Determinants of Green Purchase Intention Among Educated Consumers: A Pre-Registered Protocol for a Multi-Stratum Moderated-Mediation Survey

Educated urban consumers in India report high levels of environmental concern, yet green products still account for a small share of household purchases. Reviews trace this attitude–behaviour gap to a familiar set of determinants, but the underlying evidence remains fragmented. Normative and economic factors behave inconsistently from one study to the next, most designs test antecedents in isolation, and South Indian consumers are thinly represented in the sampling frames on which the field's conclusions rest. This paper sets out a protocol for a study built to address those three weaknesses. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and on Value–Belief–Norm theory, it specifies a moderated-mediation model in which environmental awareness, subjective norms, perceived behavioural effectiveness and eco-label trust predict green purchase intention; price sensitivity attenuates the awareness and trust pathways; product availability amplifies the effectiveness pathway; and eco-label trust carries part of the effect of awareness. Seven hypotheses are stated directionally. The design is a cross-sectional survey of 500 usable responses drawn by proportionate stratified sampling across four strata (Bengaluru, the rest of Karnataka, other Indian states and other countries), supplemented by twelve semi-structured expert interviews. An a priori power analysis for the nine-predictor moderated equation places the binding sample requirement at 481 cases at f² = 0.05, α = 0.05 and power = 0.95. Measurement uses a 34-item trilingual instrument whose content validity was established by a six-member expert panel and whose reliability was confirmed in a 60-case pilot. Estimators, fit thresholds and decision rules are fixed for every hypothesis before data collection begins. Publishing them at this stage closes off outcome-dependent analytic choices and allows reviewers to judge the study on its design while the findings are still unknown.