Understanding Consumers' Purchase Intentions Toward Natural Claimed Products: A Qualitative Research in Personal Care Products
Understanding Consumers' Purchase Intentions Toward Natural Claimed Products: A Qualitative Research in Personal Care Products
DOI: 10.1002/bse.2312
RESEARCH ARTICLE
1
Salihli Faculty of Economics and
Administrative Sciences, Manisa Celal Bayar Abstract
University, Manisa, Turkey In recent years there is a trend of consuming natural products for a sustainable and
2
Faculty of Economics and Administrative
healthier life. Therefore, firms began aligning their strategy with sustainability by
Sciences, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
communication strategies that they produce natural products, which are better for
Correspondence
health as well as the environmental sustainability. However, sometimes these claims
Aysun Kahraman, Assistant Professor Doctor,
Manisa Celal Bayar University, Salihli Faculty may be deceptive. The purpose of this paper is to understand the consumers'
of Economics and Administrative Sciences,
purchasing intentions toward products claiming naturalness in their advertising and
Manisa Celal Bayar University, 5 Eylül Campus,
Sarıpınar District 1079 Street No:169, Salihli, packaging strategies. This research also examined greenwashing perceptions and
Manisa 45300, Turkey.
their potential roles in purchasing intentions. In‐depth face‐to‐face interviews carried
Email: [email protected]
out with 20 Turkish women regarding personal care products (local brand and inter-
national brand). The findings of the interviews revealed eight themes (perceived
greenwashing, perceived green image, price perception, environmental concern,
green trust, skepticism, perceived risk, and purchase intention). This study contributes
to predict a framework from consumer viewpoint for identifying the themes related
to greenwashing.
K E Y W OR D S
Bus Strat Env. 2019;1–16. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/bse © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment 1
2 KAHRAMAN AND KAZANÇOĞLU
The increasing popularity of green products and services has led to Other studies investigated the determinants of greenwashing
development of greenwashing. Companies have started to promote (Delmas & Burbano, 2011; Lyon & Montgomery, 2015), brands'
“sustainability and green” as a misleading marketing tool in marketing practices in sustainability (Chan & Wong, 2012), and companies'
messages and labelling strategies (Chen & Chang, 2013; Shahrin et al., greenwashing activities by rating their environmental claims.
2017). In addition, firms argue that they produce green products by Greenwashing literature has focused on the perspective of
emphasizing one or more green attributes of their products (Shapley, consumers based on different theoretical backgrounds attitude–
2009). This type of ambiguous, inaccurate messages and claims causes behavior–context (ABC) theory (Du, 2015; Goh & Balaji, 2016; Zhang,
customers to perceive these messages as greenwashing (Genc, 2013; Li, Cao, & Huang, 2018), stakeholder theory (Testa, Miroshnychenko,
Laufer, 2003; Sullivan, 2009). When a company cannot fulfill its claims Barontini, & Frey, 2018; Wood, 2015), social identity theory (Lyon &
of being green, greenwashing arises as an important problem (Akturan, Montgomery, 2015), consumer culture theory (Wood, 2015), cognitive
2018; Parguel, Benoît‐Moreau, & Russell, 2015). Greenwashing is a dissonance theory (De Jong et al., 2018), attribution theory (Parguel
corporate green practice that used to promote the perception of a et al., 2015; Chen, Bernard, & Rahman, 2019; Leonidou & Skarmeas,
company's policies or products are environmentally friendly (Lewis, 2017; Nyilasy, Gangadharbatla, & Paladino, 2014), and affect–reason–
2016; Shacklett, 2011), to generate strong environmental and social involvement model (Schmuck et al., 2018). When these studies are
effect (Payne, 2018). Greenwashing may damage the market because examined, it is evident that studies are largely quantitative based on
it would cause consumers to distrust green products (Chen et al., questionnaire. However, there is a gap for deeply understanding
2014; Polonsky, Grau, & Garma, 2010) and negatively affected on consumer greenwashing perception and their effects on purchase
consumers' attitudes and behaviors toward the organization's future intentions toward products that claim to be natural, especially in their
claims (De Jong, Harkink, & Barth, 2018). The fact that companies advertising and packaging strategies. Besides, in previous researches,
act in the name of being greener, symbolize their efforts to become same variables were examined repetitively. Hence, this study extends
green, have started to threaten developing a sustainable economy. the knowledge body by incorporating additional variables for examining
The purpose of this study is to examine the consumers' perspec- the greenwashing perception. This extends and contributes new dimen-
tive toward naturalness claims by understanding their thoughts and sion to the research on greenwashing perception.
factors creating their perceptions. In this respect, exploratory study
was conducted to explore the major themes and concepts forming
consumers' intentions toward naturalness and eco‐friendliness claims. 3 | MATERIALS AND METHODS
This paper contains five main sections by addressing literature review,
methodology, discussing findings, theoretical and managerial 3.1 | Research method
implications, and addressing research limitations.
