Motivating sustainable choices: the role of environmental commitment and technology readiness in green appliance adoption

Purpose – This study employs protection motivation stheory (PMT) to investigate the cognitive drivers of energy-saving home appliance purchase behavior. The model emphasizes environmental commitment as a key motivational force shaped by perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, self-efficacy and response efficacy. In addition, the study examines how perceived optimism and perceived innovativeness – two dimensions of technological readiness – moderate the relationship between environmental commitment and home appliance purchase behavior. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilized a time-lagged, two-wave design to collect survey data from 1, 337 Pakistani households. Analysis via partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) assessed linear and configurational pathways to energy-saving home appliance purchase behavior. Findings – PLS–SEM results show that all four cognitive appraisals based on PMT (perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, self-efficacy and response efficacy) positively influence environmental commitment. This commitment significantly drives the purchase of energy-saving home appliances. Although perceived optimism positively moderates this relationship, perceived innovativeness unexpectedly weakens it. Furthermore, fsQCA reveals four causal configurations for high home appliance purchase behavior, demonstrating that multiple combinations of cognitive and technological traits lead to sustainable consumer choices. Originality/value – This study extends PMT by linking cognitive factors to sustained commitment and behavior while integrating technological readiness as a key boundary condition. The finding offers theoretical and practical insights for promoting sustainable consumption.