Factors Affecting Skepticism toward Green Advertising

TLDR

Green marketing has expanded, yet research on green communication remains limited. The study examines whether environmentally concerned consumers conserve resources, adopt eco‑friendly buying habits, and display skepticism toward corporate green communications. A model of skepticism toward green advertising was proposed and tested through several hypotheses. Results indicate that higher environmental concern predicts greater skepticism toward green claims on packaging and ads, with no significant gender differences.

Abstract

Abstract Abstract Despite the growth of green marketing, there is a shortage of studies on green communication. Thus, this research aims to understand whether consumers who are concerned about the environment conserve resources and have environmentally friendly buying habits and whether they are skeptical about the green communications conveyed by companies. Using a proposal of a model about skepticism toward green advertising, several hypotheses are tested. The results indicate that the more environmentally concerned an individual is, the more skepticism he or she will be toward green claims exhibited on packages or featured in ads. In addition, results indicated no significant differences between men and women regarding this skepticism.