The architecture of Green Consumption Intention: unveiling the roles of Consumer Sustainability Consciousness, Green Self-Identity, and Social Influence

In an era of ecological urgency marked by hazardous air quality and persistent pollution in Pakistan, a critical gap persists between sustainability awareness and consumers’ willingness to act. Rather than reiterating this gap descriptively, this study situates green intention within the broader paradigms of ethical consumption and consumer minimalism to examine the psychological and social mechanisms through which sustainability consciousness becomes intention-relevant. Drawing on time-lagged survey data from 1,092 consumers across environmentally intensive industrial sectors, this research proposes and empirically tests a mediation model with conditional effects, grounded in Identity Theory and Social Influence Theory. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), the findings demonstrate that the three dimensions of Consumer Sustainability Consciousness namely Sense of Retribution, Access to Information, and Labelling and Peer Pressure are positively associated with Green Consumption Intention both directly and indirectly through Green Self-Identity. Green Self-Identity emerges as the central psychological mechanism, indicating that sustainability consciousness is most effective when internalized into consumers’ self-concepts. Social Influence does not operate as a direct predictor of intention; rather, it functions as a contextual amplifier. In doing so, it significantly strengthens the direct effects of sustainability consciousness on intention formation, particularly amplifying affective triggers such as moral satisfaction. By clarifying the distinct roles of consciousness, identity, and social context within a single integrative framework, this study advances a mechanism-oriented account of Green Consumption Intention and offers actionable insights for fostering identity-based and socially embedded sustainability strategies in developing-country contexts.