IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v119y2020icp25-40.html

Matching green messages with brand positioning to improve brand evaluation

Author

Listed:
  • Vilasanti da Luz, Victoria
  • Mantovani, Danielle
  • Nepomuceno, Marcelo Vinhal

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of brand positioning (luxury vs. mass-market) on the relationship between the type of green message (demarketing vs. environmental) and brand evaluation. Three studies demonstrate that a luxury (vs. mass-market) positioning generates more positive brand attitudes and a higher willingness to buy in the demarketing (vs. environmental) green message condition. However, brands with an essential green mission statement equally benefit from using demarketing or green environmental messages. The experiments also show the mediating effect of ad believability. These results contribute to green advertising and brand literature by extending findings on demarketing as a type of green message and advancing the discussion of the uses of green messages by luxury and mass-market brands. They are also useful for managers by demonstrating how non-green brands are able to use a green strategy while maintaining a positive evaluation.

Suggested Citation

  • Vilasanti da Luz, Victoria & Mantovani, Danielle & Nepomuceno, Marcelo Vinhal, 2020. "Matching green messages with brand positioning to improve brand evaluation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 25-40.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:119:y:2020:i:c:p:25-40
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.07.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296320304690
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.07.024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Yoon-Joo & Yoon, Hye Jin & O'Donnell, Nicole H., 2018. "The effects of information cues on perceived legitimacy of companies that promote corporate social responsibility initiatives on social networking sites," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 202-214.
    2. Catherine Janssen & Joëlle Vanhamme & Adam Lindgreen & Cécile Lefebvre, 2014. "The Catch-22 of Responsible Luxury: Effects of Luxury Product Characteristics on Consumers’ Perception of Fit with Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 45-57, January.
    3. Hagtvedt, Henrik & Patrick, Vanessa M., 2016. "Gilt and Guilt: Should Luxury and Charity Partner at the Point of Sale?," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 56-64.
    4. Gergely Nyilasy & Harsha Gangadharbatla & Angela Paladino, 2014. "Perceived Greenwashing: The Interactive Effects of Green Advertising and Corporate Environmental Performance on Consumer Reactions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(4), pages 693-707, December.
    5. Martínez-Alier, Joan & Pascual, Unai & Vivien, Franck-Dominique & Zaccai, Edwin, 2010. "Sustainable de-growth: Mapping the context, criticisms and future prospects of an emergent paradigm," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1741-1747, July.
    6. Peattie, Ken & Peattie, Sue, 2009. "Social marketing: A pathway to consumption reduction?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 260-268, February.
    7. Marc Germain, 2017. "Optimal Versus Sustainable Degrowth Policies," Post-Print hal-01744548, HAL.
    8. Park, Hyejune & Kim, Youn-Kyung, 2016. "Proactive versus reactive apparel brands in sustainability: Influences on brand loyalty," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 114-122.
    9. Yang, Defeng & Lu, Yue & Zhu, Wenting & Su, Chenting, 2015. "Going green: How different advertising appeals impact green consumption behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2663-2675.
    10. George E. Newman & Margarita Gorlin & Ravi Dhar, 2014. "When Going Green Backfires: How Firm Intentions Shape the Evaluation of Socially Beneficial Product Enhancements," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(3), pages 823-839.
    11. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9-10), pages 1082-1095, October.
    12. Nieves García-de-Frutos & José Manuel Ortega-Egea & Javier Martínez-del-Río, 2018. "Anti-consumption for Environmental Sustainability: Conceptualization, Review, and Multilevel Research Directions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 411-435, March.
    13. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1082-1095.
    14. Tynan, Caroline & McKechnie, Sally & Chhuon, Celine, 2010. "Co-creating value for luxury brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 1156-1163, November.
    15. Germain, Marc, 2017. "Optimal Versus Sustainable Degrowth Policies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 266-281.
    16. Carlos J. Torelli & Alokparna Basu Monga & Andrew M. Kaikati, 2012. "Doing Poorly by Doing Good: Corporate Social Responsibility and Brand Concepts," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(5), pages 948-963.
    17. van Gils, Suzanne & Horton, Kate E., 2019. "How can ethical brands respond to service failures? Understanding how moral identity motivates compensation preferences through self-consistency and social approval," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 455-463.
    18. Drews, Stefan & Savin, Ivan & van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M., 2019. "Opinion Clusters in Academic and Public Debates on Growth-vs-Environment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 141-155.
    19. Cho, Yoon-Na & Berry, Christopher, 2019. "Understanding the effects of retailer- and manufacturer-provided sustainability labels on product evaluations and purchase-related outcomes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 73-85.
    20. Achabou, Mohamed Akli & Dekhili, Sihem, 2013. "Luxury and sustainable development: Is there a match?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 1896-1903.
    21. Becker-Olsen, Karen L. & Cudmore, B. Andrew & Hill, Ronald Paul, 2006. "The impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 46-53, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dan Wang & Ching-Cheng Shen, 2024. "Tourists’ Perceptual Positioning of Brand Equity and Competitive Relationships in Organic Agricultural Tourism," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, September.
    2. Shichang Liang & Min Zhang & Yuxuan Chu & Lingling He, 2022. "Should “Green” Be Precise? The Effect of Information Presentation on Purchasing Intention of Green Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Hui Yang & Pengpeng Zhang & Haijiao Liu, 2023. "The influence of the brand image of green agriculture products on China’s consumption intention——The mediating role of perceived value," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(10), pages 1-19, October.
