The Nuanced Role of Executional Greenwashing: How Sustainability Consciousness and Product Involvement Shape Consumer Responses

This study examines the association between executional greenwashing—natural imagery used to imply environmental friendliness without substantive claims—and consumer purchase intention. It further explored the mediating role of advertising attitude and the moderating roles of sustainability consciousness and product involvement. A survey based on a forest-themed facial care advertisement was conducted among 412 valid respondents. A pretest (n = 43) confirmed the clarity of executional greenwashing cues in the survey. Regression, mediation, and moderated regression analyses were performed to assess a hypothesized model. The findings revealed that executional greenwashing was positively associated with advertising attitude, which in turn was positively associated with purchase intention, supporting a partial mediating mechanism. Sustainability consciousness strengthened the association between executional greenwashing and advertising attitude, with economic consciousness exerting the strongest moderating effect among all dimensions of sustainability consciousness. Furthermore, product involvement strengthened the association between advertising attitude and purchase intention, indicating that consumers with higher involvement exhibited stronger evaluative responses. Overall, this study offers empirical evidence on the associations of executional greenwashing with consumer responses, extends green advertising research to everyday consumer goods, and highlights the importance of consumer-level moderators in understanding variations in consumers’ responses to green advertising.