Word "environment" is most commonly used describing "natural" environment and means the sum of all living and

non-living things that surround an organism, or group of organisms. Environment includes all elements, factors , and conditions that have some impact on growth and development of certain organism. Environmentalism is very important political and social movement with goal to protect nature environment by emphasizing importance of nature role in protection of the environment in combination with various actions and policies oriented to nature preservation.

The quality of the natural environment is directly related to peoples quality of life. Population growth and economic development put pressure on the sustainability of the natural environment. Pressure for expansion of the urban area into peripheral areas will have effects on the natural ecosystems of both the land and sea. A healthy natural environment is vitally important for all eco-systems and it is our responsibility to protect it. For protecting environment one should avoid buying peat products we can make our own compost for free and use it in your garden, buy organic foods. No artificial fertilizers or pesticides are used in production, preventing them from contaminating habitats and entering the food-chain, when out for a walk, avoid trampling on plants and try not to disturb the wildlife, dont block water courses, get involved with green initiatives or community clean up project and change attitudes towards our natural environment .

YEAR (1981)

AUTHOR Crosby, Gill and Taylor

STUDY concluded that environmental concern of people is a strong attitude towards preserving the environment and defined environmental awareness as a global attitude with indirect effects on behavior of people through behavioral intention. stated that consumers have displayed a willingness to respond to green concerns whilst not compromising on performance, convenience and price

(1993)

Berger

Hagius

environmental appeal is more persuasive than economic appeal even for consumers who are less involved with the environment concluded that while consumers environmental concerns would positively aect market shares of green products, extreme care must be taken to ensure that claims about products green credentials are based on solid foundations to prevent the inevitable consumer backlash. studied that the premises on consumers behavioral consequences towards environmental labeling.

(1996)

B.B. Schlegelmilch, G.M. Bohlen, and A. Diamantopoulos

(1996)

Whitson & Henry

To identify the usefulness of label information and its increase in production levels has been successful on a general basis, rather than on environmental. (1996) Laroche showed concerned related to the environment are evident in the increasingly environmentally conscious market place. Over the years majority consumers have realized that their purchasing behavior has a direct impact on many ecological problems. observed that the consumers who are concerned on the environment can be

(1997)

Minton & Rose

itself but also on products, brands and activities that might affect it (1997) Maloney and Ward found that ecological concern is related to the degree of emotions, the amount of specific factual knowledge, and the level of willingness as well as the extent of the outcomes of behavioral intention, recycling behavior and purchase intention on eco-friendly products on pollution issues. showed that consumers difficulty in locating environmentally directed products is partly due to lack of information

(1998)

Brown and Whalers

of regulations or the implications that permit business to place such labels on their products. This may perhaps be one of the reasons over confusion of product claims (2002) M.A. Janssen and W. Jager Stimulating identified that when consumers lack full information about the environmental quality of products, green products tend to be over-priced to send a signal of being clean said that consumer awareness of green product has been increasing, a large number is still unfamiliar with green products or their implications to the environment benecial

(2006)

K. Nyborg, R.B. Howarth, & K.A. Brekke

(2007)

K.C. Jones

concluded that few consumers are willing to compromise performance, quality, or price in their purchasing behavior in exchange of greenness.

(2008)

Arlington Virginia

estimated that 33 percent of consumers say they expect to make some type of green CE purchase within the next two years

(2010)

The Times of India

Indians are the most aware eco-friendly people while Americans the least towards environmentally sustainable consumption patterns

(1990)

Clancy &Gary

observed that consumers will spend up to 10 per cent more for products which are environmentally safe and investors are favoring companies with a good environmental record concluded that the amount that consumers are willing to pay for organic foods seems to depend on few variables such as the type of food, the relative cost of a comparable conventionally produced item and the absolute price of the item

(1991)

Jolly

(1992)

Dr. Frieder Rubik

said that the consumer surveys carried out revealed a mixed picture - with dramatic differences in the levels of awareness of established eco-labels.

There was a high level of awareness of the established national ecolabels in Norway (the White Swan 70%) and Germany (the Blue Angel 56.6%), but extremely low awareness in Italy and Spain. There was also very low consumer awareness overall of the EU Flower eco-label

(1994)

Wasik & Drumwright

observed that, while various writers in the area of green marketing are questioning the influence of practicing environmentalism in business consequent to the accelerating number of green consumers globally, marketers have continued to grapple with the question of understanding consumers buying intention towards green products.

(1995)

Byrne & Davies

identified that lack of green product availability in stores is considered as one of the barriers for consumers to purchase these products. found that eco-friendly consumers are less likely to consider price as important compared to whose consumers who dont and never purchase eco-friendly products before. studied on consumer purchasing patterns have produced mixed results. On the one hand, studies have clearly shown that consumers from many industrialized countries around the world express an interest in purchasing green products.

