The impact of sustainable initiatives on Generation Z consumers’ behaviour: A serial mediation analysis

Abstract

Generation Z's awareness of environmental issues has risen high of late, necessitating businesses to strategise to meet the values of GZ. This study, therefore, is intended to examine the impact of sustainable initiatives on Gen Z consumer behaviour and the mediating role of ethical and perceived marketing strategies. The Theory of Planned Behaviour serves as the anchor for the study. A quantitative method was employed for the study. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents who are students and fall within the age group of 15 to 35 years for the study. Partial least squares Structural equation modelling (SmartPLS4) was used to analyse the data. The structural model shows significant paths: SUS → EM (β = 0.570, p<0.01), SUS → PMS (β = 0.289, p<0.01), PMS → GZ (β = 0.538, p<0.01), and EM → PMS (β = 0.497, p<0.01), while EM → GZ is positive but not significant (β = 0.156, p = 0.122). Findings support the predictive power and practical relevance of the model, offering valuable insights for policymakers and managers aiming to enhance sustainable consumer engagement among Generation Z. Also, ethical marketing and perceived marketing strategies serially mediate sustainable initiatives and Gen Z consumer behaviour, underscoring their importance for corporate marketing decisions. The Q2predict revealed that both EM and PMS had the same predictive power (0.294) in influencing the dependent variable (GZ). However, EM had a less comparable MAE (0.615) to PMS (0.680), indicating EM’s superiority in terms of predictive power. The PLS predictive performance revealed that both EM and PMS had predictive power in influencing the dependent variable (GZ); however, EM was found to be superior in terms of its predictive power. The study suggests practical contributions and implications for corporate business management to integrate ethical and marketing strategies in a sustainability drive.