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This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of integrated marketing communication (IMC) messages in demarketing campaigns, particularly considering the consumer’s background in corporate social responsibility orientation (CSRO).

A 2 (publicity type: green, demarketing) × 2 (ad type: green, demarketing) between-subjects experiment assessed the impact of green marketing and demarketing strategies on consumers with varying levels of CSRO. The study utilized a mix of green and demarketing publicity and advertisements to explore their effects on the perception of the brand’s honesty. Additionally, the research investigated the mediating role of “brand as honest” in shaping purchase intention and anticipated product satisfaction.

Results revealed that for individuals with lower CSRO, the combination of green or demarketing strategies had no significant impact on the perception of the brand’s honesty. However, for those with higher CSRO, the brand was perceived as more honest when demarketing publicity was followed by a demarketing (vs green) advertisement. These effects on purchase intention (if one needed to buy a product of this type) and anticipated product satisfaction (which could help lower repeat and follow-up purchases) occurred through the mediating role of “brand as honest.”

Based on the belief congruence theory, this research contributes to the existing literature by specifically focusing on the effectiveness of IMC messages in demarketing campaigns, considering consumers’ CSRO backgrounds. The study offers original insights into the interplay between demarketing strategies, brand perception and consumer behavior.

Given the multifaceted nature of research in green advertising (GA), it is critical to holistically review the extant literature to understand their contributions. This study aims to perform a hybrid literature review by combining citation analysis and a theory-context-method (TCM) framework to map the conceptual development of GA in the past three decades.

Using the SPAR-4-SLR technique, the current study identified the literature contributions of 133 articles published between 1993 and 2024 in the Scopus and Web of Science databases.

The study’s findings identified that certain theories, such as attribution theory and signalling theory have been used frequently in investigating the influence of GA on consumer behavior. The context analysis identified emerging themes like green trolling and green demarketing. This study also proposes substantial avenues with alternative theories for further advancement of GA research.

By conducting a hybrid literature review, this study identifies the highly cited articles and sources and provides a comprehensive synthesis of GA research.

Analysis of 133 articles from eight subject areas identified various themes in GA, aiding future researchers in identifying potential research opportunities and for marketers to develop appropriate strategies for their GA campaigns.

This study is the initial attempt to perform a hybrid literature review on GA using citation analysis and TCM framework.

Despite a growing interest in investigating green skepticism, there has been a paucity of effort in synthesizing green skepticism research. This study aims to synthesize extant green skepticism research. This study is useful in providing a comprehensive synthesis of research on green skepticism and identifying key gaps in the existing literature, thereby paving the way for future research directions. This research demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the dominant theories, contexts (i.e. countries), characteristics (i.e. key variables and their associations) and methods (i.e. research design) employed in green skepticism research.

A hybrid review method that combined an Systematic Literature Review (SLR) with lexicometric analysis was employed to present a comprehensive synthesis of the green skepticism literature.

The findings showed that many theories have been applied to green skepticism research with the theory of planned behavior and attribution theory being prominently used. The review also proposes a conceptual framework that illustrates the relationships between antecedents and consequences reported in the green skepticism literature. Lexicometric analysis identified six major themes in green skepticism research, including trust in green products, product-related attributes, environmental attributes, social responsibility, organic consumption and promotional campaigns.

This review included only papers authored in English. Consequently, studies conducted in other languages were not taken into account. Future research could broaden the understanding of green skepticism by incorporating studies conducted in different languages.

This study provides practical implications for retailers, marketers and policymakers to combat green skepticism and encourage the purchase of green items. This study suggests integrating endorsements from authorized third-party organizations or celebrities into green marketing campaigns to reduce skepticism. Further, aligning corporate social responsibility efforts with genuine social welfare goals can build consumer trust. Finally, securing third-party endorsements for ecological claims will emphasize product credibility and drive green purchase intention.

