MODERATING EFFECT OF SOLAR DEALER BUSINESS SIZE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS AND GREEN MARKETING STATUS AMONG SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY DEALERS IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY
Abstract
Purpose of Study: This study employed strategic management concept in analyzing and understanding the moderating effect of solar dealer business size on the relationship between strategic management practice critical success factors and green marketing status among solar energy technology dealers in Nairobi.
Problem Statement: The dominant position of the energy sector in supporting national economic growth while producing employment opportunities together with improved living conditions cannot be over emphasized. This is leading to substantial worldwide energy generation technology adoption. However, the increased generation of electrical power energy through un-environmentally friendly means and now the growing electronic waste from the alternative environmentally friendly means such as solar power energy means have just informed that the products at their end-of-life stage are creating major environmental problems.
Methodology: The research design employed descriptive elements and the EPRA (2022) recorded 521 solar energy dealer businesses in Nairobi as the target population. The study used 226 firms as participants which researchers selected in line with Krejcie & Morgan (1970) table specifics along with purposive selection of established solar energy dealers operating for at least five years. The research involved using open and closed-ended questionnaires that allowed the gathering of qualitative and quantitative data.
Result: The study found that technological, organizational, environmental, and individual factors significantly influence Green Marketing Strategy Status (GMSS), and that business size has a statistically significant moderating effect, albeit weak, in strengthening the relationship between these factors and GMSS among solar energy dealers in Nairobi, Kenya.
Recommendation: The study recommends that all the organizational factor indicators identified in the study be put into consideration when developing and implementing green marketing strategy and associated strategic management practices, especially for the solar energy technology market in Kenya.
Keywords: eGovernment Initiative, Service quality, Manufacturing companies, Strategic Performance, Customer Loyalty, Customer satisfaction, Business size
References
Ahmad, W., & Zhang, Q. (2020). Green purchase intention: Effects of electronic service quality and customer green psychology. Journal of Cleaner Production, 267, 122053. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122053.
Alamsyah, D., Othman, N., & Mohammed, H. (2020). The awareness of environmentally friendly products: The impact of green advertising and green brand image. Management Science Letters, 10(9), 1961-1968.
Alharthey, B. K. (2019). Impact of green marketing practices on consumer purchase intention and buying decision with demographic characteristics as moderator. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 6(3), 62–71. https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2019.03.010
Aly, A., Moner-Girona, M., Szabó, S., Pedersen, A.B. & Jensen, S.S. (2019), "Barriers to Large-scale Solar Power in Tanzania", Energy for Sustainable Development, vol. 48, pp. 43-58, doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2018.10.009.
Arli, D. and Tjiptono, F. (2017). God and green: investigating the impact of religiousness on green marketing. International Journal of Nonprofit & Voluntary 22 (2017)
Arli, D., Tan, L. P., and Tjiptono, F. (2018). Exploring consumers’ purchase intention toward green products in an emerging market: the role of consumers’ perceived readiness. Int. J. Consum. Stud. 42, 389–401. doi: 10.1111/ijcs.12432
Backman, C. A., Verbeke, A., & Schulz, R. A. (2017). The drivers of corporate climate change strategies and public policy: A new resource-based view perspective. Business & Society, 56(4): 545–575.
Baktash, L. and Talib, M. A. (2019). Green marketing strategies: exploring intrinsic and extrinsic factors towards green customers’ loyalty. Quality. Access to Success 20, 168 (2019)
Barney, J. B., & Hesterly, W. S. (2015). Strategic management and competitive advantage: Concepts and cases. Pearson.
Barney, J.B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management 17 (1), 99---120.
Bong Ko, S., and Jin, B. (2017). Predictors of purchase intention toward green apparel products: a cross-cultural investigation in the USA and China. J. Fashion Mark. Manag. 21, 70–87. doi: 10.1108/JFMM-07-2014-0057
Boute, A., & Zhikharev, A. (2019). Vested interests as driver of the clean energy transition: Evidence from Russia’s solar energy policy. Energy Policy, 133: 110910.
Bui, T. Q., Nguyen, N. T., Nguyen, K. K., & Tran, T. T. (2021). Antecedents affecting purchase intention of green skincare products: A case study in Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business, 8(3), 1295–1302. https:// doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no3.1295
Choi, D., and Johnson, K. K. P. (2019). Influences of environmental and hedonic motivations on intention to purchase green products: an extension of the theory of planned behavior. Sustain. Prod. Consum. 18, 145–155. doi: 10.1016/j.spc. 2019.02.001
Dezdar, S. (2017). Green information technology adoption: influencing factors and extension of theory of planned behavior. Soc. Responsib. J. 13, 292–306. doi: 10.1108/SRJ-05-2016-0064
Guerin, T. (2017). A case study identifying and mitigating the environmental and community impacts from construction of a utility-scale solar photovoltaic power plant in Eastern Australia. Sol. Energy. 146, 94–104 (2017).
Jin, J., Zhao, Q., & Santibanez-Gonzalez, E. D. (2020). How Chinese consumers’ intentions for purchasing eco-labeled products are influenced by psychological factors. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(1), 265.
Kaur, M. & Bhatia, A. (2018). The impact of consumer awareness on buying behavior of green products. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management 6 (4): 250-255.
Kim, W. H., Malek, K., & Roberts, K. R. (2019). The effectiveness of green advertising in the convention industry: An application of a dual coding approach and the norm activation model. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 39, 185- 192.
