Understanding the interplay of psychological and contextual factors in green consumer behavior

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThis research explores the factors that contribute to green consumer behavior in an emerging market setting, highlighting the growing importance of sustainability-related consumption studies. The main objective of the study is to uncover how psychological and contextual elements combine to foster pro-environmental behavior among consumers in Tunisia. Utilizing an extended framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and key concepts from green consumer research, this study examines survey responses from 409 participants, collected through an online survey administered to Tunisian consumers active in online shopping communities during March and April 2025, and analyzes them using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with the fsQCA 4.1 software. This method enables the discovery of various pathways leading to green consumer behavior, considering causal complexity and the possibility of multiple solutions. The results of this study show that consumer green behavior is achieved through five different configurations. Perceived behavioral control and trust in eco-labels are found to be core conditions across most solutions, while subjective norms are largely absent or irrelevant in most configurations. This research highlights the importance of using a configurational approach in studying sustainable behavior, as it captures the different pathways through which consumers engage in pro-environmental behavior via multiple causal mechanisms. These insights are relevant for practitioners and policymakers by guiding the design of differentiated strategies that reflect the diversity of pathways to green consumption.AcknowledgmentsNo funding or external support was received for the conduct of this research, and there are no specific acknowledgments to declare.