Exploring the Environmental Impact of Sustainable E-Commerce Practices in Malaysia: A Study on Consumer Perception

Abstract

Sustainable e-commerce has emerged as a critical environmental issue in Malaysia as online retail expands rapidly, intensifying concerns over packaging waste, delivery emissions, and resource use. Prior studies have largely examined individual sustainable e-commerce practices in isolation, leaving the relative and combined influence of these practices on environmental sustainability underexamined. This study, therefore, examined how five practices of consumer environmental awareness, green last-mile delivery, green packaging, product recycling, and pollution-free practices relate to environmental sustainability among Malaysian online consumers. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling yielded 329 valid responses from active online shoppers in Kuala Langat, Selangor; data were analyzed in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression. Bivariate results showed that all five practices were positively and significantly correlated with environmental sustainability (p < .001), with pollution-free practices (r = .767) and green packaging (r = .673) showing the strongest correlations. Once examined jointly, only pollution-free practices (β = .585) and green packaging (β = .438) remained significant positive unique predictors, green last-mile delivery showed a significant negative unique effect (β = -.159), and consumer environmental awareness and product recycling contributed no significant unique variance; the model explained 64.8% of the variance (R² = .648). These results indicate that source-control measures such as pollution reduction and sustainable packaging have the greatest unique influence on Malaysian consumers' perceived environmental sustainability, offering e-commerce businesses and policymakers a clear investment priority.