1. Introduction
The Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is ecologically vulnerable to human activities and environmental changes, and it is very difficult to restore the region once destroyed [
1]. It has a unique ecology and geography along with diverse ecosystem types. Many important rivers originate in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, such as the Yangtze, Yellow, and Mekong rivers [
2,
3]. As Asia’s water tower, the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau plays a key role as a barrier to the ecological security of China and East Asia. Therefore, ecological changes in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau can have large consequences on the local and surrounding regions.
Tibet is a primary part of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. In recent years, the developments in the social economy; improvements in traffic conditions, such as roads and railways; and the continuous growth of populations coupled with surges in the consumption and tourism industry have contributed to ecological environmental problems in Tibet, which have been extensively studied by researchers [
4]. The unsustainable crisis in the process of economic development and environmental pollution is often accompanied by excessive carbon emissions and anthropogenic activities, resulting in substantial eco-environmental problems [
5]. The magnitude of global warming in recent decades on the Tibetan Plateau, the largest plateau in the world, has surpassed the average of the Northern Hemisphere [
6]. Since 2018, 8.4 tons of garbage have been collected from elevations above 5200 m in the Mount Everest Nature Reserve, which has attracted widespread public concern. Schipper (1989) pointed out that in industrialized countries, about 45–55% of the total energy use is influenced by consumers’ activities for personal transportation, tourism, personal services, and homes [
7]. Green consumption requires consumers to avoid or reduce damage to the environment, reduce carbon emissions, pay environmental premiums for green products, and change their original consumption habits, which is undoubtedly the simplest, scalable, and fundamental strategy for ecological environmental protection.
Green consumption plays a crucial role in reducing the negative impact of consumption on the environment and ecosystems [
8]. It is based on consumer health protection and resource conservation and conforms to the long-term benefits of society while focusing on sustainable consumption and green environmental protection behavior. Recently, research on green consumption has increased remarkably, attracting attention from scholars in interdisciplinary studies [
9]. Most of the existing research also focuses on the influencing factors and driving mechanisms of green consumption behavior. Guo (2020) examined the impact of social exclusion (i.e., being rejected, isolated, excluded, or ignored by other individuals or groups in society) on consumers’ intention to consume green [
10]. Ge (2020) explains the internal influence mechanism between social norm conflict and green consumption [
11]. Amatulli (2019) indicates that under the influence of expected shame, negatively framed messages are more effective than positively framed ones in prompting consumers to engage in pro-environmental behaviors [
12]. Researchers define green consumption behavior in the following way: “After becoming aware of environ mental problems, individuals consider their own interests and reduce the loss to the environment through consumer behavior, including buying, use management, and processing of waste, linking all three” [
13,
14]. Promoting green consumption not only stimulates sustainable industrial development but also improves resource utilization efficiency. Li [
15] reviewed previous studies on green consumption and classified the influencing factors into five categories: consumers’ own factors, objective factors, the psychology and lifestyle of green consumption behavior, self-interest, and social interest. Recently, “high green consumption preference” and “low green consumption behavior” are interesting areas of research for green connection [
16]. Existing studies have designed to close the gap mainly by changing individual cognition by highlighting environmental protection [
17], personal health, and social norms to promote green attitude changes to green behavior [
18,
19]. One study suggested that strong attitudes are more likely to affect behavior, while weak attitudes are more likely to be shaped by behavior [
20]. If we want to see a greater commitment to green consumption practices, government bodies need to play a more active role [
21]. Publicity and education are considered to be the most effective interventions for cultivating green consumption attitudes and changing public consumption habits [
22]. However, these interventions are also influenced by economic and other objective factors [
23].
Understanding the ecological consequences of climate change and anthropogenic activities in Tibet, the Chinese government strives for achieving the ecological security of Tibet [
24]. In recent years, the central and local governments have executed a large amount of environmental protection works and hae advocated for green and low-carbon life in the whole region, but these measures have had an insufficient effect [
25,
26]. Hence, further exploration of the mechanism of green consumption behavior at the microlevel is necessary. In this study, we focused on how publicity and education change the internal cognition of urban residents of Tibet to promote their green consumption behavior. Since green products are more expensive than ordinary products, they require consumers to pay an environmental premium. Will concerns about price affect their acceptance of green consumption publicity and education, and thus weaken their green consumption behavior?
