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Based on the attitude–behaviour–context (ABC) theory, the present study addressed consumer skepticism as one of the inhibitors of organic purchasing behaviour. More specifically, it investigated the role of environmental concern and environmental knowledge as a mediator, in the organic cosmetics background. Data gathered from consumers in Tunisia (N = 736), Italy (N = 720) and France (N = 715) and analysed using a structural equation modelling approach. The findings revealed that green skepticism is a strong inhibitor towards adoption of organic cosmetic products among consumers in the three countries. On the other hand, findings revealed that environmental knowledge and environmental concern fully mediate the relationship between green skepticism and organic purchasing behaviour. The ultimate goal is to provide valuable insights for business leaders, policymakers and marketers fully understand consumers' resistance to organic cosmetic products. Further, it offers a comprehensive framework to support strategies to reduce consumers' skepticism towards organic products, in different market segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Based on the attitude–behaviour–context (ABC) theory, the present study addressed consumer skepticism as one of the inhibitors of organic purchasing behaviour. More specifically, it investigated the role of environmental concern and environmental knowledge as a mediator, in the organic cosmetics background. Data gathered from consumers in Tunisia (N = 736), Italy (N = 720) and France (N = 715) and analysed using a structural equation modelling approach. The findings revealed that green skepticism is a strong inhibitor towards adoption of organic cosmetic products among consumers in the three countries. On the other hand, findings revealed that environmental knowledge and environmental concern fully mediate the relationship between green skepticism and organic purchasing behaviour. The ultimate goal is to provide valuable insights for business leaders, policymakers and marketers fully understand consumers’ resistance to organic cosmetic products. Further, it offers a comprehensive framework to support strategies to reduce consumers’ skepticism towards organic products, in different market segments.

Today, the habit of using light, durable, and disposable plastics that are poorly managed is one of the main reasons for environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change in Vietnam. Besides, due to the lack of consumption, most plastic companies in Vietnam refuse to switch their production to biodegradable plastic bags. The study is conducted to promote the purchase behavior of biodegradable plastic bags, which can reduce the consumption of non-degradable plastic in Vietnam. A non-probability sampling method was applied, with a sample size of 828 consumers who lived in Southeast Vietnam. SmartPLS software was applied to examine the hypotheses. The results show that attitudes, coping appraisal, and threat positively influence the purchase behavior of biodegradable plastic bags. Green skepticism negatively moderates the relationship between attitudes, coping appraisal, threat appraisal, and purchase intention toward biodegradable plastic bags. This study also added psychological factors, such as green skepticism, to fill the perception-behavior gap from previous studies and extend the protection-motivation theory. Some managerial implications will be proposed for plastic companies in Vietnam to switch their production toward biodegradable plastic bags. Besides, consumers will also be given guidance and encouragement to use these products through integrated marketing communication strategies. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2024-08-03-04 Full Text: PDF

The resurgence of green marketing engrossed the phenomenon of greenwashing, misleading and deceiving consumers with false claims about the firms' environmental practices. Drawing on attribution theory, this study examines the direct relationship between perceived greenwashing (PGW) and brand credibility (BC) and indirect relationship through green skepticism (GSP). The study also examines the moderating effect of environmental concern (EC) based on contingency theory in both direct and indirect relationships. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires from consumers and 508 usable responses were analyzed. The study's hypotheses were tested using PROCESS macro for SPSS. The results show that PGW is negatively related to BC both directly and indirectly via GSP, whereas EC moderated, directly and indirectly, the relationships between PGW and BC, suggesting that the relationship between PGW and BC is fostered when EC is high. This study helps managers to understand how overstated/deceptive green claims may lead to destructive consequences for the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the factors influencing Chinese college students' psychological perceptions of green retrofitting of college sports stadiums. It focused on the roles of green skepticism, future rational cognition, and future perceptual cognition. A total of 551 college students from five universities in Xi'an were tested. The results indicated that college students' green skepticism, future rational cognition, future perceptual cognition, and psychological perceptions of green retrofitting of college sports stadiums were