Greenwashing issues have been rapidly developing in the research
field. Besides, studies conducted to understand Turkish consumers
2 | LITERATURE REVIEW are very limited. This study addressed on the following research
questions:
2.1 | Perceived greenwashing and its antecedents
RQ1: What are the thoughts of consumers toward the products
Greenwash is widely used to describe the untruthful green claims or claiming that their products are natural and eco friendly?
advertising of a company (Parguel et al., 2015). The definition of RQ2: Which factors play a role in the consumers' purchase intention
greenwashing is “the act of misleading consumers regarding the toward claimed to be natural products?
environmental practices of a company or the environmental practices
RQ3: How greenwashing is perceived within purchasing intention to
of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service”
products claimed to be natural?
(Aggarwal & Kadyan, 2014; Akturan, 2018; Budinsky & Bryant,
2013; Parguel et al., 2015; Schmuck, Matthes, Naderer, & Beaufort,
To address research questions, semistructured in‐depth face‐to‐
2018; TerraChoice, 2009). It involves a variety communication
face interviews were conducted. Face‐to‐face interviews provide
application that misleads people who adopt positive beliefs about
an advantage of communication without an extended reflection
the company's environmental practices or products.
as the interviewee answer the questions more spontaneously
Green marketing literature defines two types of greenwashed
(Opdenakker, 2006).
advertising, (a) claim and (b) executional greenwashing. Claim green-
washing is generating false and manipulating claims through lying,
lying by omission, or lying through lack of clarity to exclude necessary 3.2 | Data collection
information. Executional greenwashing is about using naturalness‐
evoking elements (colors, sounds, and landscape) in advertisement The study was designed as an exploratory research, and interview
(ads; Akturan, 2018; Parguel et al., 2015). Table 1 shows the list of methodology was applied. Exploratory research designs engage in
related greenwashing literature. exploring the facts. In‐depth interviews enable to get more detailed
KAHRAMAN AND KAZANÇOĞLU 3
(Continues)
4 KAHRAMAN AND KAZANÇOĞLU
TABLE 1 (Continued)
information about thoughts, perspectives, perceptions, and experi- similar posters were chosen for both brands. A total of eight posters
ences of people regarding a given situation (Bolderston, 2012; Boyce (four for local and four for foreign brand) were chosen. In the posters,
& Neale, 2006) by asking direct questions that differentiates it from there are visual components such as green background surrounded by
projective techniques that indirectly project people's personality, plants, leaves, fruits, products in green or transparent package, and
beliefs, and feelings into the case (Daymon & Holloway, 2002). written components such as “the power of nature with you,” “botani-
Besides, deep interviews have a unique characteristic that provides cal beauty,” “natural cleanser,” “with 100% olive oil,” “100% natural,”
researchers abundant chance at probing a single respondent's view. “have natural ingredients more than 98%,” “products with olive oil,”
This characteristic differentiates interview technic from focus group “biodegradable formula,” “paraben free,” “silicon free,” “colorant free,”
that aims to bring a small group of people together for an informal, “reduced packaging waste,” and “50% less plastic.”
interactive, and spontaneous discussion on a specific subject (Shukla, The study sample included a total of 20 purposefully selected
2014). In‐depth interview is suitable as a research method and getting women in Izmir, Turkey, who had previous awareness of the brands
answer to research questions of this study, because the aim of the that are subjects of this research. Purposive sampling is widely used
study is to understand thoughts and preferences of consumers toward in qualitative research for the identification and selection of
products claimed to be natural in a comprehensive manner. The liter- information‐rich cases related to the phenomenon of interest (Palinkas
ature on greenwashing (Chen & Chang, 2013; Nyilasy et al., 2014; et al., 2015). The target market of the personal care products is
Aji & Sutikno, 2015; Rahman et al., 2015; Wood, 2015; Leonidou & women; therefore, purposive sampling was conducted on women. All
Skarmeas, 2017; Parguel et al., 2015; Akturan, 2018) was utilized the women are currently working, middle aged, and highly educated.
while determining the interview questions. During the interviews, The number of interviews was limited with 20 participants because
advertising posters were shown the participants to help them to recall the answers began to be replicated after 20th participant. The dura-
firms' communication activities. Personal care products were selected tion of each interview was approximately 35–45 min; voice recorder
for the study. Aggarwal and Kadyan (2014) indicated that the average was used with the consent of the participants.
