The influence of greenwashing perception on green purchasing intentions: The mediating role of green word-of-mouth and moderating role of green concern

With consumers' increasing awareness of environmental problems, green marketing is becoming an important approach for firms to gain a competitive advantage. However, green marketing decoupled from substantive action tends to be perceived as greenwashing by consumers. Compared to a large body of green marketing research, little work has focused on consumers' greenwashing perceptions and its associated consequences. Thus, based on the attitude-behaviour-context theory, this study explored whether and how consumers' greenwashing perceptions influence their green purchasing intentions by integrating the mediating role of green word-of-mouth (WOM) and the moderating role of green concern. Using a questionnaire survey of 553 consumers of batteries in China, the results demonstrate that consumers' greenwashing perceptions not only have a direct negative impact on green purchasing intentions, but also have indirect negative effects via green WOM. Further, green concern strengthens the negative relationship between greenwashing perceptions and green purchasing intentions. Hence, this study suggests that firms should promote substantive environmental initiatives rather than greenwashing to ensure consumers and increase sales.