Investigating Green Purchase Intention through Sustainability Concerns, Social Cynicism and Perceived Greenwashing

Abstract

Sustainability deduces that natural resources are finite and must be conserved to protect future generations from this scarcity. The study investigates the intricate relationship between sustainability environmental concerns and social cynicism with green purchase intention through the mediating role of perceived greenwashing in the organic beauty industry. A total of 386 responses were collected through an online structured survey from consumers in Pakistan. The data were analyzed using Smart PLS, the results of the study indicated that Sustainability Concerns and Social Cynicism both have a significant positive impact on perceived greenwashing. This proposed that consumers who are both environmentally concerned and socially cynical tend to doubt the credibility of sustainable messaging in organic beauty industry. Moreover, perceived greenwashing has a significant negative effect on green purchase intention. The mediation analysis confirms that perceived greenwashing significantly mediates the relationship between sustainability concerns, social cynicism and green purchase intention. The findings extend existing literature by incorporating sustainability concerns and social cynicism within a unified framework. It aims to offer valuable insight into the mediating role of greenwashing and provide managerial implications on how sustainability concerns and social cynicism in online organic beauty business green purchase intentions can be shaped up.