highest greenwashing sector is personal care sector (62%). In this sec-
tor, companies engage greenwashing claims such as natural, recycled,
and paraben‐free on the ingredients to present their product sustain- 3.3 | Data analysis
able and green (Stamm, Gustavus, Witte, & Caudrelier, 2017). Some-
times these claims may be deceptive. Deceptive environmental The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed via content
claims such as “100% natural,” “organic,” and “environment friendly” analysis. Content analysis is a method for analyzing and making infer-
can help companies sell more products and services in the short ences from data obtained through interviews, observation, or existing
term, but consumers are aware of the greenwashing, so companies materials and may include interview tapes or transcripts, observation
are losing their sales and customers' trust in the long term field notes, notes on interview context and process, analytic notes
(firstcarbonsolutions.com). This is also a barrier to develop a sustain- and memos, or journal entries (Darlington & Scott, 2002). Morgan
able economy, due to the consumers are most skeptical of environ- mentioned (Morgan, 1993) that the descriptive approach is used for
mental activities. coding data and interpreting quantitative counts of the codes within
A Turkish national brand and a European foreign brand,1 which the content analysis (Vaismoradi, Turunen, & Bondas, 2013). Other
claim they sell natural products, were selected. Then advertising post- words, in content analysis, both the content and context of documents
ers of these brands were searched on Internet. The posters were are analyzed (Spencer, Ritchie, & O'Connor, 2003). First, the audio
selected after being evaluated by researchers via using semiotics recordings were listened, and the answers were typed as a verbatim
method considering written and visual elements. To be able compare, report in Turkish in respondents' own words. The report was read by
both researchers several times, and both researchers coded separately
in their own table to categorize data by using open coding. Open cod-
1
As we could not get permission from firms, we did not use the names of the firms in our
ing involves a process of reviewing the collected data and allowing the
paper. themes to emerge naturally, without predesignating a set of themes
KAHRAMAN AND KAZANÇOĞLU 5
(Wood, 2015). After that, agreement percentage is calculated by the TABLE 3 Descriptive statistics of demographic variables
formula below:
Participants Age Profession Educational status
tation biases were eliminated. After coding process, the codes P7 34 Lecturer Master
depicting common ideas are identified and grouped into themes based P8 31 Foreign trade specialist Bachelor
on the theoretical framework from the general consumer behavior and P9 34 Banker Bachelor
greenwashing literature. The findings, supported by quotes from the P10 34 Lawyer Master
interview transcripts, are presented for each theme. To ensure internal P11 33 Purchase specialist Bachelor
reliability, interviews were recorded by two researchers using a voice
P12 37 Manager Bachelor
recorder. The member checking method was employed, and the
P13 36 Academician Ph.D.
findings were checked by two researchers.
P14 28 Academician Master
Table 2 shows the themes and sub‐themes derived from the data.
P15 39 Lecturer Master
P16 26 Academician Master
4 | RESULTS
P17 28 Academician Master
P18 24 Academician Bachelor
Table 3 shows participants' demographic profile.
All documents for recording the research data were considered in P19 34 Insurance broker Bachelor
accordance with the themes. The following results classified according P20 36 Banker Master
to themes.
4.1 | Perceived greenwashing Chang, 2013; Nyilasy et al., 2014; Parguel et al., 2015; Zhang et al.,
2018). The result of greenwashing perception can negatively affect
Greenwashing perception is defined as the misleading communication consumers' attitudes and purchasing behavior toward products or
activities regarding environmental features and green claims of firms brands (Chen et al., 2019).
to create an environmental benefit for their consumers (Chen & The first sub‐theme is the stimuli cues causing greenwashing
(Table 4). It is aimed to reveal which elements in the posters, shown
TABLE 2 Summary of themes and sub‐themes identified during research process, make people to think that products are natu-
ral. Research findings showed that the visual and verbal elements play
Themes Sub‐themes
a significant role in contributing to the greenwashing perception.
Perceived greenwashing Stimuli cues causing greenwashing Seventy‐two percent of the participants said that using green color
Persuasiveness of natural products
as the dominant color in the ads and package color convinces them
Features persuading naturalness
to feel that products are natural and/or botanical. Verbal elements
Perceived green image Brand recognition
are phrases like “botanical beauty,” “100% natural,” “have natural
Origin of the brand
ingredients more than 98 %,” “botanical solution,” “paraben free,”
Price perception Price effects
Willingness to pay more and so forth cause greenwashing. Other elements causing greenwash-
ing are plant, fruit images in the ads and on the packages, transparent
Environmental concern Environmental expectations
Being less harmful package. The participant also said that transparent package
Protecting environment evoked purity.
Green trust Trust of naturalness claims in general These statements are illustrated as follows:
Trust of naturalness claims of the brands
Firms try to convince people that their products are
Skepticism Skepticism about naturalness
natural and eco‐friendly by using green colour and
Skepticism about being 100% natural
The ways to reduce skepticism verbal elements like %100 botanical. (P7)
Perceived risk Presence of risk When I see green colour, I think that the product may be
Risk type
botanical and organic because green represents the
Purchase intention Purchase intention for natural claimed brands
colour of naturalness. (P1)
6 KAHRAMAN AND KAZANÇOĞLU
Stimuli cues causing Green color P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, P9, P10, P11, P12, P13, P15, P16, P17, P18, 72
greenwashing P20
Written phrases P9, P13, P14, P19 16
Botanical images P1, P11 8
Transparent P5 4
package
Ads are really persuasive but to be sure I must investigate 4.2 | Perceived green image
ingredients of the product. (P10)
Perceived green image defined as “a set of perceptions of a brand in a
Other sub‐theme is persuasiveness of natural products. As shown
consumer's mind that is linked to environmental commitments and
in Table 5, 60% of the participants are not sure about natural products
environment concerns” (Chen, 2010; Chen, Tien, Lee, & Tsai, 2016).
because claims may be false. Participants find natural products realistic
Brand image ensures reliability of the manufacturer's labels (Karpina,
attribute to brand trust. According to participants, who are not per-
2015), higher value and quality (Chen, Hung, Wang, Huang, & Liao,
suaded naturalness of products, naturalness is impossible in today's
2017; Richardson, Dick, & Jain, 1994). Blennborn and Hallström
marketplace.
(2016) and Chen et al.'s (2019) study indicated that greenwashing is
The last sub‐theme of perceived greenwashing is set of features
negatively affected to green brand image. Green brand image has a
that make people find the naturalness claims more persuasive
positive effect on purchase intentions (Chen et al., 2019).
