Why Do Consumers Buy Green Smart Buildings without Engaging in Energy-Saving Behaviors in the Workplace? The Perspective of Materialistic Value

Abstract

The construction industry is recognized as a heavily polluting industry, so it is imperative to understand consumer behavior towards green smart buildings and energy-saving behaviors at workplaces to achieve sustainable development. However, previous surveys on green purchasing behavior and green energy-saving behaviors did not investigate the double-edged perspective of these two variables. Therefore, this paper adopts the theory of symbolic self-completion to detect the double-edged impact of material values on green smart buildings and energy-saving behaviors, and the impact is moderated by a luxurious atmosphere. In addition, past investigations did not find a double-edged effect of material value on green smart buildings and energy-saving behaviors, so this paper provides a significant contribution to the field of green smart buildings and sustainable development. To test the proposed hypotheses, this paper conducted a survey of 101 consumers in Taiwan to test the theoretical model, and the analysis results support all hypotheses. This study contributes to the current literature in three ways. First, it constructs a theoretical model to clarify the relationship between materialism and environmental behaviors. Second, although a growing body of research has investigated the impact of material values on environmental behavior, these studies understand little about why material values lead to conflicting relationships. This study shows that material value is a double-edged sword for environmentally friendly behavior to fill this gap. Finally, the results can guide the construction industry in developing green marketing strategies for sustainable development.

1. Introduction

Since the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution has brought serious environmental problems to mankind, such as the greenhouse effect, and the deterioration of the ecological environment has caused abnormal changes in the global climate. At present, to create a sustainable human home environment, many countries have begun to pay attention to the development of green smart buildings [1,2,3] because the energy consumption of building businesses is very large. For example, the construction industry uses 40% of the world’s available energy, 16% of the world’s available water, and 40% of the world’s available raw materials [4]. However, to date, there has been limited research exploring how to facilitate consumer purchases of green smart buildings, as consumers still prefer to purchase low-cost older buildings that lack energy-efficient designs [5]. In addition, the number of green smart buildings in Taiwan will increase by 400% from 2013 to 2022, and it is expected to continue to grow in the future [6].

On the other hand, materialism has become a trend in society [7], and marketing organizations have disseminated to society that materialism is equal to happiness, the meaning of life, and success. Therefore, materialism has become the core of people in society [8]. In the trend of materialism, consumers prefer to pursue materialism and purchase expensive luxury goods that consume high resources and cause environmental problems [9]. Some studies found that materialism positively causes eco-friendly behaviors, whereas other studies found that materialism negatively causes greenhouse gas emissions. For example, past studies found that materialism worsens greenhouse gas emissions and pro-environmental behavior [10], whereas other studies found that materialism causes purchase intention for high-priced environmental products [11] and saves water behaviors [12]. However, there is a black box mechanism about why materialism causes eco-friendly behaviors or eco-unfriendly behaviors.

Based on these studies, it is crucial to explore consumers’ purchase intention for green smart buildings and their antecedents because green smart buildings can not only save the world’s available energy but also mitigate the greenhouse effect. Previous investigations into these antecedents have been insufficient, as almost all of them focused on advanced technologies for green smart buildings [13,14,15] rather than facilitating consumer purchases. Regardless of how advanced the technology is, it will not work if consumers are unwilling to buy green smart buildings. Therefore, this research draws on symbolic self-completion theory [16,17] to introduce materialistic value as an important antecedent of purchase intention for green smart buildings because materialistic consumers hope to satisfy their boasted value by purchasing expensive green smart buildings. That is, this research attempts to help construction companies find suitable target markets for green smart buildings. On the other hand, materialistic values will drive consumers not to engage in energy-saving behaviors in the workplace because such behaviors will violate the value of materialistic consumers. In addition, a luxury atmosphere enhances the relationship between materialistic value and the purchase intention for green smart buildings and weakens the relationship between materialistic value and energy-saving behaviors in the workplace.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Materialism

Materialism refers to the degree to which an individual emphasizes the importance of material or wealth as a value in life [9], and is also an important factor in an individual’s happiness and success [18]. Materialistic consumers prefer to spend more money on luxuries [19], such as green smart buildings. Past materialism has yielded inconsistent results regarding the effects of environmental behavior. For example, Unanue et al. [20] and Gu et al. [10] found that materialism was negatively correlated with environmental beliefs, and Andersson and Nässén [21] found that materialism leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions. However, Arli and Tjiptono [22] found a positive correlation between materialism and resource recycling behavior, and Liobikienė et al. [12] suggested that materialism has a positive impact on environmental protection.

