Marketing and Green Consumption: Greenwashing Influence on Green Consumer Trust

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the perception of higher education students about the practice of green marketing and green consumption, from the application of the scale proposed by Braga Junior et al. (2016) seeks to measure the influence of greenwashing on consumers' green confidence and discuss the roles of mediating green confusion and perceived risk in green consumption practice. Regarding the methodological aspects, the survey was a survey, in a self-administered questionnaire format for data collection, obtaining a total of 103 observations. The approach was quantitative in nature, the sample investigated was non-probabilistic and accessibility. The criterion adopted to participate in the research was to be a student of higher education. In the analysis was applied the Structural Equation Modeling. The results show that greenwashing is positively related to green consumer confusion, which in turn maintains a negative relationship with green trust. Also, there was a marginally significant level of correlation between greenwashing constructs and perceived risk. Thus, in the investigated audience, only green confusion acts as a mediator of the relationship between greenwashing and green trust. One of the main contributions of the study is the proof of the influence of greenwashing in the green confusion of respondents, which makes it difficult for consumers to interpret the environmental aspects of a product or service.