Abstract

The critical role of green consumption in mitigating carbon emissions is widely acknowledged. As a prerequisite for green consumption, consumer green awareness (CGA) plays a pivotal role in advancing sustainable development. This study constructs a comprehensive indicator system for CGA from the three dimensions of “antecedent-behavior-outcome” and measures the CGA levels of 30 provinces in China from 2014 to 2022. Using the Theil index, kernel density estimation, Moran’s I, and Markov chain methods, we analyze its spatiotemporal evolution characteristics. Furthermore, spatial econometric models are applied to explore its driving factors. The results show that China’s CGA exhibits sustained growth during the study period, but regional disparities are widening, driven by inter-regional rather than intra-regional differences. Moreover, China’s CGA gradually demonstrates the long-tailed and multimodal distribution, accompanied by emerging spatial clustering effects. In terms of transition dynamics, CGA demonstrates a short-term “gradient lock”, which is substantially alleviated when spatial spillover effects are incorporated. Additionally, we find that economic development, the advancement of emerging industries, accelerated urbanization, emphasis on education, and policy guidance significantly promote CGA, while overconsumption inhibits CGA. Among these factors, economic development, informatization, e-commerce, education, and policy guidance show significant spillover effects.

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