To the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to review the extant literature in green skepticism by integrating a systematic review approach, lexicometric analysis and the Theory-Context-Characteristics-Methodology framework. Through this approach, (1) SLR provides a detailed synthesis of green skepticism research to date, (2) Lexicometric analysis aids in the identification of key themes investigated in green skepticism research to date, and (3) the TCCM framework assists in identifying crucial avenues for future research endeavors in the realm of green skepticism.

Given the challenging economic conditions and unstable employment situation in developing countries like Iran, sustainable development has become a primary focus. With coastlines along both the north and south, the growth and development of coastal and marine tourism could provide a solid foundation for generating stable and continuous income streams. This research investigates the factors that facilitate and hinder communication between local communities and key stakeholders in the development of coastal tourism.

The research community comprised local communities, tourists, and government officials involved in tourism processes. Participants were selected based on specific criteria through targeted sampling, resulting in a total of 17 samples. The primary research tool utilized was semi-structured interviews. Interview questions were developed within the frameworks of two theories: social exchange and social network theory. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis methods.

The results indicated that all the promoting and inhibiting factors can be categorized into four themes: economic, socio-cultural, environmental, and institutional governance. According to the analyzed data, the inhibiting factors in the environmental sector significantly outnumber the driving factors. In contrast, in the other sectors, the gap between the driving and inhibiting factors is smaller.

This research provides a novel perspective on advancing green evangelism. By strengthening emotional connections with the brand, green evangelism lays the groundwork for developing green respect and green credibility. This approach, which focuses on enhancing emotional bonds with the brand, contributes to the expansion of the green brands in developing countries. Therefore, instead of direct advertising for green brands, the focus should be on attracting key customers to form a community dedicated to the green brand.

Consumer behavior is evolving rapidly due to the increasing role of technology in daily life. Online food ordering has emerged as a key channel in this changing landscape. This paper investigates the relationships between online promotions, consumer skepticism, information sharing on social media and the intention to purchase food and beverages through online delivery services.

Measures were developed based on a review of existing literature. Data from 402 participants were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).

The study reveals that online promotions significantly impact consumers' sharing of restaurant posts. Additionally, consumer skepticism about online food sales affects both their sharing behavior and their intention to purchase online. Engagement in sharing restaurant posts online is a strong predictor of online food purchasing intentions.

The findings offer valuable insights for restaurant operators, policymakers and technology developers in the competitive online food delivery sector. They emphasize the importance of implementing innovative promotions and crafting appealing food presentations. These strategies can accelerate customer decision-making, attract new customers and contribute to market expansion and customer base sustainability.

This research provides significant insights for restaurant owners and contributes to the limited literature on online promotions, consumer skepticism and information sharing in the restaurant industry. It also lays the groundwork for future studies aimed at deepening understanding in this field.

This study aims to examine the influence of green message types on brand awareness and intention to share, and subsequently how perceived value leads to purchase intentions at green coffee retailers.

A 2 × 2 between-subjects design was developed, yielding four green advertising messages for the study. The structural relationships between variables were then tested by covariance-based structural equation modeling.

The most effective green advertising messages combined benefit-based text with images of green materials' benefits. These messages influenced consumers' perceived green awareness, intentions to share online ads and purchase intentions at green coffee retailers. Additionally, awareness of coffee retailers' green practices led to higher emotional value perception compared to other values. Emotional and functional values influenced purchase intentions at eco-friendly coffee retailers.

The results of this study suggest effective ways of designing green advertising messages to increase consumer awareness of green products, sharing online ads and intentions to buy beverages from eco-friendly coffee retailers.

This study contributes to sustainability literature, dual coding theory and consumer value theory.

This study aims to identify how restaurants can effectively initiate communication via social media to promote ethical dining behaviors. This research investigates the psychological mechanism of how the matching effect of color and a sustainability activity influence customer attitude toward a restaurant and the role of perceived credibility and green image.