at a moderate level and that green skepticism had a significant and negative influence on college students' psychological perceptions of green retrofitting of college sports stadiums. Green skepticism was a significant negative predictor of environmental values (β = −0.183, p < 0.001), natural empathy (β = −0.164, p < 0.001), and moral elevation (β = −0.187, p < 0.001). In addition, future rational cognition and future perceptual cognition served as parallel mediators in the college students' psychological perceptions of green retrofitting of stadiums. It is notable that the mediating effect of future rational cognition was greater than that of future perceptual cognition. The findings indicate that resolving green skepticism and enhancing transparency and trust are crucial for enhancing college students' psychological perceptions and the behavioral benefits of green retrofitting of college sports stadiums. Furthermore, the facilitating effect of future rational cognition and future perceptual cognition assists college students in making more rational and ethical decisions and in garnering broad support for environmental actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of new energy Electric Vehicles (EVs), certain car manufacturers engage in deceptive behaviors known as "greenwashing", including activities such as "subsidy cheating", "exaggerating carbon reduction claims", and "selective disclosure of environmental information". These behaviors have a negative impact on industry progress. While previous studies suggest that consumers' perceptions of greenwashing towards individual brands extend to the industry as a whole and influence their overall purchase intentions, there remains a gap in understanding how these behaviors specifically affect consumers' willingness to purchase EVs. To address this gap and enrich the literature on the relationship between greenwashing and consumer choice, this study uses ABC attitude theory and experimental methods to investigate the impact of greenwashing in the EV sector on consumers' vehicle preferences in three experiments. The results show that consumers' perceptions of greenwashing in one EV brand negatively influence their purchase intentions towards other brands, mediated by a general skepticism towards environmental claims in the industry. In addition, consumers' innovativeness and attitudes towards other brands play a negative moderating role in this relationship. The research findings provide comprehensive insights into the complex impact of brand greenwashing on consumer behavior within the EV industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employees' skepticism towards green activities is a significant threat to green initiatives. However, research on green skepticism has been limited. Following this gap, this study tested the moderating role of green skepticism in the links among Green HRM, OCB environment, and green hotel performance in Pakistan's hospitality industry. Data from 264 hotel employees were collected through purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using SmartPLS 4 with the PLS-SEM technique and PROCESS analysis. Results suggest that Green HRM is positively related to the OCB environment and green hotel performance. OCB environment mediates the relationship between Green HRM and green hotel performance. Interestingly, the impact of green HRM on the OCB environment and green hotel performance is only high when green skepticism is low. Additionally, green Skepticism also moderates the indirect path of Green HRM and Green hotel performance through the OCB environment. This study is among a few studies to examine the role of green skepticism in Green HRM research in the hospitality industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how greenwashing effects customers’ intention to make environmentally friendly purchases, known as green purchase intention, and how green skepticism, green brand love, and green brand loyalty mediate this relationship. Using the Attitude-Behavior-Context theory as a framework, ten hypotheses were developed and tested with a sample of 348 Palestinian consumers who had purchased organic or green foods in the West Bank. The findings indicate that greenwashing has a negative impact on green purchase intention, and this relationship is mediated by green brand loyalty and love, but not by green skepticism. Green brand love and loyalty also significantly influence green purchase intention, while green skepticism does not. The study highlights the importance of reducing greenwashing to increase green purchase intention, brand love, and loyalty, and offers practical evidence to help practitioners address this issue. The results have implications for firms seeking to reduce skepticism and increase organic food purchases, with recommendations for future research in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Businesses are utilizing greenwashing to beat their rivals along with the growth of green markets. The goal of the current study was to investigate the practice of "greenwashing" and explain how it affects consumers' intentions to purchase environmentally friendly products. The statistical population of this study includes people who bought environmentally friendly food goods in Iran. Due to the statistical population's infinity, Cochran's relationship was used to obtain a sample size of 384, and ultimately 276 valid questionnaires were retrieved