Zillur Rahman

This study reviewed 53 empirical articles on green purchase behavior from 2000 to 2014. This is one of the first study that reviewed articles related to attitude - behaviour inconsistencies in the context of green purchasing. This review identified various prevalent motives, facilitators and barriers affecting purchase decision-making towards green products and provides possible explanations for inconsistencies reported in green purchase behavior. All These factors are divided into those unique to the individual decision maker and those considered situational in nature. Consumer's environmental concern and products functional attributes emerged as the two major determinants of consumer green purchase behavior. The paper informs about the main predictors of consumer's green purchase behavior. In this way, it will help policy makers and managers in formulating and implementing strategies to encourage green purchasing.

Purpose The aim of this paper is to present a taxonomy of available literature on the relation of sustainability performance and firm performance, and to provide a path for future research for this field of study. Design/methodology/approach Research papers were collected on sustainability performance assessment from various journals available at different online databases. The unit of evaluation was a full paper published in one of the relevant journals. Papers were classified in different categories and tabulated under various classes. A total of 101 research paper sources were studied and assessed in terms of nature of research, level of analysis, and application. Findings The review reveals that most of the research in the field of sustainability performance and firm performance association, analyzed this relationship in developed countries. The result differs in various cultural and economic contexts and there is no universally accepted direction of this relationship. Contribution of research has also revealed a pattern of growth in recent years. Financial performance is used in most of the research as a proxy to firm performance. As discussed, the different research gaps may be exploited for further research. It also argues that further empirical research in relation of corporate sustainability performance and firm performance is required in developing countries. Research limitations/implications The findings of this paper can be generalized only to the specific population of online databases selected for this research for a given period of time and not for the entire universe of the sustainability performance literature. There may be various unexploited areas for future research in terms of different variables. Originality/value This paper fulfils the need of a comprehensive review of corporate sustainability performance assessment literature. It provides a literature review and bibliography for the period between January 1992 and March 2011 for the use of both academicians and practitioners.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to study the influence of self-brand image congruity and value congruity on consumer engagement in online brand communities (OBCs); second to test whether gender moderates this effect; and third, it also examines the role of consumer engagement as a driver of brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach Using an online questionnaire, 443 responses were collected from consumers who are members of at least one OBC on Facebook. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings The results revealed that both self-brand image congruity and value congruity significantly affect consumer engagement. A positive effect of consumer engagement on brand loyalty was also attained. Third, the results revealed that gender did not moderate the examined relationships. Practical implications This research integrates and broadens existing explanations of different congruity effects on consumer engagement. This study thus suggests the value of developing their OBCs to exhibit congruence with customers’ self-image and value, which in turn, will contribute to the development of brand loyalty. Originality/value This research applies congruity theory to examine the impact of self-brand image- and value congruity on consumer engagement in OBCs. Through the establishment of this novel theoretical link, this study furthers insight into the domain of social media marketing.