Attitude Formation Towards Local and International Ecological Face and Body Care B€rands Among Lithuanian Female Consumers

Current environmental trends in production and marketing resulted in a close-loop situation, when on the one hand consumers demand environmentally !iendly and ecological products and are ready to pay price premiums for them, on the other hand, marketers explore usage of environmentally friendly brands and labels as a competitive advantage. Both local and international brands compete in the market of ecological products. However, consumer propensity to purchase ecological brands differs, as this variable can be a function of a number of factors. The paper analyses the impact of consumer values, perceived environmental knowledge and pro-environmental concern on consumer attitudes towards ecological brands (local or international), and the influence of consumer attitude elements on intention to purchase local vs. foreign ecological brands in the industry of face and body care. Lithuanian women were polled to determine the relationship of these variables. The results indicate that the attitude towards an ecological product is related to the value of a sense of belonging and pro-environmental concern; intention to purchase a local brand is predicted by the attitude towards the local brand only, whereas intention to purchase an international brand is predicted by the attitude towards an international and ecological brand, and negatively correlates with the attitude towards a local brand.


Introduction
Current environmental trends in production and marketing resulted in a close-loop situation, when on the one hand consumers demand for environmentally friendly and ecological products and are ready to pay price premiums for them (Borin, Cerf & Krishnan, 2011;McDaniel & Rylander, 1993), on the other hand, marketers explore usage of environmentally friendly brands and labels as a competitive advantage (Tan, 2011). Mass media and environment friendly movements work as catalysts for the increasing market of environmentally friendly and ecological products. Competition in the eld also increases. Although environmental issues have a racted scholars' a ention since 1970, consumers became the key driver to research sub-topics of environmental marketing and management only in 1990 (Leonidou & Leonidou, 2011). e topics of ecological brands perception and a itudes towards them, propensity to purchase, marketing have a racted increasing scholars' a ention in recent years (Alsamdi, 2007;Chang, 2011;Hartmann & Ibanez, 2006).
Both local and international brands compete in the market of ecological products. Lithuania is an emerging market where local and international ecological brands compete. Since the market for ecological products has promising growth opportunities and is in line with Western trends of interest towards ecology, competition keeps increasing; every year several local or foreign newcomers that are positioned as ecological can be monitored.
Face and body care products were selected as an industry for the research. Products from this sector are used by the majority of people. ey are purchased frequently, thus decision making criteria are evoked and di erent alternatives considered at least several times per year, and consumers can respond about their assessments. A number of local and international brands are prevalent in this sector in Lithuania; some of them emphasize their country of origin. A lot of brands in the sector position themselves as ecological by demonstrating certi cates, stressing the pureness of ingredients, "clean" extraction and production process, or by creating eco-associated package and brand design.
It is a well-known rule that a itudes towards an object lead to positive behavior towards it (Ajzen, 1985). us producers who are willing to sell their ecological brands have to understand the contributing factors of positive a itude towards the ecological brand, the factors of positive a itude towards local vs. international brand, and how elements of a itudes are related to intentions to purchase a brand with particular characteristics.
During the recent decades authors Ajzen (2006), Stern, Dietz, Kalof and Guagnano (1995), Schuiling and Kapferer (2004), Roy and Chau (2011), Steennkamp, Batra and Alden (2002) have contributed to the scienti c discussion by determining factors that a ect consumer a itudes in general, and a itudes towards local and international brands. However, up till now, these factors have not been analyzed via the prism of a itudes towards ecological brands (both local and international). A itudes towards ecological local or international brands, as presumed, should be consciously formed and derive from consumer values and worldview, related to ecology. Some of these variables can be shaped using marketing e orts. erefore disclosing these relationships would be highly bene cial for marketers of local and foreign ecological brands. us, the aim of the paper is to determine the factors that a ect consumer a itudes towards ecological local and international brands and intention to purchase them.