by accessible sampling. Then, the data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method with the help of SmartPLS. The results demonstrated that greenwashing has a detrimental and considerable impact on Iranian consumers' green purchase intention for environmentally friendly food products. Additionally, the association between greenwashing and intention to make a green purchase was validated, with green word-of-mouth and green skepticism serving as mediators. Because greenwashing behavior has not been taken into account in domestic studies in Iran, the findings of this study provide the first theoretical and practical consequences for managers in the food business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst the abundance of skincare options, the process of identifying the most fitting products is a daunting task. This challenge is further intensified when brands frequently lack transparency concerning their environment-friendly characteristics, fostering skepticism among consumers or potential adopters. As a result, to resolve the problem of consumers' mixed emotions towards skincare brands, it is necessary to understand how greenwashing, green skepticism with two moderators (information quality and brand reputation) shape consumers' intentions. Drawing on a theoretical conceptual model rooted in the consumer behavior literature, the present investigation tested the hypotheses through cross-sectional survey research. Using convenience sampling, 441 participants were recruited through social media platforms and skincare-related forums. This study establishes the mediating role of green skepticism and the direct impact of greenwashing on consumers' purchase intentions. Consequently, the statistical significance of the path coefficients provide empirical support for the influence of greenwashing and green skepticism on consumers' intentions. Our research contributes to the broader discourse on sustainable consumption, offering theoretical advancements and practical implications for the researchers, policymakers, and businesses involved in the Saudi Arabian skincare market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number of cases related to greenwashing. This research investigates how consumers develop green skepticism to react to greenwashing practices. In two studies, we demonstrate that environmental ads (either vague or specific ads) are more effective in persuading weak-attitude consumers resulting in lower green skepticism than strong-attitude consumers. In contrast, strong-attitude consumers exhibit a backfiring behavior when presented with vague ads, evidenced by their higher level of green skepticism and lower WTP for products featured in the ads. More interestingly, specific ads are effective among strong-attitude consumers, lowering their green skepticism and increasing their WTP. Our research has theoretical and managerial implications for green marketing communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As environmental problems such as climate and resource depletion are seriously occurring worldwide, the climate crisis and environmental problems are drawing attention throughout society. Reflecting this reality, an increasing number of ESG management companies are promoting environmentally friendly products and conducting eco-friendly marketing to secure corporate competitiveness. Unfortunately, however, greenwashing marketing by companies that exploit society's preference for eco-friendly companies is also rapidly increasing. Greenwashing refers to camouflage environmentalism that is not actually environmentally friendly but appears to be environmentally friendly. Through this review, we will find out the beginning and meaning of greenwashing and try to explain the seriousness of greenwashing through cases of greenwashing that occurred in the aspects of the country, companies, and consumers. The trend of global regulation on greenwashing was examined, and through this, policy measures to suppress greenwashing were presented.

In the context of new energy Electric Vehicles (EVs), certain car manufacturers engage in deceptive behaviors known as “greenwashing”, including activities such as “subsidy cheating”, “exaggerating carbon reduction claims”, and “selective disclosure of environmental information”. These behaviors have a negative impact on industry progress. While previous studies suggest that consumers’ perceptions of greenwashing towards individual brands extend to the industry as a whole and influence their overall purchase intentions, there remains a gap in understanding how these behaviors specifically affect consumers’ willingness to purchase EVs. To address this gap and enrich the literature on the relationship between greenwashing and consumer choice, this study uses ABC attitude theory and experimental methods to investigate the impact of greenwashing in the EV sector on consumers’ vehicle preferences in three experiments. The results show that consumers’ perceptions of greenwashing in one EV brand negatively influence their purchase intentions towards other brands, mediated by a general skepticism towards environmental claims in the industry. In addition, consumers’ innovativeness and attitudes towards other brands play a negative moderating role in this relationship. The research findings provide comprehensive insights into the complex impact of brand greenwashing on consumer behavior within the EV industry.