(2000)

Williams and Hammitt

(2001)

Chan & Lau

(2001)

Laroche

identified that the most convincing evidence supporting the growth of ecologically favorable consumer behavior is the increasing number of individuals who are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products

(2002)

Thogersen & Olander

concluded when new opportunities for environmentally-friendly behavior are offered, consumers holding environmentally-friendly values adjust their behavior to be more consistent with their values. This finding implies that consumers who hold green values will demonstrate greener behavior if presented with relevant products or services

(2002) Birgittagatersleben, showed that the consumers who behave more Lindasteg, & Charlesvlek pro-environmentally do not necessarily use less energy. Also, pro-environmental behavior is more strongly related to attitudinal variables, whereas household energy use is primarily related to variables such as income and household size. More multidisciplinary research seems necessary to identify variables that influence the actual environmental impact of household consumer behavior

(2004) Vermeir & Verbeke

concluded that the Consumers do not always buy sustainable products as consequences of environmental concern or to benefit the community or due to personal beliefs but mainly to give priority to health, to be part of the social group, to distinguish from others and to accomplish the need to try out new technologies.
stated that consumers are price sensitive toward green products and the price attribute has affected consumers purchasing decision toward green products

(2004) Anderson and Hansen

(2005)

De Pelsmacker

identify reasons for less green consumption such as lack of availability of green products, disbelief of green claims and lack of information said that the second most common action taken by the U.S. consumer was to watch a TV program regarding the environment concluded that only 22 percent consumers actually understood that green usually means less harmful than before rather than positively good for the earth

(2007)

Deborha Nabzony

(2008)

Jessica Stillman

(2008)

Kent Ragen

said that Consumers do appear to be identifying small and large changes they can make in their lives to be sensitive to the environment, and engaging even in activities that require moderate investments of their time and energy.

(2009)

Boston

analyzed that despite the dire state of the economy, 34 percent of American consumers indicate they are more likely to buy environmentally responsible products today, and another 44 percent indicate their environmental shopping habits have not changed as a result of the economy. Fewer than one-in-10 (8 percent) say they are less likely to buy

(2009)

Suzanne Shelton noticed that about 3/4 of the population consistently pops up as participating in at least some green attitudes and behaviors, and the Earth Sense Eco-insights study confirmed this. Papadopoulos argued that environmentally concerned person who believes that pollution is a problem and also have a favorable attitude toward greening environment are more inclined to purchase green products

(2009),

(2010)

Melissa Singer

analyzed that the survey by the Australian Food and Grocery Council found nearly a quarter of households have switched to using recycled toilet paper examined that consumers account for more than 60% of final consumption in the OECD area, and can have a major impact on green growth by purchasing products that have desirable environmental properties such as recyclability and energy efficiency, and by modifying their behavior to support environmental goals

(2011)

OECD

Our natural environment is a priceless part of our heritage: plants and soils help to purify water, forests act as natural carbon sinks, and all animals have a role to play in the food-chain. With the continuing increase in environmental damage, there will be a time when it will reach a point of no return, and the planet will no longer be able to support its own functioning At the same time environmental consciousness has been increasing, whereas environmental friendly behavior has not. To reduce the gap between these, better understanding and appropriate information on the environmental changes are needed. The government is implementing number of policies and practices for safeguarding the environment and for spreading the environmental awareness among public but still level of awareness has not reached to a desired level

So, therefore it is essential to study the pressure to purchase goods and services of all sorts and to assess their impact on the environment, our social relationships and our well-being which consumers need to understand properly and act accordingly in everyday life. The review of the literature clearly indicates that there is a gap between environmental consciousness and eco-friendly behavior. The present study entitled A STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL AWAERNESS AND ITS IMPACT ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR is an attempt to provide an insight into the present problem.

To understand the consumers level of awareness of environmental issues. To identify the consumers eco-friendly behavior. To find out the problems faced by consumers in adopting eco-friendly practices. To analyze the gap between awareness and practices of consumers towards eco-friendly consumption

To accomplish the above desired objectives, the study has been conducted by collecting primary data as well as secondary data. The primary study is being organized by the responses collected by the respondents through interview and questionnaire. The respondents selected for this study are basically the customers who are conscious about environment.

Serial No

Population

Sample size

Sampling Method

Respondents

1.

Agra City

60 Consumers (30 Male + 30 Female)

Convenience sampling

Consumers

Since the study is being conducted in Agra, personal visits and informal meetings are the basis of present study. Secondary Data Analysis The data has been collected through white papers, articles, journals, online published articles and books available on the related topic.