Resumo

Throughout XX century discussions around sustainable development have expanded worldwide with the achieving satisfaction discourse of human desires without compromising the generations’ future₇. So, concerns about the environment began to grow₉ and organic production has gained popularity because it has a sustainable basis and, its principles are environmentally correct, socially just and it has an economically viable production₅. Thus, the consumers of this products class present purchasing behavior that combines environmental preservation with the transition to a more sustainable society₈.

The understanding of the intentional behavior of buying organic products is essential for the sustainable consumption realization₄ꓹ₆ since Brazil is the third largest producer of organic products and has the largest consumer market for organic products in Latin America₁. Moreover, for being a multifaceted construct, the buying behavior undergoes alteration according to the gender₂. So, this research aimed to propose and test a theoretical model to evaluate how some dimensions of environmental awareness influence the intention of consuming organic products and how the gender influence it too.

The current context referred to the human confrontation with the natural environment is favoring the conscious consumption that proposes a reflection on the consumer lifestyle and are supported by organic products purchase, which provides well-being to consumers and to the nature. However, the environmental re-education process has to change paradigms rooted in the individual₂. Thus, to achieve a sustainable society, the environmental awareness must be implemented inside higher education to transform the student into a responsible consumer, mainly in courses involving the administrative area₁.

The empirical research was developed through quantitative methodology with the use of multivariate data analysis (PLS-SEM), in order to identify degrees of prediction and explanation of presented constructs₃. The model uses a second order construct (Dimensions of environment awareness) that is formed by four other constructs (Domestic environment, Engaged consumption, Mobilization and Concerns about waste). The research was conducted in a non-probabilistic way and with a convenience sample, with 213 university students through a measurement instrument adapted from Gonçalves-Dias et al. (2009).

It was analyzed the measures evaluation followed by the conceptual model evaluating the internal consistency, composite reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the reflective construct. Convergent validity, collinearity, statistical significance and relevance of the formative construct were evaluated. The statistical significance was analyzed by bootstrapping technique. The structural model analysis used the variance inflated factor value for each structural model subpart. All hypothesis were supported. The consuming organic products intention has an r² of 0.149 considered medium.

This study confirmed the relation between the environmental awareness dimensions influence and the intention to buy organic products that is also influenced according to the consumers’ gender. It was verified, from a theoretical model validation, that there is a more positive effect and intensity in the organics’ purchase by women. Based on the theoretical framework, it was possible to identify that, despite environmental awareness being in its initial stage, sustainable education is the only way to base a sustainable future, being promising for the change of feelings, senses and values.

₁Branco, Watanabe & Alfinito, 2019. Consciência saudável e confiança do consumidor[...] ₂Gorni, Gomes & Dreher, 2012. Consciência ambiental e gênero[...] ₃Hair et al, 2018. Advanced issues in PLS-SEM ₄Hsu, Chang & Lin, 2019. Triple bottom line[...] ₅Pinheiro et al, 2018. De saberes e sabores à escolha alimentar[...] ₆Qi & Ploeger, 2019. Explaining consumers' intentions towards purchasing[…] ₇Santana, 2018. Desenvolvimento sustentável e educação[...] ₈Scalco et al, 2017. Predicting organic food consumption[…] ₉Shelest, Ionov & Tikhomirov, 2017. Environmental awareness through universities.