    4. Marlene Vock, 2022. "Luxurious and responsible? Consumer perceptions of corporate social responsibility efforts by luxury versus mass-market brands," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(6), pages 569-583, November.
    5. Eunhye Park & Junehee Kwon & Sung-Bum Kim, 2021. "Green Marketing Strategies on Online Platforms: A Mixed Approach of Experiment Design and Topic Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Marzia Ingrassia & Claudio Bellia & Rosaria Disclafani & Pietro Chinnici & Stefania Chironi, 2024. "Eco-packaging and fresh food products. Analysis of demand and consumer behavior in Italy," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2024(3), pages 71-115.
    7. Mihai Stoica & Mihai Ioan Roșca & Laura Daniela Roșca & Ioana Cecilia Popescu, 2025. "External Drivers of Dominant Green Positioning for Organic Food Brands: Evidence from an Emerging Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-27, September.
    8. Michel, Géraldine & Stathopoulou, Anastasia & Valette-Florence, Pierre, 2022. "Luxury is still alive and well: A spotlight on its multifaceted components," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 276-284.
    9. Huidong Sun & Mustafa Raza Rabbani & Naveed Ahmad & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Guping Cheng & Malik Zia-Ud-Din & Qinghua Fu, 2020. "CSR, Co-Creation and Green Consumer Loyalty: Are Green Banking Initiatives Important? A Moderated Mediation Approach from an Emerging Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-22, December.
    10. Evangelia Ktisti & Leonidas Hatzithomas & Christina Boutsouki, 2022. "Green Advertising on Social Media: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-25, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jenni Sipilä & Sascha Alavi & Laura Marie Edinger-Schons & Sabrina Dörfer & Christian Schmitz, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility in luxury contexts: potential pitfalls and how to overcome them," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 280-303, March.
    2. Marlene Vock, 2022. "Luxurious and responsible? Consumer perceptions of corporate social responsibility efforts by luxury versus mass-market brands," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(6), pages 569-583, November.
    3. Fernanda Muniz & Francisco Guzmán, 2021. "Overcoming the conflicting values of luxury branding and CSR by leveraging celebrity endorsements to build brand equity," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(3), pages 347-358, May.
    4. Pengji Wang & Adrian T. H. Kuah & Qinye Lu & Caroline Wong & K. Thirumaran & Emmanuel Adegbite & Wesley Kendall, 2021. "The impact of value perceptions on purchase intention of sustainable luxury brands in China and the UK," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(3), pages 325-346, May.
    5. Li, You & Wu, Shuilong & Yuan, Yongna & Hu, Zekun, 2024. "How temporal perspective affects the effectiveness of upcycled vs. recycled product advertisements," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Diletta Acuti & Marta Pizzetti & Sara Dolnicar, 2022. "When sustainability backfires : A review on the unintended negative side-effects of product and service sustainability on consumer behavior," Post-Print hal-04381310, HAL.
    7. Michel, Géraldine & Stathopoulou, Anastasia & Valette-Florence, Pierre, 2022. "Luxury is still alive and well: A spotlight on its multifaceted components," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 276-284.
    8. Jiaen Hu & Luis Miguel López-Bonilla & Jesús Manuel López-Bonilla, 2023. "CSR Perceptions and Brand Attitudes in Chinese Luxury Hospitality: The Moderating Effect of Ads vs. Media Reports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, May.
    9. Béatrice Parguel & Thierry Delécolle & Aïda Mimouni Chaabane, 2020. "Does Fashionization Impede Luxury Brands’ CSR Image?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Olson, Erik L., 2022. "‘Sustainable’ marketing mixes and the paradoxical consequences of good intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 389-398.
    11. Han, Nah Ray & Baek, Tae Hyun & Yoon, Sukki & Kim, Yeonshin, 2019. "Is that coffee mug smiling at me? How anthropomorphism impacts the effectiveness of desirability vs. feasibility appeals in sustainability advertising," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 352-361.
    12. Smirti Kutaula & Alvina Gillani & Diana Gregory-Smith & Boris Bartikowski, 2024. "Ethical Consumerism in Emerging Markets: Opportunities and Challenges," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(4), pages 651-673, May.
    13. Santhiya Ramasamy & Karpal S. Dara Singh & Azlan Amran & Mehran Nejati, 2020. "Linking human values to consumer CSR perception: The moderating role of consumer skepticism," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1958-1971, July.
    14. Janssen, Catherine & Vanhamme, Joëlle & Leblanc, Sina, 2017. "Should luxury brands say it out loud? Brand conspicuousness and consumer perceptions of responsible luxury," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 167-174.
    15. Cesare Amatulli & Matteo Angelis & Alessandro M. Peluso & Isabella Soscia & Gianluigi Guido, 2019. "The Effect of Negative Message Framing on Green Consumption: An Investigation of the Role of Shame," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1111-1132, July.
    16. Kong, Hyun Min & Witmaier, Alexander & Ko, Eunju, 2021. "Sustainability and social media communication: How consumers respond to marketing efforts of luxury and non-luxury fashion brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 640-651.
    17. Naïade Anido Freire & Leïla Loussaïef, 2018. "When Advertising Highlights the Binomial Identity Values of Luxury and CSR Principles: The Examples of Louis Vuitton and Hermès," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 565-582, July.
    18. Laura Broccardo & Francesca Culasso & Amandeep Dhir & Elisa Truant, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility: Does it really matter in the luxury context?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 105-118, January.
    19. Sara Alghanim & Nelson Oly Ndubisi, 2022. "The Paradox of Sustainability and Luxury Consumption: The Role of Value Perceptions and Consumer Income," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-22, November.
    20. Munten, Pauline & Vanhamme, Joëlle, 2023. "To reduce waste, have it repaired! The quality signaling effect of product repairability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:119:y:2020:i:c:p:25-40. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.