e concept of ecological international and local brand
Although ecological marketing and branding a racts a lot of scholars' a ention, it should be outlined that up till now the concept of ecological branding is not clearly de ned. Rather, the concept in many cases is used interchangeably with concepts "environmental", "green", "natural" , and only few a empts have been made to draw the lines between seemingly synonymous terms.
Nearly every product which is produced, purchased, consumed and disposed of has a negative impact on environment in one or another stage of cycle (Picke -Baker & Ozaki, 2008). Having this in mind, there are very few real ecological products out of the entire volume of products that are used. erefore by using the concept of ecological product, the presumption of a product which is friendlier to the environment as compared to a non-ecological product is taken into account. To be more precise, ecological products are those that do not harm environment, preserve natural resources and can be recycled (Shamdasani, Chon-Lin & Richmond, 1993;Alsamdi, 2007).
ere is a common assumption that ecological products are those that are natural and do not include harmful ingredients (Pujari & Wright, 1996).
More and more producers start using ecological branding as a competitive advantage. An ecologic brand in a general sense is the brand, symbol or design of products that are environmentally friendly (Rahbar & Wahid, 2011). e supreme level of ecological branding is special certi cates of acknowledged organizations that signify strict control of production, starting from the ingredients extraction. However, very few brands are certi ed as really ecological. More brands, although not certi ed, use the perceptional tools to convey that their products are ecological: positioning as natural or environmentally caring, excluding chemical ingredients, using eco-related design elements in a brand and packaging. us, identity of an ecological brand is created, and consumer added-value is expressed by perceived reduced harm for environment and safety for the consumer. Being an ecological (certi ed or not) brand itself cannot create competitive advantage, thus additional communication and di erentiation means are necessary to distinguish the brand among other non-ecological and ecological brands (Picke , Kangun & Grove, 1995).
Since consumers not always distinguish between certi ed ecological brands, and brands that are positioned as ecological, it is common to assume that bene ts deriving from an ecological brand identity will be understood depending on consumer perception. at is, the brand that consumers perceive to be ecological, could be considered as ecological for consumer a itudes and behavior research. e current article will use the standpoint of consumer, but not objective brand characteristics to determine the ecological brand.
Similarly, there is an extensive discussion in academic literature what should be considered as a local or international brand. e discussion is vital, since e ects between a local and an international brand perception and purchase likelihood are clearly distributed. It is typical to claim that local brands are determined by the objective criteria (local sales market, place of production, place of headquarters), or by the subjective criteria (consumer perception and associations with local production and their symbolic relations with local market) (see more in Batra, Ramaswamy, Alden, Steenkamp & Ramachander, 2000). International brands are those that are sold in a number of countries with similar coordinated marketing strategies (Steenkamp, Batra & Alden, 2003). ese distinctions are plausible having objective measures in mind, however, many consumers fail to identify the correct country of origin (Balabanis & Diamantopolous, 2011). However, even in this case the e ects of country of origin still hold, since they are dependent on consumer perception. us, further in this article consumer-perception measure, i.e., subjective understanding of brand origin (local vs. international) will be applied. at is, if consumers consider the brand to be local, the brand will be a ected by the a itude towards a local brand. In this case the product place of origin is not di erentiated from brand place of origin, since there are no Lithuanian ecological brands the place of production of which would be abroad; all the other brands should be considered as international.