2.2. Energy-Saving Behaviors

This study divides energy-saving behaviors into energy reduction behavior and energy-efficient product purchase behavior [23]. Energy reduction behavior refers to saving energy by reducing the amount of time and energy use; that is, consumers will develop a habit of using less energy [24]. For example, turning off lights before leaving the office is one of the energy-reducing behaviors. In addition, energy-efficient product purchase behavior refers to products that minimize energy consumption through energy-efficient technologies [25], such as green smart buildings. However, little is known regarding how materialism differentially affects green smart building purchase intentions and energy-saving behaviors in the workplace [26,27]. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the impact of materialism on two specific forms of energy-saving behaviors and the underlying mechanisms explaining their relationship.

2.3. Materialistic Value, Purchase Intention for Green Smart Buildings, and Energy-Saving Behavior in the Workplace

Purchase intention for green smart buildings refers to the behavior of minimizing energy consumption by purchasing energy-efficient smart building products [25]. While purchasing a green smart building requires expensive investment, it can ensure long-term energy savings. Overall, the price of green smart buildings is higher than that of ordinary buildings, which may hinder the growth of green smart building sales. Materialistic value refers to the emphasis on material possession or wealth acquisition as important values in life [28].

The symbolic self-completion theory [16,17] posits that people acquire symbols and show others that they are closely related to their thoughts. For example, boys looking to appear masculine might use a silver watch or cologne as symbols of their manliness. Based on the symbolic self-completion theory [16,17], materialistic value fulfills a consumer’s luxury value proposition by owning expensive items (i.e., symbolic behavior) that can make them unique; thus, highly materialistic consumers tend to purchase expensive products to represent the value of their successful completion of life. Furthermore, empirical studies have shown that materialistic value represents a tendency, which means that highly materialistic consumers tend to pay more and obtain better or more expensive products. For example, Watson [19] found that materialistic consumers have higher spending tendencies to splurge and show off expensive products [29]. These factors indicate that when materialistic consumers consider buying buildings, they may give priority to purchasing more energy-efficient green smart buildings due to higher price factors. Therefore, the following hypothesis is put forward:

Hypothesis 1 (H1).

Materialistic value positively affects purchase intention for green smart buildings.

Energy-saving behaviors in the workplace refer to saving energy by reducing electricity consumption time in the workplace, which means that consumers should regulate their daily usage behavior and stick to their habits [24]. For example, turning off the air conditioner when leaving a workplace is a typical energy-saving behavior and an important frugal behavior [30]. Although energy-saving behaviors in the workplace can save money, they have an opposite meaning to materialism. Based on the symbolic self-completion theory, energy-saving behaviors (symbolic behaviors) in the workplace run counter to the materialistic value of showing happiness and success by spending a large amount of money. Therefore, the following hypothesis is put forward:

Hypothesis 2 (H2).

Materialistic value negatively affects energy-saving behaviors in the workplace.

2.4. Moderating Effect of Luxury Atmosphere

Luxury atmosphere refers to an individual’s perception of the luxury of the surrounding community, or relatives and friends [31] and produces the following three effects. First, the luxurious ambiance desensitizes consumers to budget constraints. Second, profligate consumption by the reference group may lead individuals to behave more naturally in terms of generosity. Third, a luxury atmosphere may weaken the extravagance and waste constrained by the social responsibility consciousness of the surrounding people. To sum up, based on the social cognitive theory [32], environmental factors can directly affect individual behaviors, so a luxury atmosphere can regulate the materialistic value and purchase intention for green smart buildings and energy-saving behaviors in the workplace. Materialistic insecurities drive them to seek power relationships and control those around them [33]. Materialistic values represent individual desires for social power and dominance through symbols of expensive possessions [34]. As individuals in a high-luxury atmosphere, they see others splurge on expensive or luxuries, so their material worth may trigger them to have a higher willingness to purchase green smart buildings as a sign of self-worth-enhancing behavior. However, they are not willing to engage in energy-saving behaviors in the workplace because the symbolic behavior of energy-saving behaviors will only reduce their self-worth. Therefore, the following hypotheses about the moderating effects of the luxury atmosphere are put forward:

Hypothesis 3 (H3).

