IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i12p7204-d837469.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Will Greenwashing Result in Brand Avoidance? A Moderated Mediation Model

Author

Listed:
  • Zengrui Xiao

    (School of International Education, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Ying Wang

    (Institute of Innovation System Research, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310007, China)

  • Dongjie Guo

    (School of Economics, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China)

Abstract

Greenwashing has become a widespread phenomenon and obstructs green products, but literature on how consumers react to misbehaving brands is still scarce. This study aims to investigate the effect of greenwashing on consumers’ brand avoidance, integrating the mediating effect of brand hypocrisy and the moderating effect of CSR–CA belief. Data were acquired from a questionnaire survey of 317 consumers. Hypotheses were tested in a first-stage moderated mediation model with a bootstrapping method using the PROCESS program in SPSS. The empirical results demonstrated that greenwashing has a positive effect on brand avoidance, which is partially mediated by brand hypocrisy. Meanwhile, the positive effects of greenwashing on brand hypocrisy and brand avoidance are both weaker at higher levels of CSR–CA belief. Furthermore, the mediating effect of brand hypocrisy is also weaker at higher levels of CSR–CA belief. Based on these findings, we recommend that brands fulfill their environmental claims and balance their quality control, manufacturing costs and environment protection. Moreover, the government and environmental protection organizations should educate the public that there is not necessarily a tradeoff between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate capability (CA).