Components of a itudes and their relation to behavioral intentions (on the basis of the eory of Planned Behavior)
Prediction of behavior is of long term interest for marketers, sociologist, economist and scholars of other elds. Up till now, several domains have been considered to be important measures in understanding future behavior: a itudes (see, for example, Sherman & Fazio, 1983, for the review), personality traits (Ajzen, Timko & White, 1982, Sherman & Fazio, 1983, emotions (Allen, Machleit & Kleine, 1992), past behavior (Smith, Terry, Manstead, Louis, Ko erman & Wolfs, 2008), knowledge (Small, Weinman, Buzi & Smith, 2009). e domains are closely interrelated (for example, past behavior results in knowledge, and knowledge a ects a itudes, which consequently might result in new behavior); however, most of the research is able to grasp one or two domains into account at best, treating them as separate variables, due to the complexity of relationships.
Icek Ajzen, probably the most prominent researcher in a itudes formation and their link to behavior, has created the eory of Planned Behavior which explains a itude elements and their links to behavior. According to Ajzen (1985), a itude toward behavior, subjective norm and behavioral control are the major predictors of behavioral intentions.
A itude towards behavior is a function of behavioral beliefs (assessment of behavioral outcome) and the importance of that outcome. Judging upon the behavioral beliefs towards ecological products, the perceived outcomes of their usage to environment and/or consumer and the importance of the positive outcome should be estimated. Generally, a itude towards environmental protection is a collection of beliefs, norms and behaviors related to an individual's environmental activities or environmental issues (Schultz, Shriver, Tabanico & Khazian, 2004). Chang (2011) has identi ed two groups of factors that could a ect a itudes towards environmental issues: product related factors and consumer related factors. As for product related factors, usually ecological products are associated with higher perceived price, perceived quality (lower, if it is believed that chemical ingredients might induce functionality of certain product categories, and higher, if ecology is related to health or safety issues), and higher perceived usefulness for the environment. Consumer related factors include perceived effectiveness for the consumer and perceived emotional value. e subjective norm is understood as external pressure to comply with certain existing opinions and widely accepted behavioral pa erns. It is computed by weighting normative beliefs (pressure from peers and others) by motivation to comply with the pressure. It could be assumed that peers' behavior and opinions related towards socially desirable issues, like ecology and environmental protection, should make a pressure forming an a itude towards ecological face and body care brands. Belz and Dyllik (1996) identify self-satisfaction by demonstrating socially desired ecological behavior being one of the emotional factors of "green" brands usage. What concerns subjective norms towards local or international brands, Pikturnienė and Treigytė (2009) have identi ed that consumers who have stronger susceptibility towards interpersonal in uence hold more positive assessments of international brands, when both country of origin and country of brand origin are well developed countries. Although results were not compared in the framework of local vs. international brand in general sense, consumers might feel more peer pressure to use international brands since they signal quality, innovativeness, prestige.
Behavioral control is a function of control factor (how important it is for the consumer) and perceived power of the control (to what extent can consumer control a particular factor upon su cient will). It refers to a person's understanding whether there are hindrances or incentives to perform in a certain way, and his/her determination to overcome hindrances or use incentives. In the case of ecological face and care body products (local vs. international), control of particular factors might be related to the e orts of information search, brand access via limited distribution channels, and sacri ce in monetary terms.
All three elements lead to behavioral intentions. Behavioral intentions in turn should work as a predictor of actual behavior. In marketing research, behavioral intentions most o en are equated with intentions to purchase an object (product, brand) that holds particular characteristics (in this case, intention to purchase an ecological local or international brand should be a ected by the a itudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control).
Research hypothesis H1 refers to the relationship of a itude elements (a itude, the subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) with intentions to purchase an ecological local or international face and body care brand.
Local origin of a brand, all other circumstances being equal, should signal more ecological way towards consumer due to lower transportation and storage usage, compared to foreign goods. Also, in Lithuania local face and body care brands are substantially cheaper in comparison with the imported ones, which presumably should lower e orts of perceived behavioral control. Positive a itude towards an international brand should negatively a ect intention to purchase a local brand. us:

H1_1. A itude towards an ecological brand, a itude towards a local brand, and perceived behavioral control have statistically signi cant positive relationship; a itude towards an international brand has statistically signi cant negative relationship with intention to purchase a local brand.
A itude towards an international brand, together with the subjective norm, should be a predictor of intention to purchase an international face and body care brand, since it might be perceived as more prestigious and qualitative. A itude towards an ecological brand should also be a predictor of intention to purchase an international brand, since many international brands have strong positions in pursuing ecological production and signaling that to consumers. In the same manner as previously stated, a itude towards a local brand should be negatively related to intentions to purchase an international brand. H1_2. A itude towards an ecological brand, a itude towards an international brand, and the subjective norm have statistically signi cant positive relationship, a itude towards a local brand has statistically signi cant negative relationship with intention to purchase an international brand.

Antecedents of a itudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control
A itudes derive from other internal characteristics of a consumer, for example, values and particular concerns (beliefs) (Leonard & Cronan, 2005), also from consumer knowledge. e current paper analyses a itudes towards a brand that holds (at least) two characteristics -ecological and local versus international. Since local and international brands convey di erent meanings, quite frequently related to consumer identity, values, and particular quality characteristics (for example, freshness vs. recent technological advancement), it is plausible to conclude that factors leading to positive assessment of a local or an international brand in the same category of ecological products will di er among consumers. Consumers holding di erent values, knowledge and environmental concern will form di erent a itudes, the subjective norm and perceived behavioral control in relation to international and local brands due to their perceived quality, purity, freshness, friendliness towards environment, that is, characteristics used for ecological brand judgment.

