Social cynicism, greenwashing, and trust in green clothing brands

Policarpo, MC; Apaolaza, V; Hartmann, P; Paredes, MR; D'Souza, Clare

doi:10.26181/24597351.v1

Social cynicism, greenwashing, and trust in green clothing brands

journal contribution

posted on 2023-11-21, 04:54 authored by MC Policarpo, V Apaolaza, P Hartmann, MR Paredes, Clare D'SouzaClare D'Souza

This research develops a theoretical model of the effect of social cynicism as a personality trait on trust in green clothing brands. We conducted an online survey of a representative Australian sample to test the hypothesized relationships. Our findings confirmed that social cynicism affected green brand trust negatively and that this effect can be explained by an increase in perceived greenwashing. Conspicuous consumption moderates this indirect influence. This mediated influence decreased when conspicuous consumption was more salient. Findings provide important practical insights for brand managers intending to avoid a decrease in brand trust regarding garments marketed with sustainability claims.

Funding

This work was supported by funding received from La Trobe University, Australia, the Spanish Government, and European Regional Development Fund [Grant PID2021-123686OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and, by ERDF A way of making Europe], the Basque Government [grant IT1731-22] and FESIDE Foundation [grant 03-21].

History

Publication Date

2023-09-01

Journal

International Journal of Consumer Studies

Volume

47

Issue

5

Pagination

(p. 1950-1961)

Publisher

Wiley

ISSN

1470-6423

Rights Statement

© 2023 The Authors. International Journal of Consumer Studies published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.