(Table 6). Participants believe that if a product has naturalness certifi-
According to responses, it is found that brand recognition and ori-
cation and labelling (e.g., eco labels), they are natural because a third
gin of the brand have effects on naturalness perceptions of consumers
independent organization make confirmation. Participants also find
(Table 7). Interestingly, 60% of the participants said that, if a brand
test results are persuasive. These two findings indicated that for per-
claims that it is reputable and well known, then this brand's claims
suasiveness, people needs rational evidences. Therefore, it can be said
seem more reliable than others. In addition, if the firms operate in
that perceived greenwashing touches trust negatively and skepticism
natural product sector since they were established, they seem more
positively.
reliable than other firms that began to produce natural products later.
Participants shared opinions for this sub‐theme such as
A few participants reported that brand experience affect persuasive-
The relevant test results about naturalness would be ness of naturalness claims. If the participants are aware of the brand
more convincing. (P1) and satisfied with it, they tend to believe the naturalness claims of
the brand. Another sub‐theme is origin of the brands that has not
An eco‐label shows that the product is more natural than
been researched in previous greenwashing studies. Results showed
others. (P11)
that participants tend to trust on foreign brands in terms of natural-
One participant argued that a natural product should be green in its all ness. Participants believe that foreign brands are tested before
production and marketing process. “I do not think that factory‐ launching the market, and foreign brands' financial conditions are bet-
produced products are natural.” (P3). ter; they can buy real natural ingredients more than local brands.
Features persuading naturalness Test results P1, P4, P7, P11, P15, P10, P14 23
Certification P1, P7, P2, P6, P8, P9, P10, P11, P12, P13, P14, P15, P16, P17, P18, P19, P20 54
Home made P4, P6, P5, P3, P1, P9 20
Green in all process P7 3
Brand recognition P1, P2, P6, P7, P8, P9, P14, P16, P17, P18, P19, P20 60
Origin of brand P2, P5, P7, P9, P11, P12, P13, P14 40
Some examples from participants' explanation are as follows: (Axelrod & Lehman, 1993). Environmentally concerned consumers
are aware of environmental problems, protect the environment, and
I think naturalness claims are reliable for quality brands.
want to pay premium prices for green products/services (Grimmer &
(P11)
Bingham, 2013; Lin & Huang, 2012; Matthes, Wonneberger, &
I look on the brand's origin more than brand names. (P15) Schmuck, 2014; Schmuck et al., 2018; Wood, 2015).
Few authors stated that environmental concerns have strong
effects on green purchasing intention (Hartmann & Apaolaza‐Ibanez,
4.3 | Price perception 2010; Goh & Balaji, 2016; Newton, Tsarenko, Ferraro, & Sands,
2015), whereas other studies argued that they have not found envi-
The description of price perception is “the customer's judgment about a
ronmental concern impacts green purchasing intention (Smith &
service's average price in comparison to its competitors” (Chen, Gupta,
Paladino, 2010; Yadav & Pathak, 2016). Albayrak, Caber, Moutinho,
& Rom, 1994; Ryu & Han, 2010). Prices have a significant impact on the
and Herstein (2011) found that there is a negative relationship
purchasing‐decision process, as a cue of quality. Thus, consumers have
between skepticism and customer concern of environment.
more confidence for expensive products than others (Grewal, Monroe,
The environmental concern theme has three sub‐themes (Table 9).
& Krishnan, 1998). Consumers are willing to pay a premium price for
One of them is about the natural products' ability to meet the environ-
products that meet the expectations of naturality and higher quality
mental expectations. Fifty‐five percent of the participants said that
when they are buying green products (Dekhili & Achabou, 2012;
naturalness claims shown in the poster meet their expectations about
Laroche, Bergeron, & Barbaro‐Forleo, 2001; Lin & Huang, 2012;
the environment partially because they use fewer chemical materials.
Martinho, Pires, Portela, & Fonseca, 2015; Singh & Pandey, 2018;
Sixty percent of the participants also believed that natural products
Tripathi & Pandey, 2017). As consumers perceive green products as
are less harmful for the environment, but they emphasized that the
differentiated values, they are willing to pay more prices for them.
only real natural ones do this. They said that, if a product is natural
The findings of this study showed that price perception affects
or botanical, then it is not harmful for the environment. 10% of the
naturalness perception (Table 8). Sixty percent of the participants
participants do not believe that natural products are also eco‐friendly
commented that natural products are high priced because cost of nat-
products because they think naturalness and eco friendliness are
ural raw materials and natural production is high. As one stated,
different facts.
