A Comparison of Green Customer Citizenship Attitudes and Behaviours Among Consumers in South Africa and South Korea

Independent samples of 513 consumers in South Africa and 292 consumers in South Korea responded to an invitation-only, Internet-based questionnaire that focused on attitudinal and behavioural issues germane to five constructs related to customer citizenship within the context of green purchasing and green consumption. The five constructs were green mindset, anti-consumption behaviour, consumer coaching, green advocacy, and customer-helping behaviour. Multi-item scales for all five constructs previously shown to produce a high degree of reliability in prior research were gleaned from the literature. Results from South Korea and South Africa were compared. Four of the five scales in each country evidenced high reliability degrees. A comparison of the mean scores documented statistically significant differences between the two countries on each of the five scales. The secondary data favoured South Korea from a green perspective; however, for all five constructs subjected to empirical scrutiny, the results from South Africa produced a significantly higher mean than what was in evidence in the sample of South Korean residents. So, the primary data indicate that South African consumers tend to possess a stronger green disposition (attitude) while concurrently embracing and engaging in anti-consumption, advocacy, consumer coaching, and customer helping (behaviours) – all in a green context – more so do than do their South Korean peers.