Two experimental studies were conducted. Study 1 used a 2 food source (non-sustainable vs sustainable) × 2 color consistency (inconsistent vs consistent) factorial design (n = 231). Study 2 used a 2 food origin (world-famous vs locally renowned) × 2 color consistency (inconsistent vs consistent) factorial design (n = 220).

The results indicate that the matching effect from the marketing effect of sustainability significantly promotes customer attitudes and visit intentions when background color is consistent. An unexpected matching effect was found between a non-sustainable restaurant using world-famous food with its associated color. This research demonstrates a moderation effect of credibility and a mediation effect of green image to explain the ethical decision-making process for customers.

The findings provide suggestions for restaurant marketers to effectively advertise sustainability initiatives and practices using color as a marketing tool via social media.

This research is one of the earliest studies to investigate the effect of color consistency with primary information to demonstrate how consumers respond to restaurant sustainability in social media messages using local food.

The study aims to examine how different types of green brand ritual (GBR) influence customer engagement behavior and the mediation mechanisms and boundary conditions of the positive and negative pathways.

The study conducts two online experiments to collect data from a total of 940 consumers in China. Hypotheses are tested by independent samples t-test, two-way ANOVA and Hayes' PROCESS model.

Different kinds of GBR have different effects on customer engagement behavior. Internal GBR is more likely to play a positive role by inciting connectedness to nature. External GBR is more likely to play a negative role by inciting psychological resistance. This dual effect is especially pronounced for warm brands rather than competent brands.

The study pioneers the brand ritual into the field of interactive marketing and enriches its dual effect research. Additionally, the study figures out whether the category of brand ritual can trigger negative effect.

Inappropriate brand rituals are worse than no rituals at all. The results provide guidance for green companies to design effective brand rituals to strengthen the connection with consumers. Green brands should describe brand rituals in vivid detail and consciously lead consumers to immerse themselves in them.

Hospitality and tourism businesses often face environmental criticism as they rely heavily on natural resources to operate. Therefore, as a recent trend, hospitality companies are trying to adopt an environmentally friendly approach. Thus, this study sought to investigate the determinants of employee intention to engage in environmentally responsible actions in the workplace, drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the value-belief norm (VBN) theory.

This study employed the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to discover sufficient configurations for predicting employees’ intentions.

The result has provided recipes with an efficient combination of factors that can influence employees’ intention to undertake environmentally responsible behaviors.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding sustainable behavior among employees and sustainability in the travel and hospitality sector. The findings of this research also provide managers and operators of sustainable hospitality businesses with guidance on how to enhance their staff members' environmentally friendly behaviors at work.

To promote long-term sustainability and improve consumers’ quality of life, marketers can use artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to initiate conversations about mindful consumption. Although anthropomorphic designs are integral for successful persuasion, there is scant research on how anthropomorphizing chatbots’ internal traits influences consumers. Integrating the Uncanny Valley Effect (UVE) and the Arousal-Biased Competition (ABC) theory, this study aims to investigate how a chatbot with a higher experiential mind shapes attitudes toward mindful consumption messages by examining people’s emotional responses (i.e. eeriness and amazement) and cognitive engagement.

Incorporating real-time interactions with a chatbot, this research adopted an online experiment with a one-factor, two-condition (a higher vs a lower experiential mind) design with eeriness and amazement as parallel mediators, leading to cognitive absorption and, consequently, attitudes toward mindful consumption messages in a serial manner.

This study found that a chatbot with a higher (vs lower) experiential mind simultaneously triggers higher levels of eeriness and amazement, leading to higher cognitive absorption and a more positive message attitude.

This study expands the current anthropomorphism literature by examining the effects of imbuing nonhuman agents with an experiential mind and emphasizing a nuanced view of emotional responses to anthropomorphized chatbots. The findings contribute to establishing a theoretical link between a chatbot’s experiential mind level and persuasion outcomes, offering strategic and ethical insights for anthropomorphized AI use in sustainability marketing.