Vol. 14 No. 3 (2026): Business & Management Studies: An International Journal
Articles

The role of perceived greenwashing in consumers' brand avoidance behavior

PDF (Turkish)
  • Behiye Altın,
  • Ramazan Kurtoğlu
Behiye Altın
Lecturer, Yozgat Bozok University, Yozgat, Türkiye
Bio
Ramazan Kurtoğlu
Assoc. Prof. Dr., Yozgat Bozok University, Yozgat, Türkiye
Bio

Published 2026-09-25

Keywords

  • Greenwashing, Green Trust, Brand Avoidance, Environmental Concern, Postmaterial Value
  • Yeşil Aklama, Yeşil Güven, Markadan Kaçınma, Çevresel Kaygı, Postmateryal Değer

How to Cite

The role of perceived greenwashing in consumers’ brand avoidance behavior. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(3), 1805-1830. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i3.2834

Copyright (c) 2026 Behiye Altın- Ramazan Kurtoğlu

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

The role of perceived greenwashing in consumers’ brand avoidance behavior. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(3), 1805-1830. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i3.2834

Abstract

With the growing consumer interest in eco-friendly products, manufacturers have invested significant effort in marketing and selling so-called "green" products. Consequently, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of businesses' environmental sensitivity and the environmental benefits of their products. Misleading practices by businesses not only cause consumers to view them with skepticism but also result in reduced purchase intentions regarding their products. This study examines the role of perceived greenwashing in consumer brand avoidance behavior. In this context, the study aims to better understand the interactions arising in various situations and contexts by analyzing the relationships between variables. Furthermore, the research investigates the roles of green trust, environmental concern, and perceptions of post-materialist values in consumer brand avoidance behavior. Data collected via an online survey from 341 participants over the age of 18 living in Turkey—using a convenience sampling method—were analyzed using PLS-SEM. Initial analyses revealed that while internal consistency reliability and convergent validity were established, discriminant validity was not achieved. To detect multicollinearity issues, VIF values between variables were examined; the "brand hypocrisy" variable, which exhibited the highest VIF value, was removed from the measurement model, and the model was reconstructed. The results indicate that consumers' perceived levels of greenwashing positively influence their levels of brand avoidance. According to another finding of the study, while greenwashing negatively affects green trust, the level of green trust negatively influences brand avoidance behavior. Furthermore, the results revealed that green trust plays a mediating role in the relationship between greenwashing and brand avoidance. However, it was found that the variables of environmental concern and post-material values do not play a moderating role.

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