ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN PRODUCT PURCHASES – A STUDY OF STUDENTS COMMUNITY.

Social responsibility in marketing covers a diverse range of issues, such as, green consumerism, environmentalism and social marketing. The present study focus upon environmental concern which is one of the related issues gaining prominence in the present time. It is a result of global warming that recognizes the two fold connection between environment and human society. Moreover, the G-8 currently taking about two broad parameters which are likely to become the basis of undertaking emission cuts by all countries. Firstly, overall emissions must be reduced by 50% from current levels by the year 2050. Secondly, the world must limit the global warming up to 2 degrees from pre-industrial level. Even an overall 50% reduction in global emission by 2050 will require each person in the developed world to cut his/her carbon footprint by over 70% over the next four decades. This will be possible only if the developed world actually embarks on a radically new consumption path. At a moral level, which is also ecologically compatible, each individual will have to examine his/her footprint and each country its development model for any meaningful consensus to evolve on the climate change debate. Though, it is difficult, yet not impossible to mitigate climate crisis. The presented study is an attempt to study eight environmental conscious dimensions among the student community. The total sample size has been restricted to 175 students, which include a combination of rural as well as urban students. The samples have been collected from the students of two universities in the State of Jammu & Kashmir, one each from rural area and urban area, viz-a-viz, University of Jammu, Jammu and Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri. The data has been collected using two modes of data collection, viz, email and personal interaction in the university campuses. A detailed analysis was then conducted using IBM SPSS - 19.0 as regard to gender and residential status (rural / urban) for testing the established hypothesis.