Towards green trust

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to combine the literature on green marketing and relationship marketing into a new managerial framework of green trust. In addition, this study seeks to elaborate the relationships among green perceived quality, green perceived risk, green satisfaction, and green trust. Design/methodology/approach The research object of this paper focuses on Taiwan's consumers who have the purchase experience of information and electronics products. This study undertakes an empirical study by means of the questionnaire survey method. The questionnaires were randomly mailed to consumers who had the purchase experience of information and electronics products. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to test the research framework. Findings The empirical results indicate that green perceived quality would positively affect green satisfaction and green trust, whereas green perceived risk would negatively influence both of them. In addition, this study points out that the relationships between green trust and its two antecedents – green perceived quality and green perceived risk – are partially mediated by green satisfaction. Hence, investing resources in the increase of green perceived quality and the decrease of green perceived risk is useful to enhance green satisfaction and green trust. Originality/value Although previous research has explored the relevant issues about trust, none highlights trust about green or environmental issues from the perspectives of perceived quality and perceived risk. This study proposes a research framework, which can help companies enhance their green trust via its three determinants: green perceived quality, green perceived risk, and green satisfaction.