Green brand image in digital retail

: a research on green labeling impact on willingness to pay

Abstract

The environmental consciousness of customers continues to rise, while digital retail provides them with additional purchase options. This dissertation explores the impact of a sustainable brand image on consumers’ willingness to pay in an online retail context, focusing on the significance of green labels. For the empirical investigation, four distinct stimuli were developed based on the results of an online pre-survey. The stimuli comprise of a T-Shirt with and without a green label and applied to two brands, of which one has been found to be regarded as sustainable, while the other has been found to not be perceived as sustainable. These stimuli were applied to an online questionnaire and presented randomly to 277 respondents. Brand image concerning sustainability and the willingness to pay were assessed, and the determinants of the Theory of planned behavior. This research found that a sustainable brand image positively affects consumers’ willingness to pay. Though the relationship between brand image and willingness was not found to be moderated by the existence of green labeling, green labeling has been found to result in a (significant) higher willingness to pay. The determinants of the Theory of planned behavior participated in the model as partial mediators. This thesis contributes to close the literature gap concerning green labeling and its impact on the relationship between brand image and willingness to pay. From a managerial point of view, this study helps to give implications better to understand the relationships of the different variables under study.

Date of Award	3 Feb 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Paulo Romeiro (Supervisor)