Thong Quang BUI, Nhu-Ty NGUYEN, Khanh Kim NGUYEN, Thanh-Tuyen TRAN / Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business Vol 8 No 3 (2021) 1295–1302 1295 1295 Print ISSN: 2288-4637 / Online ISSN 2288-4645 doi:10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no3.1295 Antecedents Affecting Purchase Intention of Green Skincare Products: A Case Study in Vietnam Thong Quang BUI 1 , Nhu-Ty NGUYEN 2 , Khanh Kim NGUYEN 3 , Thanh-Tuyen TRAN 4 Received: November 30, 2020 Revised: February 07, 2021 Accepted: February 16, 2021 Abstract The study aims to investigate the antecedents affecting purchase intention in the category of green skincare products. Many studies have used the theory of planned behavior to investigate factors affecting intention to purchase products in general. This paper not only retests the influences of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control on the intention to buy eco-friendly skincare products but also suggests a new antecedent – environment knowledge of purchase intention. More importantly, this study is the first to propose the moderating effect of country of origin and product knowledge on the relationship between attitude and purchase intention. This study employs a sample of 350 female customers from 18 to 39 years old in Ho Chi Minh City. The research applies the Multiple Linear Regression to analyze the proposed hypotheses in the conceptual framework and results in significant outcomes. The result shows that attitude is the most influential factor then, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and environmental knowledge. Most importantly, the findings of this study suggest that product knowledge is found to moderate the effect of attitude on purchase intention. The finding of moderating effect is a new contribution to the literature and future research can be carried out to validate this result. Keywords: Theory of Planned Behavior, Purchase Intention, Environmental Knowledge, Country of Origin, Product Knowledge JEL Classification Code: M37, M31, L1, M30 environmental crisis. Environmental deterioration has never ceased to draw public attention and provoke controversy (Oh & Park, 2020; Choi, 2020; Nguyen et al., 2021). Moreover, the cosmetics industry has been well- known for its bad reputation of using animals to conduct trial experiments. Under this context, consumers nowadays are more well-informed and knowledgeable. Besides the functional benefits brought by the products, consumers are also concerned about the detrimental effects placed on the environment and animals. As a result, so pervasive these green initiative trends have become that manufacturers in this industry are required to invest in product innovation so that they can cope with this new fad possessing vastly potential opportunities (Nguyen, 2021; Lee & Lim, 2020). This research concentrates on identifying the drivers that motivate customers’ intention to buy green skincare products and evaluating how each antecedent can influence the intention to buy such products. Secondly, it proposes the moderating effect of some factors on the association between Attitude and Purchase Intention. The result will contribute to the literature of consumer behavior in making decisions (Luc, 2018; Park & Park, 2019). 1 First Author. [1] School of Business, International University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam [2] Vietnam National University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Email: bqthong@hcmiu.edu.vn 2 [1] School of Business, International University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam [2] Vietnam National University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Email: nhutynguyen@gmail.com 3 [1] School of Business, International University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam [2] Vietnam National University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Email: ngkkhanh7@gmail.com 4 Corresponding Author. Scientific Research Center, Lac Hong University, Vietnam [Postal Address: No. 10 Huynh Van Nghe, Buu Long, Bien Hoa, Dong Nai, Vietnam] Email: thanhtuyentran@lhu.edu.vn © Copyright: The Author(s) This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1. Introduction In recent years, the trend in beauty products in general and skincare products in specific concentrates on natural extract and environmentally friendly manufactured products. The explanation for this is the universal