The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is one of the most influential behavioral theories and has been used in studies on green consumption behavior [
27]. According to the theory, individual behaviors are thoughtful and planned, and various factors indirectly affect individual behavioral decisions through willingness. Based on the above questions and guided by TPB, we built a theoretical model; in this model, publicity and education was the independent variable and green consumption behavior was the result variable, while environmental values and economic factors were also considered. A stratified random sampling survey was conducted in the Tibet Autonomous Region to collect data and verify the model.
4. Results
The proposed theoretical model (
Figure 1) was tested using structural equation modeling to gain a more robust understanding of the interdependent relationships between the various constructs. Structural equation modeling is a widely used multivariable statistical method in the field of behavior research and social science because of its high statistical efficiency and flexibility. In structural equation models, it is conventional to divide the modeling into two parts: a measurement model and a structural model [
49]. Initially, the measurement model containing all latent constructs and indicators was analyzed, and then the hypothesized structural model was tested.
4.1. Reliability and Validity Test of Scale
Statistical analysis software (AMOS 23.0) (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) was used to verify the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the questionnaire scale with confirmatory factor analysis. First, the Cronbach’s α coefficient of each variable ranged from 0.777–0.906, which indicated that the variables used had good reliability. Second, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for each variable, and the analysis results showed that the load of each factor was greater than 0.700; the compound reliability of all variables was >0.7, and the average variation extracted (AVE) was >0.5. This indicated that the variables in this study had good reliability and validity (see
Table 2).
The correlation coefficient, and square root of the AVE of each variable are shown in
Table 3.
A significant correlation was observed between the variables (p < 0.01). Moreover, to test the possible homologous variance problem, in Harman’s single factor method, the SPSS software (version 23.0) (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used to conduct exploratory factor analysis. The variance interpretation amount of the initial eigenvalue of the first factor without rotation was 31.35% and did not exceed 50%. Comparing the AVE square root of each variable and the Pearson correlation coefficient between the variables revealed that the AVE square root was greater than the Pearson correlation coefficient between itself and other variables; this indicated that all variables had discriminative validity and that there was no serious common method deviation.
4.2. Overall Structural Model and Research Hypothesis Testing
The overall model fitting was verified, and the model fitting indexes were obtained. The chi-square value of fitness was 196.674, df = 73, X2/df = 1.906, indicating that the theoretical model can be adapted to the observed data. Additionally, the overall fitness of the model with results (RMSEA = 0.045, RMR = 0.026, IFI = 0.998, CFI = 0.998, NFI = 0.997, GFI = 0.998) showed that the hypothesis model can fit with the observed data.
4.2.1. Main Effect Test
The AMOS23.0 software was used to test the direct causal relationship between the three variables: publicity and education (PE), environmental values (EV), and green consumption behavior (GCB) and to verify the hypothesis. The results are presented in
Table 4. Publicity and education had a significant positive influence on environmental values (β = 0.361,
p < 0.001); thus, these results supported Hypothesis 1. Publicity and education had a significant positive effect on green consumption behavior (β = 0.179,
p < 0.01); this was consistent with Hypothesis 2. Environmental values had a significant positive effect on green consumption behavior β = 0.159,
p < 0.01), which supported Hypothesis 3. Environmental values positively influenced green consumption behavior.
4.2.2. Mediating Effect Test
The bootstrap confidence interval method was used to test the mediating effect.
The bootstrap sampling was set to 2000 times. If the percentile confidence interval of the indirect effect did not contain 0 at the 95% confidence level, it indicated that there was a mediating effect; otherwise, there was no mediating effect. The results of the mediating effect test in
Table 5 show that the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the total effect for PE and GCB was 0.253 and 0.494; the indirect effect 95% CI was 0.040 and 0.231, whereas those of the direct effect 95% CI were 0.099 and 0.397; both the results did not contain zero, which indicated the existence of a partial mediating effect. This demonstrated that Hypothesis 4 was valid, and environmental values have a mediating effect on the influence of publicity and education on green consumption behavior.
