Green Marketing Strategies on Online Platforms: A Mixed Approach of Experiment Design and Topic Modeling

Eunhye Park,Sung-Bum Kim,Junehee Kwon

doi:10.3390/su13084494

Eunhye Park, Sung-Bum Kim + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084494

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Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of two types of green information conveyed via online platforms and the moderating role of environmental consciousness on customers’ green perceptions, positive attitudes, and behavioral intentions. This study performed a 2 (firm-initiated green information: absent, present) × 2 (customer-generated green information: absent, present) experiment. These mixed methods were further implemented by using both open-ended surveys and structured measurements. Open-ended survey answers were analyzed with structural topic modeling to discover customers’ green perceptions. The results highlighted the importance of customer-generated green information to support firm-initiated green marketing, consequently leading to enhanced customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Although displaying green information generated by both the company and its customers is effective in enhancing green perceptions, customers may react differently depending on their levels of environmental consciousness.

Highlights

With the growing public awareness of how unsustainable corporate activities negatively impact societal wellbeing, maintaining and communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become imperative across all industries [1]
We investigated whether customers who are conscious about environmental issues pay more attention to green information than others by testing the moderating effects of customer consciousness and green information
The findings of this study indicate that websites containing a single source of green information, whether generated by restaurants themselves or by fellow customers, can influence green perceptions, but not overall attitudes and behavioral intentions

Summary

Introduction

With the growing public awareness of how unsustainable corporate activities negatively impact societal wellbeing, maintaining and communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become imperative across all industries [1]. Many hospitality firms have engaged in socially responsible practices to respond to the demands and expectations that various stakeholder groups place on them [2]. By aligning their business practices with stakeholders’ expectations and conveying that congruence through CSR initiatives, companies aim to obtain legitimacy, which is essential for the survival of the business [3]. Firms need to effectively communicate to their stakeholders their efforts to implement socially responsible practices, with clear and effective communication to customers being, perhaps, most important of all [4,5]. CSR communication through online channels tends to appeal to conscious customers, and it may, in turn, foster a positive public image of the firm [13,14]

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