Vietnamese consumer's perspective on green beauty care products: Exploring the impact of animal welfare concerns and skepticism toward green advertising

Abstract

Green consumers increasingly consider animal welfare (AW) in their decision-making, demonstrating a growing awareness of ethical considerations beyond conventional environmental concerns. However, with an increase in greenwashing, skepticism has grown among consumers. Regardless of manufacturers' efforts to enhance consumer awareness via green advertising, consumer skepticism toward these advertisements creates doubt and consequently reduces positive attitudes and intentions to buy green products. This study investigated the variables that impact Vietnamese consumers' decision-making processes toward green beauty care products. Specifically, we focused on the role of AW concerns and skepticism toward green advertising. For this study, we adopted the timulus-response organism (SOR) framework, which is known for its ability to analyze the impact of environmental stimuli (S) on personal perceptions (O), leading to specific responses (R). We elucidated the relationship between concern for AW and green advertising skepticism (GAS) as stimulus factors, green brand trust (GBT) and attitude toward green products (ATT) as organism factors, and three sub-dimensions of behavioral intentions (BI): green purchase intention (GPI), word-of-mouth (WOM), and willingness to pay (WPP) as response factors. We explored the mediating effect of ATT on the relationship between GAS-GPI and AW-GPI. This study involved 386 Vietnamese participants surveyed using convenience sampling. Smart PLS v3.2.9 software was used to analyze the data using structural equation modeling. The hypothesis test using PLS-SEM confirmed that (a) GBT had a positive effect on BI and ATT; (b) ATT had a positive effect on BI; (c) GAS had a negative effect on GBT and WPP, but not on GPI and WOM; and (d) AW had a positive effect on GPI and WOM, but not on ATT and WPP. Surprisingly, this study found insufficient statistical evidence to support the mediating role of ATT in the relationship between GAS-GPI and AW-GPI. This study highlights the importance of integrated advertising and education campaigns in increasing customer awareness toward green products and the significance of comprehending the cultural context when developing marketing strategies, especially in emerging markets such as Vietnam, where environmental concerns are skeptical and AW issues are relatively new. The study delved into the Vietnam market and specifically examined beauty care products labeled as “not tested on animals.” Additionally, we addressed a gap in the existing research by investigating the combined influence of AW concerns and GAS on the formation of green behavioral intentions (GBI).