“When the price is low, I trust on the product less. Pure natural prod-
The following quotes illustrate this point:
ucts are really expensive” (P13). Some of the participants asserted that
naturalness cannot be identified with price level. Other sub‐theme is I think chemical materials are used less in botanical
“willingness to pay more.” Participants were asked whether they are products. They harm the environment less. (P15)
willing to pay more for natural products or not. If the brand is foreign,
Firms said that their products dissolve in nature but I am
participants are more willing to buy more than local brands due to
in doubt. (P13)
their qualities. Therefore, it can be said that high prices have a role
in perceiving greenwashing. Any products that are transported by truck to the market
Participants expressed their opinions with some statements. cannot protect nature even if they have natural
ingredients. So, buy using them, I do not protect
I think that there should be a price difference between
environment. (P17)
real natural products and others. (P7)
Environmental concern is defined as consumers' attitudes toward cog- The definition of green trust is “willingness to depend on a product,
nitive and affective assessment of environmental protection issues service or brand based on the belief or expectation resulting from its
Price effects P1, P3, P4, P6, P7, P8, P10, P11, P13, P14, P15, P17 60
Willingness to pay more P1, P2, P4, P5, P6, P7, P9, P10, P13, P14, P15, P16, P17, P18, P19, P20 80
8 KAHRAMAN AND KAZANÇOĞLU
Environmental expectations Agree P2, P9, P12, P11, P14, P15, P19, P20 35
Disagree P10, P17 10
Not sure P1, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, P13, P16, P18 55
Being less harmful Agree P1, P3, P4, P6, P7, P11, P13, P14, P15, P16, P19, P20 60
Disagree P10, P17 10
Not sure P2, P5, P8, P9, P12, P18 30
Protecting environment Agree P2, P5, P8, P9, P12, P18 30
Disagree P10, P17 10
Not sure P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, P13, P14, P16, P18, P20 55
credibility, benevolence, and ability about its environmental perfor- Some statements indicated that
mance” (Aji & Sutikno, 2015; Bekk, Spörrle, Hedjasie, & Kerschreiter,
I want to trust, I try but I cannot. Firms use harmful
2016; Chen, 2010; Chen & Chang, 2013; Chen, Jubilado, Capistrano,
ingredients. (P12)
& Yen, 2015; Wood, 2015). If companies introduce new products or
brands by using misleading green slogans and heighten environmen- A reputable firm's claims are more reliable. (P15)
tal performance, customers will not trust the brand in the long‐term
I think that foreign brands are reliable as they are audited
(Guo, Zhang, & Yorke‐Smith, 2015). Therefore, greenwashing
stricter. (P16)
negatively affected trust toward green‐labelled products and green
advertising (Chen & Chang, 2013; Wood, 2015). It is a determinant I think both firms' naturalness claims are part of their
of consumer purchase intentions (Chen, Lin, & Weng, 2015). marketing campaigns. (P4)
Greenwashing adversely affects trust in using environmental claims
advertisements (Peattie & Crane, 2005; Testa, Iraldo, Vaccari, &
Ferrari, 2015). 4.6 | Skepticism on green claims
Trust theme has two sub‐themes, which are “trust of naturalness
claims in general” and “trust of naturalness claims of the brands in The definition of skepticism is the changing cognitive response of con-
the posters” (Table 10). For the first sub‐theme, findings showed that sumers as to disbelief, distrust, or doubt of firms' specific occasions
55% of the participants trust on naturalness claims partially. They told such as advertising claims and public relations efforts (Aji & Sutikno,
that they wanted to trust, but they could not trust this type of claims. 2015; Goh & Balaji, 2016; Karpina, 2015; Pomering & Johnson,
These participants also stated that their trust level changes according 2009). Consumer perceived skepticism about green claims ads
to the effect of the brand origin. Only 20% of the participants trust on because of the doubt of environmental benefits or performance of
naturalness claims. Participants who do not trust on naturalness claims these products (Aji & Sutikno, 2015; Matthes & Wonneberger, 2014;
believe that the products sold in the market cannot be 100% natural; Obermiller, Spangenberg, & Maclachlan, 2005).
naturalness claims are a part of firms' marketing strategy to make peo- Consumers' greenwashing perception may cause skepticism on
ple buy their products. Results also show that only 35% of the partic- green claims (Chen & Chang, 2013; Oliver, 2013; Rahman et al.,
ipants trust both brands' naturalness claims, while foreign brand's 2015; Self, Self, & Bell‐Haynes, 2003; Testa et al., 2018). The green
claims are found more reliable than local. The finding revealed that if skepticism negatively affected attitudes toward the environmental
people trust the brand, they perceive less greenwashing and skepti- claim of the firm and their green products (Goh & Balaji, 2016). Sev-
cism. Besides, if they think the brand has a green image, they tend eral authors found that skepticism can negatively affect purchase
to trust this brand. intentions (Karpina, 2015; Mostafa, 2006; Rahman et al., 2015)
especially for green products (Albayrak et al., 2011; Goh & Balaji, Some participant's evidence illustrated with the following quotes:
2016; Matthes & Wonneberger, 2014; Morel & Pruyn 2003). As con-
Sometimes I look for firms' websites to investigate the
sumers' doubt about the environmental benefits and green claims of
formula of the product. (P1)
green products, they reduce their purchasing intentions toward the
green products (Leonidou & Skarmeas, 2017). So consumers' skepti- I do not trust phrases on the labels. I prefer to read
cism about green products can prevent consumers from generally ingredients part. (P10)
choosing green eco‐friendly products. This situation poses a serious
Certification and labels are strong proofs (P17)
threat to the growth of green product market (Albayrak et al.,
2011; Ferguson, Branscombe, & Reynolds, 2011; Leonidou &
Skarmeas, 2017).
