Do consumers intend to buy more co-created green products than traditionally developed green products?

Abstract

The globe is currently facing a number of environmental issues that require the rapid development of ecological technologies. Green product purchases continue to fall short of market forecasts. One of the causes of this behavior is a lack of trust in corporate environmental claims. According to the literature, co-creation is a strategy for increasing consumers' trust and, as a result, their buying intentions. Additionally, firms that foster co-creation are perceived as being more customer-centric, which should lead to more favorable attitudes toward consumption. According to two studies conducted on this research, co-creation of green products increases consumer trust. Literature also states that the relevance of political orientation as a moderator between the type of development (co-creation vs professionals only) and consumer trust is considered significant. Liberal consumers (with low-power distance) tend to trust more in co-created products, where as conservative consumers (with a high-power distance) are more likely to trust products generated solely by experts. Despite the above, the effects of co-creation on the green economy have yet to receive much attention. Therefore, the main goal of this dissertation is to help executives better understand how co-creation can contribute to increasing consumer trust. Hence, companies should more commonly use co-creation in the development of green products in order to generate trust and additional sales. There are also limitations and suggestions for future research.

Date of Award	29 Jun 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Cláudia Isabel de Sousa Costa (Supervisor)