Consumer – green brand relationships: revisiting benefits, relationship quality and outcomes

Purpose The study aims to develop and test a relationship-building model for green brands. It synthesizes findings on the consumer motives offered by green brands, with relationship marketing and branding literature to the specific context of green brands to build a parsimonious model testing the links amongst four relational benefits, i.e. confidence, socialization, self-expression and altruism; two relational mediators, i.e. satisfaction and relationship quality; three behavioural outcomes, i.e. word-of-mouth, expectation of continuity and cross-buying; and two moderators of the benefits-mediators relationship, i.e. environmental consciousness and relationship length. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected from consumers of three brands of natural cosmetic products, totalling 848 questionnaires. Structural equation modelling is used to test the hypothesized relationships across the three brands. Findings The results show that confidence benefit has the strongest influence on relationship quality, followed by self-expression and altruism. Relationships quality and satisfaction with the green brand have a significant impact on all three behavioural outcomes. Both environmental consciousness and length of the relationship moderate the hypothesized interrelationships. Research limitations/implications A new set of relational benefits for the green context is suggested. Several future research opportunities are suggested. Practical implications The study offers suggestions for managers to leverage relationship benefits for relationship strengthening. Originality/value No previous work has studied in an integrated way the relationship benefits and mediators to model the consumer–green brand relationship. The study provides a better understanding of the antecedents of consumer loyalty towards green brands.