The luxury atmosphere positively moderates the relationship between materialism and purchase intention for green smart buildings.

Hypothesis 4 (H4).

The luxury atmosphere negatively moderates the relationship between materialism and energy-saving behavior.

This paper presents the theoretical model shown in Figure 1.

3. Methodology

Through the four hypotheses that were deduced from the section of the literature review, this research conducts the quantitative research method to collect data for statistical analysis and verification.

3.1. Measurements

This research modified the scale from Richins’s study [28] to measure materialism, and an example item is “It is … money can buy happiness”. Purchase intention for the green smart building was measured using García-Salirrosas et al.’s [35] scale, and an example item is “I would consider buying green smart buildings”. Energy-saving behavior in the workplace was measured using Chen and Chen’s [36] scale, and an example item is “When I leave the workplace…, I will turn off all unnecessary lighting and air conditioners”. Finally, the luxury atmosphere was developed using Rotter’s [37] scale, and an example item is “People around me like pomp and circumstance at dinner parties”.

3.2. Sample Collection

This research recruited consumers who purchased luxury goods in the past six months because this research wanted to measure the different levels of materialism of these consumers and their behaviors, which was also adopted from previous empirical studies [38,39,40]. These samples were collected outside luxury stores in Taiwan and employed purposive sampling. This research obtained 101 consumers who were willing to participate in this survey, and the response rate was 100%.

4. Analysis Results

4.1. Validity and Reliability

To validate the validity and reliability, this research adopted the analysis method of confirmatory factor to obtain Cronbach’s α, composition reliability, and average variance extracted (see

Table 1. Validity and reliability.

Constructs	Items	λ	Cronbach’s α	Composite Reliability	Average Variation Extracted
Materialistic Value	MV01	0.861 **	0.94	0.95	0.64
	MV02	0.882 **
	MV03	0.845 **
	MV04	0.721 **
	MV05	0.779 **
	MV06	0.812 **
	MV07	0.832 **
	MV08	0.756 **
	MV09	0.724 **
	MV10	0.861 **
Purchase Intention for Green Smart Buildings	PIB01	0.893 **	0.87	0.81	0.63
	PIB02	0.906 **
	PIB03	0.793 **
	PIB04	0.716 **
Energy-Saving Behavior at Workplace	EW01	0.836 **	0.92	0.86	0.79
	EW02	0.875 **
	EW03	0.830 **
Luxury Atmosphere	LA01	0.764 **	0.91	0.92
	LA02	0.734 **
	LA03	0.752 **
	LA04	0.710 **

Notes: (1) **: p < 0.01; (2) GFI = 0.90; CFI = 0.91; NFI = 0.90; RMSEA = 0.049; RMR = 0.048.

). The three indices were all greater than the critical values [41]. The model fit is also shown in Table 1.

4.2. Analysis Results

This paper analyzed the first sampling with 101 consumers through the regression analysis program of the SPSS software, and the analysis result also supported all the hypotheses (see

Table 2. Analysis results (Sample = 101).

Hypothesis	Relationship Path	Coefficient	Results
H1	Materialistic Value -> Purchase Intention for Green Smart Building	0.52 **	H1 is supported
H2	Materialistic Value -> Energy-Saving Behavior in the Workplace	−0.31 **	H2 is supported
H3	Materialistic Value*Luxury Atmosphere -> Purchase Intention for Green Smart Building	0.09 **	H3 is supported
H4	Materialistic Value*Luxury Atmosphere -> Energy-Saving Behavior in the Workplace	−0.05 **	H4 is supported

Note: ** = p < 0.01.

)

Based on Table 2, materialistic value positively affects purchase intention for green smart buildings (coefficient = 0.52, p value < 0.01), but it negatively affects energy-saving behavior in the workplace (coefficient = −0.31, p value < 0.01), which validates propositions 1 and 2. That said, consumers who have more materialistic value at stage 1 will demonstrate more purchase intention for green smart buildings at stage 2 and lower energy-saving behavior in the workplace at stage 2.

Next, the luxury atmosphere positively moderates the relationship between materialism and purchase intention for green smart buildings (coefficient = 0.09, p value < 0.01), but it negatively moderates the relationship between materialism and energy-saving behavior in the workplace (coefficient = −0.05, p value < 0.01). That said, consumers who perceive a more luxurious atmosphere at stage 1 will demonstrate more purchase intention for green smart buildings caused by materialistic value at stage 2 and lower energy-saving behavior caused by materialistic value in the workplace at stage 2.