Le, Q. H. (2021). Factors affecting consumer purchasing behavior: A green marketing perspective in Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business, 8(5), 433–444. https:// doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no5.0433
Mokan K. V., Lee T. C. and Ramlan R. (2019). The Critical Success Factors for Renewable Energy Projects Implementation. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE) ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8, Issue- 1C2, May 2019
Nam, C., Dong, H., & Lee, Y. A. (2017). Factors influencing consumers’ purchase intention of green sportswear. Fashion and Textiles, 4(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/ s40691-017-0091-3
New Climate Institute. (2020). Climate action tracker. https:// climateactiontracker.org/countries/.
Nwokolo, S.C. & Ogbulezie, J.C. (2018), "A qualitative review of empirical models for estimating diffuse solar radiation from experimental data in Africa", Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 92, pp. 353-393, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.04.118.
Ozoegwu, C.G., Mgbemene, C.A. & Ozor, P.A. (2017), "The status of solar energy integration and policy in Nigeria", Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 70, pp. 457- 471, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.224.
Papista, E., & Dimitriadis, S. (2019). Consumer–green brand relationships: revisiting benefits, relationship quality and outcomes. Journal of Product & Brand Management.
Purohit, P. & Purohit, I. (2017), "Technical and economic potential of concentrating solar thermal power generation in India", Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 78, pp. 648-667, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2017.04.059.
Ritter, A. M., Borchardt, M., Vaccaro, G. L. R., Pereira, G. M., & Almeida, F. (2015). Motivations for promoting the consumption of green products in an emerging country: Exploring attitudes of Brazilian consumers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 106, 507–520. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.11.066
Riviere, M., Bass, A. E., & Andersson, U. (2020). Dynamic capability development in multinational enterprises: Reconciling routine reconfiguration between the headquarters and subsidiaries. Global Strategy Journal, advance online publication July 31. https://doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1389
Rossignoli, F., & Lionzo, A. (2018). Network impact on business models for sustainability: Case study in the energy sector. Journal of Cleaner Production, 182: 694–704.
Sharaf, M. A., & Perumal, S. (2018). An Overview Profile and Green Purchasing Behavior of Consumers in the Northern Region of Malaysia. Journal of Research in Marketing, 8(3), 707. https://doi.org/10.17722/jorm.v8i3.229
Sharma, A. and Foropon, C. (2019). Green product attributes and green purchase behavior: a theory of planned behavior perspective with implications for circular economy. Manag. Decis. 57, 1018–1042. doi: 10.1108/MD-10-2018-1092
Sharma, N., and Dayal, R. (2017). Drivers of green purchase intentions: green self- efficacy and perceived consumer effectiveness. Glob. J. Enterp. Inf. Syst. 8, 27–32. doi: 10.18311/gjeis/2016/15740
Sharma, P. (2017). Strategy of pro-environmental marketing: Impact on consumer purchase decision. International Journal of Marketing and Management Research 8 (10): 20-32.
Singhal, A., & Malik, G. (2018). The attitude and purchasing of female consumers towards green marketing related to cosmetic industry. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, September. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-11-2017-0063
Su, D. N., Duong, T. H., Dinh, M. T. T., Nguyen-Phuoc, D. Q., & Johnson, L. W. (2021). Behavior towards shopping at retailers practicing sustainable grocery packaging: The influences of intra-personal and retailer-based contextual factors. Journal of Cleaner Production, 279, 123683. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.jclepro.2020.123683
Talebi, P., Omidi, N. A. M. and Lashgarara, F. (2018). Designing a green marketing behavioural pattern focusing on poultry products. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 16, 5 (2018)
Tan, W.L., and Goh, Y.N. (2018). The role of psychological factors in influencing consumer purchase intention towards green residential building. Int. J. Hous. Mark. Anal. 11, 788–807. doi: 10.1108/ijhma-11-2017-0097
Tasnim, S. S., Rahman, M. M., Hasan, M. M., Shammi, M., & Tareq, S. M. (2022). Current challenges and future perspectives of solar-PV cell waste in Bangladesh. Heliyon, 8(2), e08970. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08970
Teece, D.J., Pisano, G., and Schuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal 18 (7), 509---533.
van Tulder, R., Verbeke, A., & Jankowska, B. (2019). International business in a VUCA world: The changing role of states and firms. Bingley: Emerald
Wadu Mesthrige, J. and Kwong, H.Y. (2018), "Criteria and barriers for the application of green building features in Hong Kong", Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, Vol. 7 No. 3/4, pp. 251-276. https://doi.org/10.1108/SASBE-02-2018-0004
Wang, C.L., and Ahmed, P.K. (2007). Dynamic capabilities: a review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews 9 (1), 31---51.
Wang, F.; Lu, Y.; Li, J. and Ni, J. (2021). Evaluating Environmentally Sustainable Development Based on the PSR Framework and Variable Weigh Analytic Hierarchy Process. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 2836. [CrossRef]
World Bank. (2020). World Bank Data. https://data.worldbank. org/. Accessed 2 Nov 2021.
Wu, B.; Fang, H.; Jacoby, G.; Li, G. and Wu, Z (2021). Environmental regulations and innovation for sustainability? Moderating effect of political connections. Emerg. Mark. Rev. 2021, 100835. [CrossRef]
Xu, X., Wang, S., & Yu, Y. (2020). Consumer’s intention to purchase green furniture: do health consciousness and environmental awareness matter?. Science of the Total Environment, 704, 135275.
Xu, L., Ling, M., Lu, Y., & Shen, M. (2017). Understanding household waste separation behavior: Testing the roles of moral, past experience, and perceived policy effectiveness within the theory of planned behavior. Sustainability, 9(4), 625. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9040625
Yi, S., (2019). Determinants of consumers’ purchasing behaviour for certified aquaculture products in South Korea. Sustainability 11 (14), 3840. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su11143840.