This paper examined the factors influencing Chinese college students’ psychological perceptions of green retrofitting of college sports stadiums. It focused on the roles of green skepticism, future rational cognition, and future perceptual cognition. A total of 551 college students from five universities in Xi’an were tested. The results indicated that college students’ green skepticism, future rational cognition, future perceptual cognition, and psychological perceptions of green retrofitting of college sports stadiums were at a moderate level and that green skepticism had a significant and negative influence on college students’ psychological perceptions of green retrofitting of college sports stadiums. Green skepticism was a significant negative predictor of environmental values (β = −0.183, p < 0.001), natural empathy (β = −0.164, p < 0.001), and moral elevation (β = −0.187, p < 0.001). In addition, future rational cognition and future perceptual cognition served as parallel mediators in the college students’ psychological perceptions of green retrofitting of stadiums. It is notable that the mediating effect of future rational cognition was greater than that of future perceptual cognition. The findings indicate that resolving green skepticism and enhancing transparency and trust are crucial for enhancing college students’ psychological perceptions and the behavioral benefits of green retrofitting of college sports stadiums. Furthermore, the facilitating effect of future rational cognition and future perceptual cognition assists college students in making more rational and ethical decisions and in garnering broad support for environmental actions.

Consumers sometimes fail to follow with green consumption behaviour, despite claiming they favour products with environmental benefits. One important reason behind the phenomenon is the perceived performance liability associated with green products since consumers perceive them to be less effective than conventional alternatives. The current research draws on consumers' lay beliefs regarding environmental attributes to shed light on the interaction of green advertising appeals that differ in environmental prominence (i.e., explicit appeals and implicit appeals) and product category on consumer evaluation. Using three experimental studies, the results show that explicit green appeals are more effective for the gentleness products, under which consumers have higher expectations about product greenness, whereas implicit green appeals are more effective for strength products, under which consumers have concerns about the product performance. Furthermore, perceived advertisement credibility mediates the congruence effect on consumer evaluation. Green skepticism further moderates the congruence effect as well as the mediation effect of perceived advertisement credibility. The findings enrich understandings of how green advertising strategies impact consumer evaluation and supply practical implications for green product promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green brand evangelism builds an important psychological and behavioral basis on promoting the positive interaction between green brands and consumers, as well as on realizing the co-creation of green brand value. This study selects brand authenticity issues as the entry point and investigates brand authenticity on green brand evangelism. In particular, this study tests the effects of green transparency and green skepticism on brand authenticity, as well as the role of self-brand connection and the need for cognition on the relationship between brand authenticity and green brand evangelism. With a sample of 641 Chinese respondents of green building materials, the dimension and scale of green brand evangelism were acquired by utilizing the grounded theory, and the hypothesized relationships were tested by employing structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that green transparency and green skepticism yield an influence on brand authenticity, and brand authenticity exerts a great influence on green brand authenticity. Moreover, brand authenticity positively affects self-brand connection, which in turn positively influences green brand authenticity, and the relationship between brand authenticity and green brand evangelism is regulated by the need for cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of green practices on green brand equity, and it looks at the impact of green brand attachment and green skepticism as mediating variables on these relationships. We employed a dataset of 454 consumers from international fast-food restaurants. Our empirical results indicate that green practices enhance consumer-based green brand equity. Green skepticism has a significant negative effect on green brand attachment, and green brand attachment has a significant positive effect on green brand equity. Green brand attachment mediates the relationship between green practices and green brand equity and between green skepticism and green brand equity. The study findings provide consumer insights into green products and managerial implications for international fast-food chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in and acquisition of energy-efficient items and pro-environmental products and the scale of these purchases depend on consumer attitudes, especially those related to beliefs that such products are usually more expensive than their nonenergy-efficient counterparts. However, green skepticism is a phenomenon that weakens the willingness to buy both energy-efficient and pro-environmental products. This skepticism is enhanced by the phenomenon of greenwashing, which has become a popular way of competing, whereby companies strive to appear to be more environmentally friendly than they are. Therefore, we wanted to investigate consumer attitudes toward energy-efficient products and environmentally friendly purchases. We conducted a survey using a computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) technique throughout Poland. The research sample included 1000 individuals and was representative of gender, age, and place of residence. The results of our study showed that women, people with a higher education, and people in better financial situations