The impact of ant forest project on the organizational public relationship and purchase intention of Alipay products among Chinese customers

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the impact of perception of Ant Forest Project and organizational – public relationship on Chinese customers’ purchase intention of Alibaba products. Two hundred and three uploaders participated in this survey, using purposive sampling and convenience sampling. The data was tabulated and analyzed using Regression analysis with the statistical significance at 0.05. The finding revealed respondents had medium perception on the Ant Forest Project and had medium level of organizational-public relationship with Alibaba. They had medium level of trust, commitment, local involvement, and reputation, respectively. And, they had high purchase intention of Alibaba product after exposing to the Ant Forest Project. The finding revealed that: (1) Respondents’ perception of Forest Ant Project significantly influenced their organizational-public relationship with Alibaba in respect to commitment and local involvement only but not reputation; (2) Perception of the Ant Forest significantly increased the respondents' purchase intention of Alibaba products; and (3) Trust, commitment, local involvement, and reputation are significant positive predictors of respondents’ purchase intention of Alibaba products. The implications of this study extend beyond the academic realm, providing practical considerations for businesses seeking to understand and highlight the impact of environmental initiatives on consumer behavior and organizational relationships in the Chinese market.