How Green Should You Be: Can Environmental Associations Enhance Brand Performance?

ABSTRACT Although few studies have empirically verified the trend, environmental associations seem to have become a generally accepted way of enhancing brand equity. This study used an experimental design (with a sample of 828 adult shoppers) to investigate the relevance of information about environmental performance to the improvement of attitudes toward a brand. According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the study shows that the relationship between environmental associations and attitudes toward a brand are conditioned in part by the product category and the brand. As such, the usefulness of environmental associations to improve attitudes toward a brand should not be generalized.