The Challenges of Green Marketing Communication: Effective Communication to Environmentally Conscious but Skeptical Consumers
Effectively communicating properties of environmental products to consumers can be challenging. This especially pertains to highly environmentally conscious (HEC)—yet skeptical—consumers, since this target group must balance the need for reliable product knowledge with high sensitivity to often ambi...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-07-01
|
| Series: | Designs |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/4/3/25 |
| _version_ | 1797561187004579840 |
|---|---|
| author | Carmen Grebmer Sarah Diefenbach |
| author_facet | Carmen Grebmer Sarah Diefenbach |
| author_sort | Carmen Grebmer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Effectively communicating properties of environmental products to consumers can be challenging. This especially pertains to highly environmentally conscious (HEC)—yet skeptical—consumers, since this target group must balance the need for reliable product knowledge with high sensitivity to often ambiguous nonverbal cues about a product’s environmental friendliness (e.g., environmental pictures). Using a group-specific (2 ×) 2 × 2 repeated-measures experimental study, we investigated the effect of communication-channel-specificity (verbal and nonverbal) to convey the environmental friendliness of products and evaluated consumers’ environmental skepticism and attention during product presentation. Environmental information delivered via a verbal/text-based communication channel translates into low skepticism for both HEC and low environmental consciousness (LEC) consumers. However, nonverbal/pictorial communication proved persuasive only for LEC consumers; HEC consumers exhibited high levels of skepticism, which, in turn, decreased the products’ perceived environmental friendliness. The analysis of combined verbal and nonverbal communication presented here provides a promising framework for effective green marketing communication. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:10:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dd0f0ca673b44a5088f8da1e4a280e93 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2411-9660 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:10:32Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Designs |
| spelling | doaj.art-dd0f0ca673b44a5088f8da1e4a280e932023-11-20T08:09:55ZengMDPI AGDesigns2411-96602020-07-01432510.3390/designs4030025The Challenges of Green Marketing Communication: Effective Communication to Environmentally Conscious but Skeptical ConsumersCarmen Grebmer0Sarah Diefenbach1Department of Economic and Organisational Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, GermanyDepartment of Economic and Organisational Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, GermanyEffectively communicating properties of environmental products to consumers can be challenging. This especially pertains to highly environmentally conscious (HEC)—yet skeptical—consumers, since this target group must balance the need for reliable product knowledge with high sensitivity to often ambiguous nonverbal cues about a product’s environmental friendliness (e.g., environmental pictures). Using a group-specific (2 ×) 2 × 2 repeated-measures experimental study, we investigated the effect of communication-channel-specificity (verbal and nonverbal) to convey the environmental friendliness of products and evaluated consumers’ environmental skepticism and attention during product presentation. Environmental information delivered via a verbal/text-based communication channel translates into low skepticism for both HEC and low environmental consciousness (LEC) consumers. However, nonverbal/pictorial communication proved persuasive only for LEC consumers; HEC consumers exhibited high levels of skepticism, which, in turn, decreased the products’ perceived environmental friendliness. The analysis of combined verbal and nonverbal communication presented here provides a promising framework for effective green marketing communication.https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/4/3/25environmentally conscious consumerenvironmental quality perceptionnonverbal communicationverbal communicationenvironmental packaging communication |
| spellingShingle | Carmen Grebmer Sarah Diefenbach The Challenges of Green Marketing Communication: Effective Communication to Environmentally Conscious but Skeptical Consumers Designs environmentally conscious consumer environmental quality perception nonverbal communication verbal communication environmental packaging communication |
| title | The Challenges of Green Marketing Communication: Effective Communication to Environmentally Conscious but Skeptical Consumers |
| title_full | The Challenges of Green Marketing Communication: Effective Communication to Environmentally Conscious but Skeptical Consumers |
| title_fullStr | The Challenges of Green Marketing Communication: Effective Communication to Environmentally Conscious but Skeptical Consumers |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Challenges of Green Marketing Communication: Effective Communication to Environmentally Conscious but Skeptical Consumers |
| title_short | The Challenges of Green Marketing Communication: Effective Communication to Environmentally Conscious but Skeptical Consumers |
| title_sort | challenges of green marketing communication effective communication to environmentally conscious but skeptical consumers |
| topic | environmentally conscious consumer environmental quality perception nonverbal communication verbal communication environmental packaging communication |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/4/3/25 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT carmengrebmer thechallengesofgreenmarketingcommunicationeffectivecommunicationtoenvironmentallyconsciousbutskepticalconsumers AT sarahdiefenbach thechallengesofgreenmarketingcommunicationeffectivecommunicationtoenvironmentallyconsciousbutskepticalconsumers AT carmengrebmer challengesofgreenmarketingcommunicationeffectivecommunicationtoenvironmentallyconsciousbutskepticalconsumers AT sarahdiefenbach challengesofgreenmarketingcommunicationeffectivecommunicationtoenvironmentallyconsciousbutskepticalconsumers |