4.2.3. Moderated Mediating Effect Test
The bootstrap confidence interval method was used to test the moderating effect of the model. All variables were standardized, and all operations were computed using PROCESS v3.2 (macro program in SPSS). Model 7 was selected in SPSS23.0, and random sampling was set to 2000 times at a 95 % confidence interval. When the confidence interval of the interaction term between the independent variable and the regulating variable did not contain zero, it indicated that a regulating effect exists; otherwise, there was no regulating effect. The results show that the interaction between publicity and education and price sensitivity had a significant negative moderating effect on environmental values (β = −0.202,
p = 0.000) (
Table 6). At different levels of moderating variables, the 95% confidence interval did not contain zero (
Table 7). Specifically, price sensitivity negatively moderated the first half of the mediating effect.
To test the essence of the interaction effect, the price sensitivity average, plus or minus one standard deviation, was categorized into a high price sensitivity group (more economic factors considered) and a low-price sensitivity group (fewer economic factors considered). Notably, under different values of green consumption, publicity and education had different influences on environmental values.
The moderated mediating effect test results showed that when the value of price sensitivity was −1SD, the 95% confidence intervals of the bootstrap test were 0.040 and 0.189 for the mediating effect of publicity and education on green consumption behavior through environmental values, respectively. When the value of price sensitivity was +1SD, the 95% confidence intervals of the bootstrap test were 0.017 and 0.079 for the mediating effect of publicity and education on green consumption behavior through environmental values, respectively (
Table 8), which indicated that the moderated mediating effect was established. Specifically, at different values of price sensitivity, publicity and education had different influences on green consumption behavior through environmental values. With the increasing influence of price sensitivity, the effect of publicity and education on green consumption behavior through environmental values was weakened, thus, verifying Hypothesis 5.
5. Discussion
The protection of the ecological environment has become a key strategic goal of the Chinese government. Green consumption is one of the primary ways in which human actions can protect the environment. This study explored the factors influencing green consumption behavior and the possible psychological mechanisms of the moderating effect. The variables involved in the study included publicity and education, environmental values, price sensitivity, and green consumer behavior. The results confirmed that there is a direct or indirect relationship between these variables. Intriguingly, the existence of relationships between publicity and education and environmental values or green behavior may be weakened in the presence of other explanatory factors such as price sensitivity. The findings of this study can act as a reference for both environmental regulators and public policymakers who want to promote green consumption behavior and an increasing ecological civilization construction.
As hypothesized, publicity and education are a strong antecedent of green consumer behavior that should not be excluded from studies. According to the theory of communication and persuasion, publicity and dissemination of relevant information on a certain aspect will affect an individual’s internal cognition and behavior. The factor in the communication or persuasion effect depends on “attitudes toward the communicator” and “the cues which elicit them” [
50]. The qualitative study performed by Han et al. suggested that in addition to the negative green perceptions, a lack of justification and a lack of social awareness are characteristics of individuals exhibiting green gap behavior [
51]. To overcome this gap, consumers should be placed in contact with green consumers. Our research also confirmed that publicity and education have a significant positive effect on green consumption behavior. Publicity and education will allow individuals to understand green consumption and improve their desire to participate actively, which will change the cognitive construction of individuals to a certain extent and further affect their related behavior.
Yearly, the influx of tourists to Tibet contributes to the development of economy and society in Tibet. Although the development of tourism increases the income of urban residents, it also creates a series of problems to the local environment. Higher productivity translates into higher income, resulting in increased consumption, which further leads to excessive production of waste from increased consumption [
52]. Environmental publicity and education in Tibet should focus on these changes and avoid issues, such as extravagant consumption, conspicuous consumption, and an unbalanced consumption structure. This may be possible by implementing targeted publicity and education activities, especially targeting people who come to Tibet for tourism or business, or urban residents whose spending power is increasing, and encourage them to practice green lifestyles while travelling and shopping.