Suggested Citation

  • Zengrui Xiao & Ying Wang & Dongjie Guo, 2022. "Will Greenwashing Result in Brand Avoidance? A Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:12:p:7204-:d:837469
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/12/7204/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/12/7204/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Singhapakdi, Anusorn & Lee, Dong-Jin & Sirgy, M. Joseph & Senasu, Kalayanee, 2015. "The impact of incongruity between an organization's CSR orientation and its employees' CSR orientation on employees' quality of work life," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 60-66.
    2. Hongwei He & Yan Li, 2011. "CSR and Service Brand: The Mediating Effect of Brand Identification and Moderating Effect of Service Quality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(4), pages 673-688, June.
    3. Yu-Shan Chen & Ching-Hsun Chang, 2013. "Greenwash and Green Trust: The Mediation Effects of Green Consumer Confusion and Green Perceived Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 489-500, May.
    4. Magdalena Öberseder & Bodo Schlegelmilch & Verena Gruber, 2011. "“Why Don’t Consumers Care About CSR?”: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Role of CSR in Consumption Decisions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(4), pages 449-460, December.
    5. Wagner, Tillmann & Korschun, Daniel & Troebs, Cord-Christian, 2020. "Deconstructing corporate hypocrisy: A delineation of its behavioral, moral, and attributional facets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 385-394.
    6. Hanna Kim & Won-Moo Hur & Junsang Yeo, 2015. "Corporate Brand Trust as a Mediator in the Relationship between Consumer Perception of CSR, Corporate Hypocrisy, and Corporate Reputation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-12, March.
    7. Mark Pritchard & Theresa Wilson, 2018. "Building corporate reputation through consumer responses to green new products," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(1), pages 38-52, January.
    8. Noémi Nemes & Stephen J. Scanlan & Pete Smith & Tone Smith & Melissa Aronczyk & Stephanie Hill & Simon L. Lewis & A. Wren Montgomery & Francesco N. Tubiello & Doreen Stabinsky, 2022. "An Integrated Framework to Assess Greenwashing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-13, April.
    9. Elahe Kordi Ghasrodashti, 2018. "Explaining brand switching behavior using pull–push–mooring theory and the theory of reasoned action," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(4), pages 293-304, July.
    10. Shir-Way Siew & Michael S. Minor & Reto Felix, 2018. "The influence of perceived strength of brand origin on willingness to pay more for luxury goods," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(6), pages 591-605, November.
    11. Japutra, Arnold & Ekinci, Yuksel & Simkin, Lyndon, 2019. "Self-congruence, brand attachment and compulsive buying," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 456-463.
    12. Das, Gopal & Agarwal, James & Malhotra, Naresh K. & Varshneya, Geetika, 2019. "Does brand experience translate into brand commitment?: A mediated-moderation model of brand passion and perceived brand ethicality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 479-490.
    13. Alexander Chernev & Sean Blair, 2015. "Doing Well by Doing Good: The Benevolent Halo of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(6), pages 1412-1425.
    14. Arli, Denni & Grace, Anthony & Palmer, Janet & Pham, Cuong, 2017. "Investigating the direct and indirect effects of corporate hypocrisy and perceived corporate reputation on consumers’ attitudes toward the company," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 139-145.
    15. Mansur Khamitov & Xin (Shane) Wang & Matthew Thomson & Vicki G MorwitzEditor & J Jeffrey InmanEditor & JoAndrea Hoegg, 2019. "How Well Do Consumer-Brand Relationships Drive Customer Brand Loyalty? Generalizations from a Meta-Analysis of Brand Relationship Elasticities," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 46(3), pages 435-459.
    16. Lucia Gatti & Peter Seele & Lars Rademacher, 2019. "Grey zone in – greenwash out. A review of greenwashing research and implications for the voluntary-mandatory transition of CSR," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, December.
    17. Thi Thu Huong Nguyen & Zhi Yang & Ninh Nguyen & Lester W. Johnson & Tuan Khanh Cao, 2019. "Greenwash and Green Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Green Skepticism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, May.
    18. Fetscherin, Marc, 2019. "The five types of brand hate: How they affect consumer behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 116-127.
    19. Dezhi Yin & Sabyasachi Mitra & Han Zhang, 2016. "Research Note—When Do Consumers Value Positive vs. Negative Reviews? An Empirical Investigation of Confirmation Bias in Online Word of Mouth," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 131-144, March.
    20. Ying Wang & Zengrui Xiao, 2022. "The Dual Effects of Consumer Satisfaction on Brand Switching Intention of Sharing Apparel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    21. Hyunju Shin & Riza Casidy & Alyssa Yoon & So-Hyang Yoon, 2016. "Brand trust and avoidance following brand crisis: A quasi-experiment on the effect of franchisor statements," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(5), pages 1-23, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ruiqian Xu & Jinchen Liu & Dongning Yang, 2023. "The Formation of Reputation in CSR Disclosure: The Role of Signal Transmission and Sensemaking Processes of Stakeholders," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Shichang Liang & Min Zhang & Yuxuan Chu & Lingling He, 2022. "Should “Green” Be Precise? The Effect of Information Presentation on Purchasing Intention of Green Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juhua Xu & Eun-Kyoung Han, 2021. "How Temporal Order of Inconsistent CSR Information Affects Consumer Perceptions?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Nils Christian Hoffmann & Juelin Yin & Stefan Hoffmann, 2020. "Chain of Blame: A Multi-country Study of Consumer Reactions Towards Supplier Hypocrisy in Global Supply Chains," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 247-286, April.
    3. Ioannis Ioannou & George Kassinis & Giorgos Papagiannakis, 2023. "The Impact of Perceived Greenwashing on Customer Satisfaction and the Contingent Role of Capability Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(2), pages 333-347, June.
    4. Célia Santos & Arnaldo Coelho & Alzira Marques, 2024. "A systematic literature review on greenwashing and its relationship to stakeholders: state of art and future research agenda," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 1397-1421, September.
    5. Yi-Ping Chang & Hsiu-Hua Hu & Chih-Ming Lin, 2021. "Consistency or Hypocrisy? The Impact of Internal Corporate Social Responsibility on Employee Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-21, August.
    6. Shaun M. Powell, 2018. "Journal of Brand Management: year end review 2018," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(6), pages 494-499, November.
    7. Haase, Janina & Wiedmann, Klaus-Peter & Labenz, Franziska, 2022. "Brand hate, rage, anger & co.: Exploring the relevance and characteristics of negative consumer emotions toward brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1-16.
    8. Ginder, Whitney & Byun, Sang-Eun, 2022. "To trust or not to trust? The interplay between labor-related CSR claim type and prior CSR reputation of apparel retailers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Yongbo Sun & Binbin Shi, 2022. "Impact of Greenwashing Perception on Consumers’ Green Purchasing Intentions: A Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-15, September.
    10. Fe Yoo & Hye Jung Jung & Kyung Wha Oh, 2021. "Motivators and Barriers for Buying Intention of Upcycled Fashion Products in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, February.
    11. Seunghee Im & Yang Woon Chung & Ji Yeon Yang, 2016. "Employees’ Participation in Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Person–CSR Fit," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, December.
    12. Jose Ribamar Siqueira Junior & Enrique Horst & German Molina & Laura H. Gunn & Felipe Reinoso-Carvalho & Burcu Sezen & Nathalie Peña-García, 2023. "Branding in the eye of the storm: the impact of brand ethical behavior on brand commitment during the COVID-19 crisis in a South American country," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 95-115, March.
    13. Marcinkowska Elzbieta & Sawicka Joanna, 2023. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Factor Influencing Purchasing Decisions of Consumers in Central and Eastern Europe," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 281-299.
    14. Kevin Lane Keller & J Jeffrey Inman & Margaret C Campbell & Amna Kirmani & Linda L Price, 2020. "Consumer Research Insights on Brands and Branding: A JCR Curation [Uniting the Tribes: Using Text for Marketing Insight]," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 46(5), pages 995-1001.
    15. Rui Chen & Haolan Yan, 2023. "Effects of Knowledge Anxiety and Cognitive Processing Bias on Brand Avoidance during COVID-19: The Mediating Role of Attachment Anxiety and Herd Mentality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-20, April.
    16. Desveaud, Kathleen & Mandler, Timo & Eisend, Martin, 2024. "A meta-model of customer brand loyalty and its antecedents," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    17. Marta Pizzetti & Lucia Gatti & Peter Seele, 2021. "Firms Talk, Suppliers Walk: Analyzing the Locus of Greenwashing in the Blame Game and Introducing ‘Vicarious Greenwashing’," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 21-38, April.
    18. Mark Ng & Monica Law & Ka-fu Kevin Lin, 2024. "Determinants of smartphone brand switching intention of consumers in Hong Kong," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(2), pages 275-289, June.
    19. Beichen Liang, 2022. "How brand experience, satisfaction, trust, and commitment affect loyalty: a reexamination and reconciliation," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2022(2), pages 203-231, June.
    20. Michal Carrington & Andreas Chatzidakis & Helen Goworek & Deirdre Shaw, 2021. "Consumption Ethics: A Review and Analysis of Future Directions for Interdisciplinary Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 215-238, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:12:p:7204-:d:837469. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.