The Impact of Greenwashing on Green Brand Trust from an Indian Perspective

Purpose: Companies in haste for higher consumers’ preference tend to appear as ‘green’ and mislead about environmental concerns, which are termed as “Greenwashing.” The purpose of the study is to investigate the consumer perception on greenwashing activities and analyze its impact on green brand image, green brand loyalty and green brand trust among Indian consumers. Design/methodology: The study makes use of a written questionnaire method to collect survey data from approximately 500 consumers all over India. The study uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to study the hypothesized relationship between constructs affected by greenwashing based on consumer perspective in the Indian context. Findings: The study shows that Indian consumers are becoming aware of greenwashing activities, which have a negative impact on green brand trust and undermines green brand image and green brand loyalty. Implications: The study results are beneficial to policy-makers, researchers, practitioners, and managers to create awareness among Indian consumers on greenwashing activities.