The results showed that 55% of the participants doubt about
4.7 | Perceived risk
naturalness claims. Moreover “100% natural” claims are viewed with
skepticism by nearly all participants (80%), especially if the ad does
Perceived risk is that consumer feels negative and uncertainty about
not explain the ingredients and only say they are natural; this claim
the possible result of the purchasing decision (Mitchell, 1999). It is
seems more suspicious. Many of the participants think that these
occurred that the consequence of a wrong decision regarding the
claims are not true or partially true because being 100% natural is
environmental performance of green products. If consumers are not
not so realistic. According to them, if the firm claims that its products
distinguishing green claims are unreliable, greenwashing will also cre-
are natural, it should verify these claims through certifications and
ate perceived risk to consumers (Gillespie, 2008). Misleading, ambigu-
eco labels. Participants tend to not doubt brands, which they often
ous, and deceptive green advertising or environmental labels on green
use. The results are seen in Table 11.
products can create a risk perception for consumers (Aji & Sutikno,
The following quotes illustrate these expectations:
2015). It would negatively influence customer purchasing decision
As consumers have been sensitive to naturalness and (Aji & Sutikno, 2015; Chen & Chang, 2013). Several researchers indi-
ecology, firms started to emphasis naturalness. They cated that perceived risk negatively affected by trust with green
care about profit. (P1) claims of the product or brand (Chen & Chang, 2013; Gillespie,
2008; Harridge‐March, 2006; Mitchell, 1999).
It is hard to keep products' shelf life long if they are truly The results showed that majority of the participants (55%) are not
natural. I feel suspicious about naturalness of mass‐ sure about the risk of 100% natural products. Only 25% participants
produced products. (P6) find buying 100% natural products is a risk as information about this
Nearly all products are processed; therefore, none of kind of products is vague and asymmetric, and technical phrases and
them is natural. I doubt naturalness, especially 100% terminology are written on products' packages. Approximately 20%
naturalness. (P13) of the participants think that natural products are not risky, because
they are not as harmful as chemical ones. Furthermore, some of them
Nearly all brands use 100% natural statement. I hesitate believe that if people are careful enough during purchasing process,
to trust brands. (P16) they can buy reliable brands that are not harmful. The results are seen
in Table 12.
The other sub‐theme is “the ways to reduce skepticism.” Partici-
The following quote shows these points:
pants were asked to exemplify realistic expression. They offered state-
ments like “more than 90% natural,” “close to natural,” “not harmful to The product causes negative effects if it is not a well‐
nature,” “botanical,” and “additive free” Participants seek additional known brand. (P18)
information about environmental attributes of naturalness and eco
My perception changes base on products indeed.
label of these products to decrease skepticism with reading ingredi-
Products like food and cosmetics are highly risky
ents (32%), searching on internet (23%), certification (17%), asking
products in terms of health. (P20)
salesperson/family members (16%), and looking the appearance of
the packaging (12%). Therefore, it can be said that when people per- So it can be said that when people trust the brand, they perceived
ceive greenwashing, they tend to be more skeptical and less trusty. less risk. Also, when people perceived less risk, they become more
In addition, if they feel skeptical, they feel less trust. willing to purchase and fell less doubt.
Skepticism about naturalness P1, P2, P3, P4, P7, P11, P12, P14, P15, P16, P18 55
Skepticism about being 100% natural P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, P11, P12, P13, P14, P15, P16, P18, P20 80
10 KAHRAMAN AND KAZANÇOĞLU
As shown in Table 13, majority of the participants (54%) think that green purchase behavior (Chen et al., 2019; Chen & Chang, 2013;
products claim to be green or natural have risk about health. They Chen, Jubilado, et al., 2015). If companies use greenwashing practices
believed that these products may directly damage consumer's health. to deceive consumers in their brands or services, they will reduce their
Another risk type is financial risk. They think that there is a possibility trust and negatively affect their purchasing intentions in the long run
that they will waste money if products fail to meet naturalness (Chen & Deng, 2016; Leonidou, Leonidou, Fotiadis, & Zeriti, 2013).
expectations. Physical risk, which is about physical appearance, is the Besides, this will also lead to a cautious purchasing behavior for all
other type. This is illustrated as follows: “Products which are not green products, when consumers want to buy a real green product
botanical‐based are made up of different kinds of chemicals and in the future (Zhang et al., 2018).
