Gray Shades of Green: Causes and Consequences of Green Skepticism

Abstract

Consumer skepticism of corporate environmental activities is on the rise. Yet research on this timely, intriguing, and important topic is scarce for both academics and practitioners.Building on attribution theory, we develop and test a theoretically anchored model that explains the sources and consequences of green skepticism. The study findings reveal that consumers' perceptions of industry norms, corporate social responsibility, and corporate history are important factors that explain why consumers assign different motives to corporate environmental actions. In addition, the results show that while intrinsic motives exert a strong negative effect on green skepticism, extrinsic motives have no discernible effect. Furthermore, the findings indicate that green skepticism prompts consumers to seek more information about the products, sparks negative word of mouth to friends and acquaintances, and forestalls purchase intentions. The study offers several implications for corporate and public policy makers and presents fruitful research directions.

The Effect of Consumer Scepticism on the Perceived Value of a Sustainable Hotel Booking

“…Mostafa [28] implies that scepticism towards environmental claims is negatively related to green consumption. It has been well known that scepticism in various green products caused negative consequences towards purchasing by consumers [29,30]. Delmas and Burbano [31] suggests that scepticism may increase when the sustainable hotel market expands.…”

“…Many companies have utilised terms such as "biodegradable", "recyclable" to describe benefits which were misleading sometimes to customers resulting inscepticism towards the concept of sustainability altogether [33]. However, scepticism is caused due to the uncertainty of environmental benefits, which may be falsely claimed by a product or service producer [30]. Hence, it is crucial to understand the impact of scepticism and relate it to perceived benefits.…”

“…Hence, it is crucial to understand the impact of scepticism and relate it to perceived benefits. Otherwise, the uncertainty towards environmental benefits of a green product might translate to decreased willingness to choose a particular product or service [30]. With the rapid expansion of eco-conscious consumers, this is increasingly a part of reality and an important aspect to consider when designing marketing communication for potential consumers.…”

“…This led consumers to be sceptic or avoid the product [15]. Previous studies already highlighted that scepticism can negatively influence purchase intentions for various products such as organic food, tourism products and others [29,30]. With an increased number of sustainable hotels available for booking, poor perceived value due to scepticism might result in reduced booking intentions [25].…”

Developing Perceived Greenwash Index and Its Effect on Green Brand Equity: A Research on Gas Station Companies in Turkey

“…Consumers try to answer why a company markets environmentally friendly products. Casual explanations, in turn, affect the consumer"s doubt about green products (Leonidou and Skarmeas, 2015).…”