GENERATIONAL SHADES OF GREEN: HOW FUTURE ANXIETY SHAPES ENVIRONMENTAL AND FRUGAL CONSUMPTION?

The purpose of this study is examining the effect of future anxiety on environmental and frugal consumption behaviors in the context of X, Y and Z generations. A comprehensive empirical examination was conducted to assess the research model, encompassing a range of analytical methodologies which are exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, structural equation modeling, and multigroup analysis. The study was conducted using a sample size of 990 valid surveys. The results show that the future anxiety variable is conceptualized as consisting of two different factors: “future uncertainty anxiety- the anxiety associated with the uncertainty of one's future” and “self-proving anxiety - the anxiety that the individual will not be able to gain respectability and achieve certain goals in life, particularly in the later stages of their life”. Moreover, it was found that future uncertainty anxiety had a moderate positive effect on environmental and frugal consumption behaviors, whereas self-proving anxiety had a moderate negative effect. As a result of multi-group analysis, the structural relationships change in the context of generations.