 58 60 60

Total Imports 669 735 810 890

Imports from the U.S. 160 183 205 220

*Total Market Size = (Total Local Production + Total Imports) – (Total Exports)

Source: Wang (2011)

2.2 Brand knowledge

Brand is an important factor in marketing because people care about the products’ quality and brand often represents quality (Chiang & Jang, 2006). A strong brand depends on its unique and positive association with consumer’s memory (Farhana, 2012). Consumer brand knowledge can be defined as all descriptive and evaluative brand-related information stored in consumers’ memories and mind-sets (Keller, 2003). In other words, brand knowledge will bond consumers’ behavior and influence their buying decision. It is very important to understand the structure and content of brand knowledge because it can affect what comes to mind when consumers think about a brand (Chen & He, 2003).

Keller (2003) divided brand knowledge into two components: brand image and brand awareness. He found a conceptual model of customer-based brand equity that has differential effect on consumer’s brand knowledge which is conceptualized as brand image and brand awareness (Keller, 1993). These two different components may affect consumer response to marketing activities and become a part of consumer

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memory. In fact, brand image and brand awareness can distinguish brand knowledge and influence consumer response and the strength, favorability, and uniqueness of the brand associations in consumer memory; further, brand awareness influences consumer decision making by affecting the formation and strength of brand association in brand image (Keller, 1993). Similarly, Alimen and Cerit (2009), Esch, Langner, Schmitt, and Geus (2006), and Faircloth, Capella, and Alford (2001), these studies uses two dimensions, brand image and brand awareness, to evaluate and analyze brand knowledge. The Figure 2-2 is shown to summarize the dimensions of brand knowledge, which is divided into brand image and brand awareness. Brand image consists of functional image, symbolic image, and experiential image. And brand awareness is composed by brand recall and brand recognition.

Figure 2-2 Dimensions of Brand Knowledge

Source: Keller (1993), page 7

2.2.1 Brand image

Brand image plays a powerful role in marketplace where it is increasingly difficult to differentiate products on the basis of product quality (Mudambi, Doyle, &

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Wong, 1997). It does not only act an important intangible asset for a firm, but also be one of the key factors considered by marketers (Ho, Chang, Hung, Chen, & Chiu, 2009). Brand image is defined as a subjective and perceptual phenomenon that is formed in the consumer’s mind through consumer interpretation (Dobni & Zinkhan, 1990). Brand image is the product for consumers to distinguish the firm's offering from competitors (Padgett & Allen, 1997). It can be a name, a design, and a color to represent a company (Chi, Yeh, & Huang, 2009). Brand image reflects consumer perception about a brand (Cretu & Brodie, 2007) because brand image is held by the consumer and linked to an offering (Dobni & Zinkhan, 1990). And this perception can influence the brand’s positioning in the market (Hu, Liu, Wang, & Yang, 2012) and is created by marketers' management of the brand, which includes three dimensions: functional, symbolic, and experiential (Park, Jaowrski, & Maclnnis, 1986).

Specifically, the concept of functional image refers to a brand matches the utilitarian set of criteria that consumers prefer, and this utilitarian set is related to a brand’s tangible attributes, reflecting its functional performance (Hu et al., 2012). Symbolic image means the desires for products that fulfill internally generated needs for self-enhancement, role position, group membership, or ego-identification (Park et al., 1986). And experiential image is defined as involving distinctly personal experiences and episodes or being related to past behaviors and experiences of friends, family or others (Keller, 2001). In sum, brand image includes what are the consumers’ experiences, opinions, attitudes toward the company and their brands as compared with other competitors (Akbar & Azhar, 2011), and it is characterized and stands for in the consumers’ minds (Keller, 2001).

2.2.2 Brand awareness

數據

Figure 1-1 The Percentage of Sufficient Green Products Available………….………2  Figure 1-2 The Process of the Research…………………………………...………….9  Figure 2-1 The Environmentally-relevant Measurements on Adult………….… …
表 2-1  綠色產品的特性
Figure 1-1 The Percentage of Sufficient Green Products Available
Table 1-1 EPI Ranking under Environmental Health by Geographic Position      East Asia and the Pacific          Europe                                      Americas
+7

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