Values as antecedents of attitudes
Values are long term beliefs that particular behavior is desired and good, simultaneously assessing the environment (Picke -Baker & Ozaki, 2008). ey serve as major principles in life to distinguish desirable and undesirable goals and behaviors.
ere are numerous typologies of values (Rokeach, 1974;Schwartz, 1994;Wetzel, 2006). One of the most popular of them is List of Values (LOV) (Kahle, 1983), which distinguishes nine values: sense of belonging, excitement, warm relationship with others, self-ful llment, being well-respected, fun and enjoyment in life, security, selfrespect, a sense of accomplishment. Although values cannot be su cient predictors of particular brand choice, they serve as the major guidelines for the pursued lifestyle, which in turn leads to the particular a itude shaped behavior (Bea y, Kahle, Homer & Misra, 1985). Also they help to determine the selection criteria (Pi s & Woodside, 1983) and work as antecedents of a itudes (Tan, 2011).
Environmental a itudes can be ascribed to the value-expressive ones according to Katz (1960) functional theory of a itudes. Holding a positive a itude towards environment protection represents certain values individuals prioritize not only to themselves, but to others as well. Since due to current environmental concern at least minimum level of environmentally cautious behavior is desired, this kind of a itude serves as a tool to represent a t into the group of individuals that demonstrate positive behavior.
Previous research has determined that individuals who have stronger expressed values of security and fun and enjoyment usually have positive a itudes towards environmental protection and ecological products (McCarthy & Shrum, 1994). By behaving in an environmentally friendly way, consumers perceive less harm for environment and themselves, thus feeling more secure. Fun and enjoyment is explained as ful llment and happiness gained through the interaction with the environment in an eco-friendly way. Since environmental protection is the issue related to the sense of belonging (an individual feels contributing to the community and environment), and self-respect (an individual feels satisfaction in pursuing "correct" behavior), being respected and holding warm relationship with others, it is plausible to assume that these values will be predictors of a itude elements in relation to an ecological brand. Social pressure to use brands that are considered to be less harmful for environment and community should be stronger felt by those individuals who have strongly expressed values of sense of belonging, being well-respected, and desiring warm relationship with others. Behavior control, in a general sense, should be related with values of self-respect (as a reward for the ability to control the desired factors) and being well respected. In general, H2 proposes relationships of values with the elements of a itudes (TPB Positioning a brand as local or international raises di erent associations for the consumers in relation to product quality or speci c functions, value for money, desired user groups, countries of origin or other di erentiating characteristics. Both local and international producers realize that their brand strength lies in di erent e ects related to their place of origin. International brands might be perceived as more qualitative and prestigious (Steenkamp et al., 2003), status rewarding (Roy & Chau, 2011) and innovative (Cheng, Chen, Lin & Wang, 2007), and their users -as modern, sophisticated, cosmopolite (Steenkamp et al., 2003). More cosmopolite consumers tend to give preferences for international brands (Parts & Vida, 2011). Since brand usage is related to ing within reference group (Bearden & Etzel, 1982), sense of belonging, being well respected and holding warm relationship with others should be strong antecedents of a itudes towards brands that hold particular characteristics, probably more important for peers. e majority of consumer convenience products brands should convey emotional value (Zaltman, 2003), thus value of excitement should correlate with a itude towards an international brand, since it is considered to be more prestigious, innovative, qualitative. erefore: H2_4. Values of the sense of belonging, excitement, being well respected, warm relationship with others have statistically signi cant positive relationship with a itudes towards an international face and body care brand.
Preferences for local brands are derived from consumer ethnocentrism (Shimp & Sharma, 1987) and domestic country bias (Balabanis & Diamantopolous, 2004). A survey performed using Schwartz typology of values reported that consumer ethnocentrism is related to values of stimulation (benevolence), self-direction, selfenhancement and conservation (security, tradition and conformity) (Balabanis, Mueller & Melewar, 2002). Although the LOV and Schwartz typologies do not allow exact equivalents, some commonalities can be drawn: representatives of these values in LOV would be fun and enjoyment, a sense of accomplishment, self-respect, being well-respected, security, thus consumers with well-expressed listed values should favor local brands. erefore: H2_5. Values of fun and enjoyment, a sense of accomplishment, self-respect, being well-respected, and security have statistically signi cant positive relationship with a itude towards a local face and body care brand. Stern et al. (1995) suggested including worldview as an antecedent of a itudes for ecological brands. Worldview is a psychographic characteristic which in the case of a itude towards an ecological brand might include pro-environmental concern and consumer knowledge about ecology. e role of knowledge on the behavior is highly acknowledged in the cases when cognitive, reasoned action is involved (Small et al., 2009;Frick, Kaiser & Wilson, 2004). Knowing the consequences of the behavioral pa ern in general results in particular actions when doing or not doing is contrasted (like recycling vs. non-recycling, owning vs. not-owning a vehicle (Flamm, 2009), conserving vs. not (Frick et al., 2004)), or when the choice between alternatives is involved (for example, selecting a particular brand with featured characteristics). Consumer knowledge about ecology a ects a itudes (Laroche et al., 2001) since behavioral outcomes using ecological brands are assessed in a di erent manner, fully realizing negative and positive consequences for the environment and consumer if ecological or non-ecological brands are used. Grundey (2009) has determined that in Lithuania 60% of consumers consider environmental education and information to be an important factor for the purchase of ecological products, outweighing advertising.

