Factors shaping environmental awareness of young adults and its importance in market decision-making processes

Objective: This study aims to present the results of the analysis of factors influencing the ecological awareness of young adults and their importance in market decision-making. Research Design & Methods: The study utilized an online survey sheet that constituted the basis for the conclusions. The survey covered selected students of two universities in Krakow who completed 540 questionnaires. We applied cross-tabulation analysis in various cross-sections was applied using Pearson’s chi-square statistics, contingency coefficient, and Cramer’s V coefficient. We based the analysis on the declarations of young adults about their selected behaviours that significantly impact the state of the natural environment and, at the same time, require organisational and/or financial commitment from them. Findings: We established that the surveyed young adults had a relatively high awareness of the importance of pro-environmental behaviour for the general climate situation in the world and the related well-being of humanity. At the level of description of the surrounding reality, the responses included both concern for the planet’s future and fear of the deterioration of the climate situation. At the same time, the young adults were not ready to increase their involvement in pro-environmental activities. They declared a lack of interest in the possibility of financial support for broadly perceived ecological activities. Pro-environmental aspects are not crucial for them in purchasing or employment decisions. The basic forms of commitment to the environment are promotional campaigns which they occasionally join, such as collecting plastic bottle caps. Implications & Recommendations: Similarly to the research results described as part of the literature review, the results show that to increase the involvement of young adults in pro-environmental activities, they need to be offered simple activities that do not require their financial involvement. A further increase in involvement will only be possible after the implementation of further educational campaigns. Contribution & Value Added: Further research proposed a generalised linear model (GLZ) that helped describe the relationship between market decisions made by young adults and their demographic characteristics. We considered the variable containing answers to the question ‘Are your purchasing decisions influenced by the environmental orientation of the producers of the goods you buy?’ as the dependent variable. The obtained research and analysis results allowed for evaluating the answers to the question about the respondents’ gender and form of studies to be dependent variables.