synthetic ingredients. It may damage my skin.” (P1). As shown in Table 14, many of the participants (60%) said they
would purchase brands shown in the posters. There are two reasons
for this positive purchase intention. First, participants have positive
4.8 | Purchase intention experiences about them. Second, they find these brands trusted
because of their perceived green image. However, many of the partic-
Green purchasing intention defined as “the likelihood that a consumer ipants tended to intent to buy foreign brand. Participants who are not
would purchase green product and services resulting from his/her eager to want to purchase these brands said that they did not think
environmental needs” (Akturan, 2018; Chen & Chang, 2013; that they are genuinely natural. Participants who hesitate to purchase
Netemeyer, Maxham, & Pullig, 2005; Zhang et al., 2018). According know that the brands have good image; however, they are skeptical
to literature review, greenwashing is the most effective variable of about natural products as many firms make false claims. In this way,
Type of Risk Health P1, P3, P4, P5, P7, P8, P10, P12, P13, P14, P17, P18, P20 54
Financial P1, P3, P7, P8, P12 22
Physical P1, P8, P10, P13, P17, P20 25
Purchase intention for natural claimed brands Yes P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P9, P15, P16, P17, P18, P19, P20 60
No P3, P8, P10, P12 20
Not sure P7, P11, P13, P14 20
it can be said that when people know the brand, they feel less skepti- green color and botanical images in the advertisements and product
cal and more trusty. In addition, when people are less skeptical and packages are useful to create a perception of naturalness. On the
trusty, they become more willing to purchase. other hand, in the long term, these kinds of stimuli cues do not
It was also pointed out that strengthen green marketing strategy of products if they do not have
green attributes. People also believe that these practices are part of
I would buy both. I already use these brands and know
marketing strategies of firms, which want to show themselves as
them” (P1)
green companies. This belief creates skeptical consumers (Aji &
Sutikno, 2015). Skepticism has negative effects on purchasing inten-
tions toward natural products. This finding is consistent with the study
5 | D I S C U S S I O N A N D CO N C L U SI O N of Leonidou and Skarmeas (2017). In order to reduce skepticism level,
consumers do something; however, they cannot trust all firms' claims
Nowadays, as sustainability becomes an important issue, consumers on green marketing and may find risky to purchase. Indeed, they are
seek green products. The focus on green products has risen, as con- right because some firms claim that their products are made with “nat-
sumers started to consider the environment and health in shopping ural” ingredients, but they write ingredients false, deficient, or by using
habits. This trend had influenced firms' corporate marketing strategies. technical words. It is one of the sins of greenwashing called the sin of
Hence, green marketing grows rapidly; greenwashing has become one vagueness. The sin of vagueness contends that a product's claims are
of the trends in both the academic and the business world. Companies “so poorly defined or broad that it's real meaning is likely to be misun-
tried to position themselves as a natural and eco‐friendly products derstood by the consumer” (TerraChoice, 2009). Therefore, companies
producer, adopted green marketing strategies, and responded to con- should increase their interest in green products and educate con-
sumers environmental concern by communicating environmentally sumers in order to understand the reality of green claims. Companies
friendly messages in their marketing (Haytko & Matulich, 2008). These need to reduce skepticism and distrust of green products by providing
messages sometimes include vague and incorrect claims that endanger reliable information to their customers. In this way, consumers will
organizational reputation in long term. intend to purchase green products (Chen, 2008). In this study, it was
Greenwashing has a negative impact on consumers' perceptions of determined that if consumers perceived the brand as respectful and
natural and environmentally friendly products and their perception reliable, greenwashing perception is affected by this belief negatively.
that companies support sustainability and responsible consumption. At this point, consumers' previous experience about brands is impor-
This study aimed to understand and reveal the themes that influence tant. This result is contrary to Chen et al.'s (2019). The results also
consumers' purchasing intentions for natural products. In literature, indicated that consumers seem foreign brands more reliable than local
explanation of consumers' attitudes of greenwashing via quantitative (Turkish) brands. They believe that foreign brands are audited seri-
research methodologies is limited. Accordingly, this research is an ously by third party authorities. This belief caused to decrease level
exploratory qualitative study to understand consumers' responses to of risk and skepticism while increase trust. Other important variable
greenwashing strategies. of this study is price perception. It is found that if the natural‐claimed
The results of the study indicated that firms' greenwashing behav- product's price is high, consumers generally think this product is natu-
iors have negative effects on consumer perceptions such as green ral. Therefore, they are willing to pay more to buy natural products.
trust, perceived risk, skepticism, and finally purchasing intention. However, Dekhili and Achabou (2012) found that consumer willing-
Hence, findings are consistent with previous studies on greenwashing ness changes according to brands.
(Aji & Sutikno, 2015; Chang & Chen, 2008; Chen & Chang, 2013; This research showed that a relationship may exist between envi-
Chen, Lin, & Weng, 2015; Goh & Balaji, 2016; Karpina, 2015; Rahman ronmental concern and greenwashing perception. According to results,
et al., 2015). When people feel distrust and skepticism to the firms' most participants are concerned toward the environment and try to buy
claims in the advertising and packages, they avoid purchasing because natural products to be less harmful for the environment and protect
they find it risky. As a result of this study, the perceived risk decreases environment. This means that consumers with higher environmental
the intention to buy. As supported by Aji and Sutikno (2015), heath concern would be willing to buy natural and eco‐friendly products.
risk is the most important risk type as it decreases consumers purchas- Another important finding about environmental concern is that
ing intentions. These results are similar as previous studies have although consumers tend to perceive many products as unnatural,
offered evidence of this relationship (Aji & Sutikno, 2015; Chen & which are claimed to be natural, they tend to see the same products
Chang, 2013; Gillespie, 2008; Harridge‐March, 2006; Mitchell, as eco friendly. Therefore, firms may also emphasize to be eco friendly
1999). Also, it is supported by literature that the perceived risk can in their communication activities, in order to create naturalness image.
be reduced by increasing customer trust (Chang and Chen, 2008).