Worldview as antecedents of attitudes
Besides environmental knowledge in general, knowledge about particular characteristics of the product could be related to a itudes. e strength of a itude elements towards an ecological brand e ects could be di erently distributed when ecological brands are local or international. Local products are associated with freshness due the shorter way (and time) from the moment of production till the moment of sale, when freshness is an evaluation criterion. Freshness and shorter travel towards the consumer should be associated with ecology, since local production and consumption results in lower harmful resources wastage (less transportation, warehousing, etc.).
Pro-environmental concern is understood as greater concern about environment which in uences everyday decisions and behavior (Akenhurst, Afonso & Goncalves, 2012). is trait has developed over time and can be seen as consequence of knowledge in combination with certain values or personal norms. Although these domains can be interrelated, for further research pro-environmental knowledge will be considered as an independent exogenous variable. People who are more environmentally concerned will assess behavioral outcomes of an ecological brand purchase more positively, also outlining that it is important for them. ey should feel more social pressure to behave in an environmentally friendly way, and should be willing to put more e orts to pursue this behavior. Local brands should be understood as more environmentally friendly, therefore a itude towards a local brand can also be a ected by pro-environmental concern. e hypothesis is raised as follows: H3: e variables of worldview, namely, pro-environmental concern and perceived knowledge about ecology, have statistically signi cant positive relationship with a itude towards an ecological brand, a itude towards a local brand, the subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control.

Measures
Values, perceived environmental knowledge, pro-environmental concern, a itudes towards behavior, the subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were considered to be independent variables. Dependent variables were intention to purchase local and international ecological face and body care brands.
Values, perceived environmental knowledge and pro-environmental concern were exogenous variables; a itude elements and intention to purchase local vs. international ecological cosmetics brand were endogenous variables.
Precise measurement instruments are provided in Table 1. Actual behavior was not assessed, since that would require strict control of consumers. According to Ajzen (2005), behavioral intentions serve as a good proxy to predict behavior. Although reported intentions to purchase deviate from actual purchase, they might still work as good purchase predictors depending on applied model of prediction ( Jamieson & Bass, 1989). In this case the dependent variable represented choice (preferences for an ecological international vs. local brand) rather than commitment to be involved in the behavior that requires e ort (ecological behavior), thus self-report bias due to social desirability was expected to be low. For the independent endogenous variables, that is, a itude elements in relation to ecological brands, the socially desirable reporting should be taken into account when assessing the results.
Respondents' income and age were measured on interval scales; education was measured using a nominal scale.

Sample and respondents selection procedure
To test the model, convenience survey of Lithuanian respondents was used. A link referring to an online questionnaire was snowballed across social networks and available contact groups of authors. 262 answers were received. Since the survey se ings did not allow missing a single answer (except sensitive demographics, like income), all questionnaires were fully completed. Several outliers were eliminated: male respondents (since their number was small, and results addressing a more homogeneous sample of females would only have more practical advantages), few very young and elderly respondents (for the same reason of a more homogeneous sample), and respondents who had reported that they reside outside Lithuania (since presumably their a itudes List of Values (LOV), Kahle, 1983.
Self-assessment on the strength of value, 7-point Likert scale.
Self-assessment of statements, 7-point Likert scale. Statements were reworded to t face and body care products; several irrelevant statements were removed. A weighted average of behavioral outcome and the importance of that outcome (for example, "I am aware that purchasing ecological cosmetics is important for nature prevention" and "Nature prevention is important for me"), 7-point Likert scale.

Subjective norm
A weighted average of normative beliefs in relation to ecological face and body care products purchase and motivation to comply with normative beliefs (for example, "Many people who are important to me suppose that I should purchase ecological face and body care brands" and "It is of vital importance to me what other important to me people think of me"), 7-point Likert scale.

