GREEN DELIVERIES ON A BUDGET: HOW SUSTAINABILITY AND COST SHAPE VIETNAMESE E-COMMERCE CONSUMER CHOICES

Abstract This exploratory research provides a study to examine the relationships between perceived sustainability (PS) and perceived cost (PC) on consumer attitudes (AT), intention to use (IU), and actual choice of delivery methods (DM) in e-commerce in Vietnam under Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework. PS has a positive effect on AT, indicating that there is increasing ecological awareness, while PC has a negative effect on AT, indicating cost sensitivity. AT is a strong predictor of IU, but IU has little influence on DM. Instead, AT causes behaviour, and so the latter one suggests intrinsic values may drive sustainable behaviour more than intentions. Age and gender have no significant effect, but income negatively affects AT, consumers with higher income may see the existence of eco-friendly options as inconvenient. An Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) results reveal PS can be considered a high-performance strategic driver of AT and PC a barrier. The findings advise businesses to focus on sustainability communication and provide financial incentives to ease cost issues. Policymakers need to promote sustainable logistics adoption via subsidies and public-private partnerships to alleviate cost barriers and encourage green last-mile solutions through policies and incentives promoting affordability.