Results showed that companies utilize the product label and adver-
tisement indicating that they are natural in one or a few product 5.1 | Theoretical implication
ingredients. Even participants are knowledgeable about natural and
eco‐friendly products; this type of communication activities attract The main theoretical implication of this study is that it provides a new
attention and impress them. It has been determined that the use of framework of greenwashing and extends the literature on green
12 KAHRAMAN AND KAZANÇOĞLU
marketing by proposing new variables. This study also sheds light on limited study has been conducted in the literature to deeper under-
the roles of other variables, which were not explicitly discussed in pre- stand consumers' perceptions toward greenwashing. Therefore, to fill
vious studies related to influencing the relationship between green- this gap, this paper provides in‐depth analysis on understanding about
washing perception and purchase intention. According to the results, consumers' greenwashing perception and purchase intention by using
these variables are price perception and origin of the brand. This study advertising posters through the lens of qualitative research.
emphasized that consumers want to pay premium prices for buying
foreign brands claimed to be natural due to their qualities and credibil-
ity of these brands. The finding is theoretically supported by the 5.2 | Managerial implications
theory of value‐based pricing (Singh & Pandey, 2018).
The study found that there is “halo effect,” which is about attribu- The findings of this study may be helpful to understand consumers'
tion theory during evaluating natural products. Consumers feel suspi- attitudes and purchasing intentions toward phrases such as natural,
cious about the attributes of green products due to the perception botanical, and eco‐friendly products used in communication strategies.
of greenwashing. Therefore, the theoretical framework is used in the This study provides managerial implications for companies and practi-
examination of these products (Leonidou & Skarmeas, 2017; Nyilasy tioners in formulating green marketing strategies. Many firms' even
et al., 2014). According to results, when consumers perceive green- well‐known ones use greenwashing in their communication strategies
washing of some firms, they use this negative trait to make an overall to attract consumers by showing their products as eco friendly and
judgment on other firms, even they produce real natural products. natural. Companies should realize that greenwashing may help them
Another halo effect occurs, because of the positive image of foreign to sell their products, but in long term, this policy will have adverse
brands. Consumers tend to assign trusted trait to the foreign brands effects. Indeed, the greenwashing practices do not only damage the
based on their previous positive beliefs and experience about foreign company's image but also negatively affect the consumers, who
brands such as being more quality, audited, and trustful more than heavily rely on environmentally friendly claims. Therefore, firms
local brands. As a result of the study, the higher values attributed to should avoid all deceptive advertisements and vague claims with
the foreign brands compared with local brands are due to the higher respect to environmental protection, specifically regarding green prod-
trust of the consumers on foreign brands. The consumers feel less ucts and services. Hence, companies should not exaggerate product
skepticism, and they believe that foreign brands are natural, and they attributes and claims. Besides, companies should not even continue
tend to purchase more. It is also in line with the consistency criteria of to emphasize only one green attribute of a product or service when
Kelley's (1973) attribution theory. Another finding consistent with everything else is not green and disregard its other qualities, because
attribution theory is that consumers believe that firms promote their consumers are prone to be skeptical about firms' green claims. In order
products as natural, as a part of their marketing strategy because they to adjust this situation, companies must make their green claims more
focus on their own benefits rather than protecting environment and trustworthy, more transparent, and less ambiguous to reduce the
society. So when firms produce natural products, the claims of firms perception of greenwashing. Companies should highlight their green
evoke consumer skepticism, which in turn negatively influence con- efforts by supporting claims with verification from independent
sumers' purchasing intention. This result is also consistent with studies firms. Firms can get eco labels and certification of their green products
of Cui, Trent, Sullivan, and Matiru (2003) and Yoon, Gurhan‐Canli, and from authorized institutions and use them in their communication
Schwarz (2006), which found that corporate social responsibility prac- strategies.
tices may backfire if consumers are skeptical about them and think The findings of this study to a certain extent contributes to posi-
that the company's actual motive for their practices are merely to sell tive social change by educating consumers about greenwashing, which
more products rather than welfare of consumers. could help empower them to demand better environmental products
In this study, it is determined that perceived greenwashing and from corporations. Especially, companies should put conscious con-
skepticism had negative influence on green trust, which was associ- sumers forward to generate initiatives against greenwashing. Firms
ated with purchasing intention again. In the same way, consumers should support information about their products naturalness and eco
tend to trust brand image of the products that they used previously, friendliness via using integrated channels such as product packaging,
and they want to trust the naturalness claims of those brands and labelling, and websites. These efforts will help to provide evidence
want to buy more. In this sense, it is thought that these findings will to the naturalness of the products that will in turn convince con-
contribute to the trust–commitment theory. Perceived risk is related sumers to buy natural products. These actions will reduce consumer
to negative consequences and uncertainty that may affect the rela- skepticism, confusion, and perceived risk regarding green products
tionship between greenwashing and purchase intention. Perceived while increase the credibility of green claims and strengthen green
greenwashing may a potentially effect on risk perception. Perceived positioning. Companies also need to integrate sustainability into busi-
risk may affect negatively the consumer's purchase intention. The ness practices. These advised practices are more significant for some
current results support expectation–confirmation theory. product groups such as food, personal care, cosmetics, and supple-
The number of studies in the greenwashing literature on the ment food because they directly affect health. New laws and regula-
perception of consumers has explored relationship between green- tions should be enacted to monitor greenwashing. Policy makers
washing and other variables with quantitative research method. A within governmental organizations may control activities of the
KAHRAMAN AND KAZANÇOĞLU 13
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