Increasing purchasing intention of eco-efficient products: the role of the advertising communication strategy and the branding strategy

Eco-efficient products achieve a balance between resource efficiency and environmental responsibility, including economic, social, and ecological aspects. Due to increasing consumer environmental awareness, companies have been pushed to consider the environmental impact of their activities, in terms of production processes and the design of marketed products. To gauge the effects of different advertising strategies on the purchase intention of eco-efficient products for different brand strategies and different consumers, we conducted three experiments with 449 college students as subjects. The effects of different marketing strategies, the use of brand names, and the subjects’ regulatory foci (promotion and prevention) were manipulated and measured. First, the power of brand extension was demonstrated, as the purchase intention of an eco-efficient version of an existing product is higher than that of a new eco-efficient brand. Second, it was shown that using positive emotional advertising has a stronger effect than using informative advertising. Third, we detected a mild effect on purchase intention when using an informational approach in communication. Finally, the negative promotional communication strategy had the greatest effect on purchase intention for prevention-focused individuals, and the positive emotional strategy had the greatest effect for promotion-focused subjects. It was also evident that a new brand per se does not contribute to increasing the purchase intention of an eco-efficient product.