Addressing the missing psychological priorities in green consumption through an original fuzzy multi-criteria decision model

Although increasing green consumption plays a critical role in solving today's environmental problems, a significant problem remains the insufficient clarification of the relative importance of the psychological factors shaping this behavior. While numerous psychological factors influencing green consumption have been identified in the current literature, there are limited studies on which of these factors are more critical and which strategies should be prioritized. This makes it difficult for policymakers and implementers to develop effective and timely interventions. The aim of this study is to prioritize the psychological factors that are effective in increasing green consumption and to determine the most appropriate strategies by considering these factors. In this context, a new fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making model is proposed to address the gap in the literature. In the model, eight psychological criteria and five strategy alternatives are evaluated, expert opinions are analyzed through fuzzy sets based on behavioral leadership, and expert weights are objectively calculated using the dimensionality reduction technique. While criterion weights are determined using the SIWEC method, the ranking of strategies is carried out using the RAM approach, and the results are comparatively tested using the RAWEC method. The findings show that reassurance is the most important psychological factor influencing green consumption, followed by social identity. Strategy analyses reveal that green awareness and education programs, as well as campaigns to develop emotional awareness and empathy, are the most effective approaches. These results emphasize that psychological motivations should be central to increasing green consumption and offer a holistic, prioritization-based decision support framework to the literature.