accept higher prices for products that do not cause environmental damage. Moreover, willingness to pay higher prices for products that do not cause environmental damage correlates negatively with a negative assessment of producers' social responsibility and with a negative assessment of consumers' social responsibility. We proposed theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in and acquisition of energy-efficient items and pro-environmental products and the scale of these purchases depend on consumer attitudes, especially those related to beliefs that such products are usually more expensive than their nonenergy-efficient counterparts. However, green skepticism is a phenomenon that weakens the willingness to buy both energy-efficient and pro-environmental products. This skepticism is enhanced by the phenomenon of greenwashing, which has become a popular way of competing, whereby companies strive to appear to be more environmentally friendly than they are. Therefore, we wanted to investigate consumer attitudes toward energy-efficient products and environmentally friendly purchases. We conducted a survey using a computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) technique throughout Poland. The research sample included 1000 individuals and was representative of gender, age, and place of residence. The results of our study showed that women, people with a higher education, and people in better financial situations accept higher prices for products that do not cause environmental damage. Moreover, willingness to pay higher prices for products that do not cause environmental damage correlates negatively with a negative assessment of producers’ social responsibility and with a negative assessment of consumers’ social responsibility. We proposed theoretical and practical implications.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between green production and sustainable consumption, with a focus on green packaging design and the integration of stakeholder theory and expected-value theory. Two studies were conducted to address the research gap from the perspectives of both enterprises and consumers. Study 1 highlighted the importance of employees' degree of psychological ownership of green products for improving green packaging design, while study 2 explored the dual role of green packaging design in influencing consumers' green purchasing behavior through both green skepticism and green perceived value. The findings have practical and theoretical implications for the promotion of green production and sustainable consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers' health and environmental concerns drive demands for organic green goods. This perspective compels businesses to create organic green goods using sustainable practices. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of research on the attitude-behavioral-context of customers toward organic green products. Therefore, the present work investigates the influence of factors, namely Green Skepticism, Altruistic and Egoistic Values, Perceived Consumer Effectiveness, and Environmental Involvement Influence on organic green purchase intention with mediating effect of green attitude and moderating effect of price sensitivity and Environmental Protection Emotion using the attitude-behavioral-context approach. Snowball sampling was used to collect 601 original survey responses from India, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that (a) green skepticism had a directly negative impact on green attitude and purchase intention of the organic green product; (b) altruistic and egoistic values had a direct positive impact on green attitude and purchase intention; (c) perceived consumer effectiveness and environmental involvement directly impacted green attitude; however, it was unexpectedly discovered that these two factors do not impact purchase intention; (d) green attitude had a direct and positive mediating effect on purchase intention; (e) price sensitivity and environmental protection emotion had a positive moderation association between green attitude and intention. This study will be helpful to the marketers to develop new innovative strategies towards targeting organic green products. • Develops a research framework for analyzing organic green purchase intentions. • Comprehensive Indian consumer data has been analyzed. • The role of green skepticism, altruistic and egoistic values, perceived consumer effectiveness, and environmental involvement is highlighted. • In the research framework, green attitude acts as a mediator, while price sensitivity and environmental protection emotion serve as moderators. • Provided suggestions and highlighted implications for marketers to develop new innovative customer targeting strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable dietary choices have become increasingly important because of the current environmental threats the world is facing. Nonetheless, consumers find it difficult to assess a product's sustainability and therefore make better choices. This pilot study tested whether explanatory product information about sustainability increased sustainable purchases in an online supermarket and whether additional health information increased message effectiveness. Perceived consumer effectiveness (i.e., the perception of the degree to which individual actions can contribute to environmental problems) and green skepticism were hypothesized to mediate the effect of message type, and environmental attitudes were included as the moderator. An experiment using a one-factor design was conducted among 101 participants who were assigned to one of three experimental conditions: sustainability claim only, explanatory sustainability claim, and explanatory sustainability and health claim. Analyses showed that an explanatory sustainability claim (regardless of whether this claim was accompanied by a health claim) led to fewer sustainable purchases through perceived consumer effectiveness but only for those with low environmental attitudes. No effects were found for the addition of a health claim. The results from this pilot provide insight for future studies that aim to examine how online supermarkets should communicate to increase sustainable purchases.