Beyond Greenwashing: The Role of ESG Communication Authenticity in Shaping Green Consumer Behavior and Brand Equity

Abstract

Aim: Although the field of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) communication and green marketing has garnered considerable academic research attention, the linkages between the communication of sustainability and green consumer behaviour, and the communication of sustainability and its impact on brand equity, have yet to be fully connected, especially in markets where consumer cynicism toward “greenwashing” is rising. Signaling Theory is used as the foundation for this research, which looks at the mediating effect of green trust and the moderating effect of perceived greenwashing between the ESG communication authenticity and the green consumer behavior and brand equity. It seeks to build a unified theory to understand how credible, transparent, and consistent ESG communication is translated to consumer trust, green purchase intention, and sustainable brand equity. Design/ methodology/ approach: The study is of explanatory sequential mixed methods design with quantitative and qualitative methods. The data collected from the illustrative consumer survey of 303 consumers in three retail sectors in an emerging-market environment analyzed through the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to explain the direct, mediation and moderation relationships between the constructs proposed. After that, 18 marketing and sustainability executives are interviewed in semi-structured interviews, which are subsequently analyzed thematically in order to gain deeper insights into the current situation of ESG communication in companies, consumer skepticism and the strategic implications of authenticity for brand development. Findings: The illustrative findings reveal that the authenticity of ESG communication is central to green trust, green purchase intention and multidimensional brand equity, highlighting that consumers are more concerned with the authenticity of sustainability claims than with disclosure content per se. Green trust is one of the most important intermediate steps that can connect authentic ESG communication with positive consumer reactions and increased brand equity. Moreover, the negative moderating effect of perceived greenwashing on the above relationships reduces the effectiveness of ESG communication and lessens consumer confidence. The results also indicate that there is an asymmetry of consequences of perceived greenwashing, in that damage to brand equity has longer-term consequences than the impact on green purchase intent. Qualitative findings also underscore the need for consistent, action-based and proactive communication of corporate sustainability aims aligned with tangible measures, and the incorporation of trust enhancement measures into the broader communication of sustainability. Originality/value: This study contributes to the ESG communication literature by applying Signaling Theory and a consumer trust-based framework to uncover the link between the perceived authenticity of communication, green consumer behavior, and brand equity. It extends the theory of consumers' interpretation of corporate sustainability signals by introducing perceived greenwashing as a boundary condition and examines the potential for communication credibility to be a basis for sustainable brand value. This proposed framework offers theoretical and management insights for organizations to build consumer confidence, reduce greenwashing distrust, and create sustainable and credible brand strategies.

Keywords: The authenticity of ESG communication, greenwashing, green consumer behavior, green trust, green purchase intention, brand equity, Signaling Theory, sustainability marketing, emerging markets.