A grey-DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) analysis on the barriers between environmentally friendly products and consumers: Practitioners' viewpoints on the European automobile industry

This study visualizes the prioritization and interrelationships among barriers that exist between environmentally friendly products and their consumers through three practitioners' viewpoints on the European automobile industry. By an extensive review of the literature, eight barriers are identified, and their interrelationships are visualized by adopting the grey-DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique. The results suggest that the most significant barrier hindering consumers buying of environmentally friendly products is the gap existing between consumers' expectation and perceptions of the product. This ‘expectation-perception’ gap is mainly attributed to the inadequate sustainability-related information supplied to consumers while purchasing the product. The automobile manufacturers should provide adequate sustainability-related information for consumers to dispel their sustainability concerns of products. The results also suggest that companies in the automobile industry could invest more in increasing consumers' knowledge about the influence of collective purchasing behavior. It will be helpful for automobile manufacturers to overcome other existing barriers. This study presents an important insight into the interrelationships among barriers and also contributes to managerial decision-making initiatives that facilitate consumer adoption of environmentally friendly products.