It's Easy Being Green: The Effects of Argument and Imagery on Consumer Responses to Green Product Packaging

Abstract

To assess how claims of “green” advertising influence consumers, this study examined whether argument strength and imagery used in environmental claims on product packaging affected participants' perceptions of the claims' credibility, perceptions of the products' “greenness,” attitudes toward the product, purchasing intent, and general attitudes toward “green” product advertising. A 3 (Argument: No argument, Weak, or Strong)×2 (Image: Present or Absent) factorial experiment was conducted by varying product packaging on a bottle of laundry detergent. While argument strength influenced perceptions of credibility, product greenness, and attitudes, a weak argument was as effective as a strong argument in eliciting purchasing intent. Similarly, the presence of a green seal image influenced purchasing intent regardless of argument strength. These results suggest that though consumers are able to evaluate the quality of green arguments, the mere presence of any green cue affects purchasing intent regardless of format, modality, or quality.