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Abstract
The fast pace of economy and consumption pattern of consumers has deteriorated the natural environment. But with the time everyone from public to government has understood the importance of environment. People in developed countries are aware about the environment problems and showing concerned for it. But this issue is new to developing country like India. This paper is qualitative in nature and has two objectives. Firstly, to study the gender differences among professional students regarding environmental awareness and concern & secondly to study gender differences in willingness to pay extra for green products. The results of the study show that all the respondents, both male and female are aware about the current situation of the environment but males show more concern for the environment as compared to their female counterparts. Male students were ready to pay more for environmentally friendly products. In the light of the findings, implications for further research are discussed.
Keywords: Environmental awareness, Environmental Concern, Gender differences, Qualitative study, Willingness to pay more.
INTRODUCTION
Environmental issues are one of the major problems, which the whole world is facing today. Climate change, global warming, emission of harmful gases, population explosion, and pollution are a few of the problems, that the whole world needs to address. Over the past few years, protection and conservation of the environment has become a major issue among these. The protection and conservation of the natural environment has not only become a major social and political issue but also an important assignment in academic research (Haytko & Matulich, 2008). The degradation of the natural environment is having an adverse effect on human health and well being (Iwejingi, 2011). The effect on human health and well being is forcing people to think and act for conserving the natural environment. The people in West are more aware of environmental issues & problems as compared to their counterparts in developing countries. They are adopting green practices and green movement for environmental sustainability (Chen & Chai, 2010). Awareness and concern for environment among people is forcing continuous change in the marketplace through green/environmentally friendly products and services. Though the green trend is more popular in developed countries but it has started getting attention in developing countries like India (Raghavan &...