The moderating effects of social influence and environmental responsibility in the context of greenwashing perception and purchase intention

Abstract

Today’s growing environmental concerns have triggered rising consumer interest in sustainable products, spurring businesses to either genuinely embrace green marketing practices or engage in greenwashing - the practice of falsifying or exaggerating environmental claims. The widespread occurrence of such a deceptive practice has inspired this research to explore how consumers’ awareness of greenwashing influences their buying intention, both direct effects and indirect mechanisms. Specifically, this study examines how factors such as Skepticism (ST) or Green Perceived Risk (GR) mediate the relationship while also investigates the moderating roles of Social Influence (SI) on the greenwashing perception-purchase intention link, and Environmental Responsibility (ER) on the green risk-procurement intent relationship. Employing the Theory Reasoned Action (TRA) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), various hypotheses were tested through a survey-based methodology involving 383 Vietnamese consumers and utilizing SPSS and AMOS for data analysis. The findings reveal that greenwashing perception negatively impacts purchase intention both directly and through skepticism and green perceived risk, with this relationship being moderated by social influence and environmental responsibility's effect on the risk-intention link. These results advance existing theories by introducing novel mediating and moderating mechanisms in the context of green marketing, particularly in understanding how social influence, environmental responsibility affect consumer decision-making when greenwashing is perceived. The findings also provide practical implications for businesses, suggesting that transparency in sustainability activities, community-centered marketing approaches, and educational initiatives are crucial for maintaining consumer trust and effectively implementing sustainable practices.