5. Discussion

5.1. Theoretical Contributions

First, this study proposes a theoretical model to describe the relationship between materialism and energy-saving behaviors. There have been related studies on these two variables in past studies [10,20,21], but there are many inconsistent conclusions. In particular, past studies did not have a black-box mechanism to turn to regarding these two variables. However, this article borrows the theory of symbolic self-fulfillment to explain the double-edged sword effect of material patrons. This study confirms the positive purchasing behavior of materialism on energy-efficient products and the negative energy-saving behavior. This double-edged sword effect further explains the contradictory effects of materialism. While past studies have investigated the relationship between materialism and energy-saving behaviors, the conflicting effects of materialism have not been explored in depth [20]. That is to say, this study proposes a broader theoretical model to explain the double-edged effect and fills the gap in previous research on why materialism can lead to eco-friendly or eco-unfriendly behavior.

Second, past research suggests that black-box mechanisms of materialism on environmental behavior should be explored [22]. Although past investigations have found that materialism has a restrictive effect on environmental behavior [10], manufacturers of environmental products must conduct in-depth research on whether materialism will positively lead to the purchase of energy-efficient products, thereby targeting the target market (e.g., materialistic consumers). Through the analysis of this study, it is found that the theory of symbolic self-completion is an important mechanism leading to this environmental behavior, thus enriching the literature on the effect of materialism on environmental behavior. That said, this study employs symbolic self-completion theory to open the black-box mechanism of materialism on environmental behavior to fill the second gap.

Finally, previous research suggests that there may be more complex mechanisms underlying the effect of materialistic values on environmentally friendly behavior and calls for further discussion on whether there are key moderator variables in this relationship [9]. In response to this call, this study uses the luxury atmosphere to explain the moderating effect of material value on double-edged sword behavior and then extends the luxury atmosphere to environmental literature. In the context of consumer behavior literature, the luxury atmosphere can significantly influence consumer motivation and behavior [31], but there is limited research using it in the environmental sustainability literature, which provides incremental contributions across domains. That said, this study includes a luxury atmosphere to dig into the underlying mechanisms of materialism and environmental behavior to fill the third gap.

5.2. Practical Contributions

This study is also expected to contribute to commercial organizations. First, since these two environmental protection behaviors are crucial to energy saving, carbon reduction, and corporate profits, this study suggests that construction companies should be aware of material consumption behaviors to formulate appropriate marketing strategies. For example, commercial organizations can promote clear advertising and branding policies to reinforce the material needs of material consumers because buying green smart buildings has a similar effect as buying luxury brands to satisfy material self-worth. Environmental groups should, therefore, take this opportunity to work hard to push materialists to maximize purchases of green smart buildings. In addition, although encouraging energy-saving behaviors may not be effective for materialists, environmental groups should devote resources to promoting the concept of energy-saving behaviors to low-materialists or adding automatic lighting or water cut-off functions in green smart buildings.

5.3. Future Research and Limitations

Although this paper employs materialistic value as a driver of purchase intention for green smart buildings and energy-saving behavior in the workplace, there may be other values that may lead to these behaviors. Further research should examine the effects of these values. Second, this research collected 101 consumers in Taiwan to analyze the theoretical model twice. The sampling design in this study is mainly used to validate the theoretical model rather than to test its generalization, so a specific sample is allowed [42]. However, data should be collected from different countries to confirm the theoretical model of this research. Finally, this research adopts the symbolic self-completion theory to construct the theoretical model of this research. Further research should explore different theories from different backgrounds to verify the theoretical model of this study. For example, the consistency theory [43,44,45] may be a plausible theory to explain why consumers demonstrate purchase intention for green smart buildings and energy-saving behavior in the workplace and why these consumers want to demonstrate behaviors to meet their materialistic value.

5.4. Conclusions

The construction industry is recognized as a heavily polluting industry. Therefore, this study adopts a materialist perspective to explore the purchase intention mechanism of green smart buildings and the energy-saving behaviors to achieve sustainable development. Through the analysis results, the four hypotheses are supported, and the analysis results can not only guide the construction industry on how to formulate green marketing strategies for sustainable development but also promote sustainable development literature.