Greenwashing and Its Effect on Brand Credibilit

Abstract

In an era of heightened environmental awareness and sustainability-driven consumption, organizations increasingly communicate their ecological initiatives to strengthen brand reputation and competitive positioning. However, the exaggeration or misrepresentation of environmental claims—commonly referred to as greenwashing—has emerged as a critical ethical and strategic challenge. This study investigates the effect of greenwashing on brand credibility, examining how perceived deceptive environmental claims influence consumer trust, brand attitude, and purchase intention. Using a quantitative research design, data were collected from 412 environmentally conscious consumers across major urban centers in India. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the relationships among greenwashing perception, brand credibility, brand trust, corporate reputation, and purchase intention. The findings reveal that perceived greenwashing has a strong negative effect on brand credibility and trust, which subsequently weakens corporate reputation and consumer purchase intentions. The study contributes to sustainability marketing and ethical branding literature by empirically validating greenwashing as a significant reputational risk and offers strategic insights for building authentic green brand communication..