Authors: Ms. Abinaya J, Sabarieswaran S
Abstract: The escalating urgency of sustainable development, coupled with the exponential growth of entrepreneurial startups in India, creates a powerful opportunity to reshape consumer behaviour among students. This study systematically investigates the role of startups in promoting sustainable consumption from the perspective of 150 student respondents enrolled across undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes in Tamil Nadu, India. Employing a descriptive and analytical research design, the study gathered primary data through a structured, five-point Likert scale questionnaire and analysed it using Percentage Analysis, Weighted Average Score (WAS), Weighted Mean, Chi-Square Test (χ²), and One-Way ANOVA. The findings reveal that students demonstrate moderately high awareness of sustainable startups (WM = 3.63), largely mediated by social media exposure, while institutional channels remain significantly underutilised. Student perceptions are broadly positive (WM = 3.80), with startups viewed as innovative and environmentally committed; however, greenwashing scepticism constitutes a persistent trust barrier. Purchase behaviour is conditional on price parity (WAS = 3.89), and the affordability gap, confirmed as the dominant barrier (WAS = 3.96) continues to obstruct consistent sustainable consumption. Hypothesis testing confirms statistically significant relationships between social media exposure and awareness, peer influence and consumption adoption, pricing and purchase frequency, and perception and recommendation intent. The study advances a multi-stakeholder framework of recommendations for sustainable startups, educational institutions, and policymakers, contributing original empirical evidence on eco-entrepreneurship and student consumer behaviour in the Indian context.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20354433
