Environmental Concern Since The 1970s

The topic of environmental concern has received considerable attention in the academic literature since the 1970s because it can trigger the crucial role of consumers, firms, and government in environmental and market effects (Schwepker and Cornell, 1991; Laroche, Bergeron, and Barbaro-Forleo, 2001; Griskevicius, Tybur and Van der Bergh, 2010). This preponderance of environmental concern arose in parallel with the overwhelming presence of global environmental issues, the rapid population growth and their non-sustainable consumption patterns (Ölander and ThØgersen, 1995; Smart, 2010). Such a context has confronted the aforementioned actors with an important challenge: the awakening of social conscience to become more reflective and act responsibly in favor of protecting the environment due to the recognition that natural resources are not endless as

This decade is considered as the moment of the arising of contemporary environmental movement through the focus on conservation and preservation of the ecosystem. Its development continued throughout the 1970s with some tangible actions, such as the celebration of the first Day of Earth in order to put environmental issues on the front page (Makower, 1993). While at the same time, governmental mechanisms such as Environmental Protection Agency in the United States were created, as well as several landmark legislative policies to address environmental public issues such as the Clean Air Act (Shabecoff, 1993). During the 1980s, green awareness was evident due to the contingency of environmental disasters, which led to the proliferation of environmental organizations (Titterington et al., 1996; Easterling et al., 1996). Since the 1990s came the awakening of consumers and the empowerment of the market derived from environmental concern, which resulted in the creation of green products and their promotion through green advertising (Prothero,