Indonesia's bottled drinking water (AMDK) industry has become one of the sectors most affected by growing environmental concerns. Increasing volumes of plastic waste and public awareness of sustainability have intensified pressure on manufacturers to reduce their environmental footprint. In response, many companies have introduced green marketing strategies by developing environmentally friendly products and promoting them through sustainability-focused advertising.
Despite these efforts, consumer skepticism remains a significant challenge. Many buyers question whether environmental claims genuinely reflect sustainable business practices or merely represent greenwashing—marketing messages that exaggerate or misrepresent environmental benefits. This issue makes it increasingly important for companies to understand which aspects of green marketing genuinely influence consumer purchasing decisions.
The research by Sabrina Firda Amelia and Moch Rizal examined how green products and green advertising affect consumers' intention to purchase bottled drinking water while also investigating whether environmental concern strengthens these relationships. The findings offer new evidence for companies designing sustainability-oriented marketing campaigns in Indonesia.
Survey of 279 Consumers in Jakarta
The researchers adopted a quantitative research design involving 279 respondents living in Jakarta who were familiar with or had consumed environmentally friendly bottled drinking water products.
Participants completed structured questionnaires measuring their perceptions of green products, green advertising, environmental concern, and purchase intention. The responses were analyzed using statistical modeling to identify relationships among the variables and determine which factors significantly influenced consumers' buying intentions.
Rather than focusing on consumer opinions alone, the study evaluated whether environmental values translated into actual purchase intentions when consumers were exposed to eco-friendly products and sustainability-themed advertising.
Green Advertising Shows a Significant Influence
One of the study's most important findings is that green advertising significantly increases consumers' intention to purchase bottled drinking water products.
Advertisements emphasizing environmental responsibility, sustainability, and ecological benefits proved more effective in encouraging purchase intention than the products' environmental attributes themselves.
By contrast, the study found that green products alone did not have a statistically significant influence on purchase intention. Simply offering environmentally friendly packaging or product features was insufficient to persuade consumers to buy the product unless those benefits were communicated effectively.
The statistical analysis revealed:
- Green advertising significantly influenced purchase intention (p = 0.009).
- Green product attributes showed no significant influence (p = 0.696).
- Environmental concern did not strengthen or weaken either relationship, indicating that personal concern for environmental issues alone did not change how consumers responded to green products or green advertising.
These results suggest that communication strategies may play a more decisive role in influencing consumer behavior than eco-friendly product characteristics themselves.
Environmental Concern Alone Is Not Enough
The researchers also explored whether consumers with stronger environmental concern were more likely to be influenced by green marketing.
Surprisingly, the results showed that environmental concern was not a significant moderating factor. Consumers who expressed higher concern for environmental issues were not significantly more likely to purchase environmentally friendly bottled water than those with lower concern.
This finding indicates that awareness of environmental issues does not automatically translate into purchasing behavior. Consumers may still prioritize other considerations such as price, convenience, product familiarity, or brand trust when making buying decisions.
Implications for Business and Sustainability
The findings have important implications for companies operating in environmentally sensitive industries.
For bottled water manufacturers, investing solely in environmentally friendly packaging or sustainable production practices may not be sufficient to increase sales. Companies should also communicate these initiatives clearly through transparent, credible, and informative advertising.
Effective green advertising can educate consumers, reduce skepticism, and strengthen confidence that environmental claims are genuine rather than promotional exaggerations.
The study also provides valuable guidance for policymakers and environmental organizations. Public education campaigns that improve consumers' understanding of sustainability may complement corporate communication efforts and help translate environmental awareness into more sustainable purchasing behavior.
Future research, according to the authors, should examine additional factors such as green knowledge and green awareness, which may better explain why environmentally conscious consumers sometimes fail to act consistently with their environmental values.
Authors' Perspective
According to Sabrina Firda Amelia and Moch Rizal of Muhammadiyah University of Technology Jakarta, the study demonstrates that effective environmental communication is more influential than eco-friendly product characteristics alone in encouraging consumers to purchase bottled drinking water products. Their findings suggest that sustainability initiatives should integrate product innovation with persuasive and trustworthy communication to achieve greater consumer engagement.
Author Profile
Sabrina Firda Amelia is a researcher from Muhammadiyah University of Technology Jakarta whose work focuses on marketing management, consumer behavior, and sustainable marketing strategies. She co-authored this study with Moch Rizal, a researcher and academic at the same university specializing in marketing management, green marketing, and consumer purchasing behavior. The research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on sustainability-oriented marketing and environmentally responsible consumer decision-making.
Source
Amelia, Sabrina Firda & Rizal, Moch. (2026). Environmental Concern as a Moderating Variable on the Influence of Green Products and Green Advertising on Purchase Intention of Bottled Drinking Water Products. Formosa Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (FJMR), Vol. 5, No. 7 (2026). DOI: 10.55927/fjmr.v5i7.122.
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