Perceived behavioral control
A weighted average of control belief and self-assessed ability to control the factor (for example, "I have su cient resources and opportunities to purchase ecological face and body care brands" by "I am ready to pursue more e ort in order to purchase ecological face and body care brands regularly"), 7-point Likert scale.

N/A
Intention to purchase local or international ecological brand Agreement with the statements "Knowing that the face and body care brand is ecological, I would purchase a local (Lithuanian) brand" and "Knowing that the face and body care brand is ecological, I would purchase an international brand", 7-point Likert scale.

N/A
towards Lithuanian and international brands, as well as purchase behavior while selecting brands would di er as compared to consumers who reside in Lithuania due to the di erences in experience, exposure to marketing e orts and brand availability).
A er eliminations, 206 questionnaires were le . e nal sample can be characterized as urban women, living in Lithuania, from 20 to 59 years old (women from 20 to 29 dominating), with a variety of income ranging from minimum 800 Lt 1 to 5500 Lt for a family member (average salary in Lithuania is 1903 Lt (Lithuanian Department of Statistics, Dec. 2012)). Table 2 provides more detailed sample characteristics.

Results
First of all, the distribution of intention to purchase ecological international and ecological local face and body care brands was assessed. A local brand had clear preferences among the sample (Mean = 5.21, Mode = 6, Median = 6), compared to an international one (Mean = 3.88, Mode = 4, Median = 4). Further it was measured to what extent a itudes towards an ecological, local or international brand, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are the predictors of intentions to purchase an ecological local or international brand. Stepwise regression was run. Multicollinearity tests reveal good data t for regression (tolerance between 0.784 and 0.978; VIF between 1.023 and 1.276). Normal distribution of variables is not maintained (for the larger part of the variables the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is signi cant). e problem of non-normality, or, to be more precise, J curve response concentration, is common for small, homogeneous samples when self-reports on a itudes and values are addressed (Graham, 1940). e results are provided in Table 3. Intention to purchase an ecological Lithuanian brand has a single related variable, namely, an a itude towards a local brand (β=0.493, t(201)=8.096, p=0.000). Although the relationship seems to be evident and absence of other predictors is a bit disappointing, the result has signi cant managerial implications. In Lithuanian face and body care cosmetics sector there are few, however, strong local brands. For years their positioning was heavily based on local origins of ingredients, deep traditions of herbs knowledge, extraction and processing, and freshness. Even a short shelf-life (up to 12 months) is interpreted by companies as an advantage, signaling absence of chemical ingredients in the product. It might be assumed that associations between local and "green", or ecological brand are now so strong, that it is su cient for the marketer to put all marketing stakes on local origin to increase intentions of local ecological brand purchase. e model holds signi cant (F(1,225)=65.540, p=0.000, R 2 =0.243).
For the international brand the segment also exists. Although most of the respondents demonstrated a neutral position towards its purchase, there were some strong inclinations. For this segment an international origin supported with a strong ecological aspect should be stressed, since a itude towards an international brand is a strong predictor (β=0.472, t(201)=6.73, p=0.000). Most likely, this is the segment that for certain reasons demonstrates negative a itudes towards local brands, since signi cant reverse relationship with a itude towards a local brand and intention to purchase an international brand was determined (β=-0.396, t(201)=-5.586, p=0.000).
It was asserted that particular values, pro-environmental concern and perceived environmental knowledge were related with a itudes towards an ecological brand, an international or local brand, the subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. For each endogenous variable, separate stepwise regressions with particular indicated independent variables were run. Multicollinearity tests reveal data t for regression (tolerance between 0.447 and 0.986; VIF between 1.014 and 2.237). e results indicated that very few values have relationship with a itudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Pro-environmental concern and perceived environmental knowledge are more important in explaining a itude elements in relation to ecological brands (see Table 4).
A itudes towards local and international brands are poorly explained by the selected variables. Although there are domains that correlate signi cantly (pro-environmental concern with a itudes towards local brands, and the value of being well respected with a itude towards an international brand), in general R 2 in both models is too low (0.055 and 0.019, respectively) to o er su cient variance explanation. Besides, the model of a itude towards an international brand, with the value of being well respected as the predictor, is just on the margin of insigni cant explanation (p=0.046). us, none of the selected variables serve as su cient predictors of a itudes towards local or international brands. Most likely, the purchase of international or local brand is not related with opinions of peers, security, excitement or other constructs of consumer thinking that are related with higher consciousness of purchase, when values are evoked. e fact that environmental knowledge is not related with a itude towards a local brand is surprising in this context, since purchasing local brands, presumably, should be a ected by the knowledge that locally produced goods, all other circumstances being equal, are more environmentally friendly due to lower transportation and storage usage, as compared to foreign goods.
Contrary to what was expected, subjective norms are not predicted by any of the values. Only pro-environmental concern might serve as the predictor of subjective norms (β=0.349, t(200)=5.321, p=0.000), however, the R 2 of the model is too weak (0.122). It was predicted that consumers who have strongly established values of warm relationship with others, a sense of belonging and being well-respected would experience stronger pressure of external norms. e results can be explained by the fact that ecological face and body care products fall into the category of private usage products. According to the theory of Bearden and Etzel (1982), the usage of private products can hardly be a ected by the group in uence. Perceived behavioral control is strongly related with perceived environmental knowledge (β=0.576, t(201)=10.067, p=0.000). More than 30% of variation is explained by this variable only. e result is easily explainable, since consumers who have strong environmental knowledge are more likely to overcome di culties (for example, higher price or more scarce distribution) to get an ecological brand. However, none of the values serves as a predictor of perceived behavioral control. e relationships of variables are depicted in Figure 1.