According to the theory of environmental consciousness, environmental values and awareness are important influencing factors of green consumption [
22]. In enterprises, when employees realize the seriousness and importance of environmental problems, they will take corresponding environmental protection actions, and the intuitive benefit is to reduce the waste of resources and save operating costs [
53]. Cultural, social, and religious values are key to individual decision-making in this region. Based on the ethical values hypothesis proposed by Kaplan, religions play a major role in shaping human ethical and cultural value systems across the world, and Mostafa confirmed that religious participation fosters altruistic and pro-environmental behaviors [
54]. Cultural factors moderate many aspects of consumers’ impulsive buying behavior, including self-identity, normative influences, suppression of emotion, and postponement of instant gratification [
55]. Environmental propaganda work should use national and regional characteristics, explore the connotation of environmental protection from the traditional Tibetan culture, and impart the characteristics of the public through cultural propaganda. This approach will help to improve individual environmental value and enhance individual green consumption behavior. Social psychology proves that persuasive information must first be understood and internalized before it can play a role in individual behaviors. Nevertheless, environmental pollution caused by some religious ceremonies and folk activities, such as mulberry feeding, should be deeply considered [
56]. With utmost respect to religious practice, the concern is about pollution control and devotees’ health. The public should adopt more scientific and reasonable ways to express the symbolic meaning of religion [
57].
Additionally, the study found that price sensitivity negatively moderates the path of publicity and education and environmental values on green consumption behavior. We found that this was affected in the first half of the model, and it further moderated the mediating effect of environmental values on green consumption behavior. Economic theory holds that individual behavior can be understood in terms of the goal of utility maximization; therefore, based on price and income, consumption choices can be predicted [
58]. Lee Weisstein et al. [
59] reported that price framing (gain vs. reduced loss) moderates the relationship between consumers’ green perceptions and their intention to buy green products. Litvine and Wüstenhagen analyzed the behavioral factors directly influencing green purchases and highlighted that the role of willingness to pay is a major factor directly affecting green behavior [
60]. Moreover, perceived simplicity and benefit certainty indirectly affect behavior by mediating intentions [
61]. Barbarossa and Pastore considered that in a marketplace setting, green consumers tend to be more conscious of the price, quality, and lack of availability of green products [
62]. Presently, with the rapid development of the economy, the consumption and purchasing of power by urban residents in Tibet have increased significantly. However, a significant observation was that the per capita income of the majority of middle-class and low-income population is relatively low. Hence, a considerable number of consumers are more willing to choose non-green products at a lower price than opt for green organic products with high prices. Thus, the dominance of self-interest values over environmental values leads to an increase in high environmental attitudes and low environmental behavior. Therefore, it is necessary to fully consider the restrictions and influence of economic factors on green consumption behavior. Policies and regulations should be constantly improved and the compensation for green products should be increased.
6. Conclusions
Green consumption is an emerging environmental topic that is receiving increasing attention. In the current study, we constructed a structural equation model based on the theory of planned behavior to explore the driving mechanism of green consumption behavior. Our study also verified that publicity and education is the most effective measure to promote green consumption behavior in ethnic minority areas. However, environmental values play a partial mediating role in the influence of publicity and education on green consumption behavior. This is consistent with previous assumptions and predictions. In Xizang, many local people believe in Tibetan Buddhism and are deeply influenced by Tibetan culture; their belief makes them feel accountable for environmental destruction and pollution. Therefore, publicity and education in combination with the characteristics of ethnic areas can be used to promote the traditional Tibetan culture of respect for all life and to live in harmony with nature. This allows enhancement of an individual’s internalization of the values and stipulations of the environments, and thus, it can significantly promote green behavior. Finally, we should fully consider the restriction and influence of economic factors on green consumption behavior, constantly improve policies and regulations, and increase the compensation for green behavior.
In this study, environmental values and price sensitivity were selected as the mediating and moderating variables of the model. The results of data analysis confirmed our hypotheses. However, individual behavior is the result of complex internal and external interactions. There may be other potential mediating variables in reality, especially in ethnic areas. Cultural factors such as religion, beliefs, and customs are worth considering. Therefore, there is still room for further model enrichment and extension.