Worldview
Pro-environmental concern Perceived environmental knowledge A itude towards behavior related to an ecological brand A itude towards behavior related to a local brand A itude towards behavior related to an international brand Discussion and managerial implications e results of the research have clear implications for local and international producers of ecological face and body care brands. Propensity to purchase an international ecological brand is closely related to a itude towards an international brand and a itude towards an ecological brand. It is also inversely related to the a itude towards a local brand, indicating a clear segment for international production. A itudes towards ecological brands can be induced by pro-environmental concern and the value of a sense of belonging. us, marketers of particular international brands can use a broader concept positioning for their brands, that is, addressing the community and harmony with environment issues (to enhance a sense of belonging), and targeting proenvironmental concern. Additional proof of ecology (certi cates, "green" stories) are highly recommended. e relationship between pro-environmental concern and a itude towards ecological brands is favorable for current marketers, since environmental issues are o en addressed by opinion leaders, mass media, various movements, and pro-environmental issues together with consumer knowledge keep escalating. Especially, foreign producers of ecological face and body care brands should bene t from that, since the relationship between increased pro-environmental concern, a itude towards an ecological brand and intention to purchase an international brand was demonstrated.
Intentions to purchase a local ecological brand were related to the a itude towards a local brand only. is implication could be considered as very positive, since the country of origin per se serves as the major preference criterion in the local market. Addressing it is not di cult in marketing communication. Since the belief in local brand is so strong, there is no such big pressure to certify ecologic production. ere are examples of Lithuanian brands that position themselves as being ecological, however, are not accredited as ecological, and consumers still trust them.
Perceived environmental knowledge proved to be the predictor of perceived behavioral control, however, this domain does not serve as a predictor for intention to purchase an ecological local or international brand. Most likely the results are related to the category itself, since no particular di culties emerge or e orts are required while making the selection in this category of products. e subjective norm was neither explained su ciently by selected variables, nor served as intention to purchase predictor. Again, this could be related to the category of privately used fast moving goods.
Limitations of the study include a rather small convenience sampling, although it was highly representative for the target group of ecological face and body care products. Another limitation might emerge due to the exible understanding of what is an ecological brand. Ecology issues are new for Lithuanian consumers. Although the interest in them is comparable to world trends, consumers are still not able to di erentiate between various levels of ecological labeling, terms "green", "environmental friendly", and "ecological", or recognize a "green brainwashing", when producers manipulate emphasizing only one ecological element or natural ingredients. However, it was presumed that if consumers perceive the brand to be ecological, all the e ects of values-knowledge-environmental concern-a itude relationship hold for the brand, irrespective of its objective characteristics. e sample had characteristics of individuals that typically demonstrate higher environmental consciousness. In Lithuania, educated middle aged women with middle income (1200-2000 Lt) are the most eco-friendly when related to purchases (Banytė, Brazionienė & Gadeikienė, 2010). erefore it is likely that relationships among values, pro-environmental concern, environmental knowledge, a itudes and intentions to purchase ecological brands would be allocated di erently (presumably, weaker) among other consumer groups.