The Effectiveness of Environmental Claims among Chinese Consumers: Influences of Claim Type, Country Disposition and Ecocentric Orientation
Abstract
This study empirically examines how environmental claim type affects the communication effectiveness of environmental advertising claims among Chinese consumers, and how two individual difference variables—country disposition and ecocentric orientation—moderate the claim type-effectiveness relationship. The present findings reveal that environmental claim type, country disposition, and ecocentric orientation all exert significant influences on communication effectiveness. Specifically, it is shown that substantive environmental claims generate greater communication effectiveness than associative environmental claims for both high-involvement and low-involvement purchases. For both types of purchases, environmental claims also generate more positive responses from consumers exhibiting a strong ecocentric orientation than from those exhibiting a weak ecocentric orientation. In addition, when compared with those holding a negative country disposition toward the source country, consumers holding a positive country disposition express more favorable responses toward environmental claims in high-involvement purchases. Finally, the present study also reveals that country disposition and ecocentric orientation jointly exert significant moderating effects on the claim type-effectiveness relationship in high-involvement purchases. These results remind marketers of the importance of adopting a situational perspective by taking country disposition and ecocentric orientation into account when determining which types of environmental claims should be employed to appeal to their targeted Chinese consumers.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The specific-vague dichotomy is conceptually distinct from the substantive-associative dichotomy.
“Similarly, the specific-vague dichotomy is conceptually distinct from the substantiveassociative dichotomy (Chan, 2000; Chan and Lau, 2004).”
From How Claim Specificity Can Improve Claim Credibility in Green Advertising (2018) · cites this paper as Chan and Lau, 2004
Cites
Roth, M. S., & Romeo, J. B. (1992) · Journal of International Business Studies · doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490276 · Cited by 1,151 · see citing works
Communicating Environmental Information: Are Marketing Claims on Packaging Misleading?
Polonsky, M. J., Bailey, J., Baker, H., Basche, C., Jepson, C., & Neath, L. (1998) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1023/a:1005731914135 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Factors affecting green purchase behaviour and future research directions
Joshi, Y., & Rahman, Z. (2015) · International Strategic Management Review · doi:10.1016/j.ism.2015.04.001 · Cited by 1,518 · see citing works
Antecedents and outcomes of consumer environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviour
Leonidou, L. C., Leonidou, C. N., & Kvasova, O. (2010) · Journal of Marketing Management · doi:10.1080/0267257x.2010.523710 · Cited by 430 · see citing works
Sustainability marketing research: past, present and future
McDonagh, P., & Prothero, A. (2014) · Journal of Marketing Management · doi:10.1080/0267257x.2014.943263 · Cited by 396 · see citing works
“…explored, for instance, marketing planning (Kärnä et al., 2003), marketing strategies (Rivera-Camino, 2007; Slater & Angel, 2000), environmental marketing claims (Chan & Lau, 2004), marketing communications (Cervellon, 2012; Do Paço & Reis, 2012) and new product development (Pujari et al., 2003).”
BackgroundConsequences of “greenwashing”: Consumers’ reactions to hotels’ green initiatives
Rahman, I., Park, J., & Chi, C. G.-Q. (2015) · International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management · doi:10.1108/ijchm-04-2014-0202 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
“Research has shown that consumers in countries such as the USA and the People’s Republic of China are skeptical about companies’ environmental claims in general (Chan and Lau, 2004).”
BackgroundResearch into environmental marketing/management: a bibliographic analysis
Leonidou, C. N., & Leonidou, L. C. (2011) · European Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1108/03090561111095603 · Cited by 344 · see citing works
Toward sustainable consumption: Researching voluntary simplifiers
McDonald, S., Oates, C. J., Young, W., & Hwang, K. (2006) · Psychology and Marketing · doi:10.1002/mar.20132 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
Evaluating the green advertising practices of international firms: a trend analysis
Leonidou, L. C., Leonidou, C. N., Palihawadana, D., & Hultman, M. (2011) · International Marketing Review · doi:10.1108/02651331111107080 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
“, 2006) and the product’s country-oforigin predisposition (Chan and Lau, 2004; Manrai et al., 1997) were important in maximizing the effectiveness of green claims.”
BackgroundPro-environmental Behavior in Egypt: Is there a Role for Islamic Environmental Ethics?
Rice, G. (2006) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-006-0010-9 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Sustainability: Consumer Perceptions and Marketing Strategies
McDonald, S., & Oates, C. J. (2006) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.524 · Cited by 258 · see citing works
Consumer attitudes towards biobased packaging – A cross-cultural comparative study
Herbes, C., Beuthner, C., & Ramme, I. (2018) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.106 · Cited by 257 · see citing works
Kumar, P., Polonsky, M. J., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Kar, A. K. (2021) · European Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1108/ejm-10-2019-0808 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Jäger, A.-K., & Weber, A. (2020) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120543 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Han, N. R., Baek, T. H., Yoon, S., & Kim, Y. (2019) · Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.06.020 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Tucker, E. M., Rifon, N. J., Lee, E. M., & Reece, B. B. (2012) · Journal of Advertising · doi:10.1080/00913367.2012.10672454 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Chan, R. Y. K., Leung, T. K. P., & Wong, Y. H. (2006) · Journal of Services Marketing · doi:10.1108/08876040610674580 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Self-citationKim, Y. K., Yim, M. Y., Kim, E. A., & Reeves, W. (2020) · Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing · doi:10.1108/jrim-10-2019-0171 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Promoting consumer's attitude toward refurbished mobile phones: A social media analytics approach
Sharifi, Z., & Shokouhyar, S. (2021) · Resources Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105398 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Ginder, W., & Byun, S. (2021) · Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102875 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
A meaningful reminder on sustainability: When explicit and implicit packaging cues meet
Granato, G., Fischer, A. R. H., & van Trijp, J. C. M. (2021) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101724 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
The Effects of Associative Slogans on Tourists’ Attitudes and Travel Intention
Zhang, H., Gürsoy, D., & Xu, H. (2016) · Journal of Travel Research · doi:10.1177/0047287515627029 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
“Davis (1993) argued that specific claims are better received by consumers, while Chan and Lau (2004) suggested that substantive claims generate positive attitudes toward the advertisement, the brand, and purchase intentions.”
BackgroundThe Effectiveness of Environmental Advertising in the Hotel Industry
Hu, H. (2012) · Cornell Hospitality Quarterly · doi:10.1177/1938965511433293 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Consumer Perceptions of Sustainability: A Free Elicitation Study
Simpson, B. J. K., & Radford, S. K. (2012) · Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing · doi:10.1080/10495142.2012.733654 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
“KEYWORDS sustainability, confidence, compromise, product durability Mainstream marketing research and practice is increasingly addressing social issues, concern for the environment, and corporate social responsibility (Chan & Lau, 2004; McDonald & Oates, 2006).”
BackgroundThe influence of skepticism on green purchase behaviour
Moutinho, L., Albayrak, T., Caber, M., & Herstein, R. (2011) · Cited by 64 · see citing works
How Claim Specificity Can Improve Claim Credibility in Green Advertising
Ganz, B., & Grimes, A. (2018) · Journal of Advertising Research · doi:10.2501/jar-2018-001 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Shin, S., Ki, E., & Griffin, W. G. (2017) · Journal of Marketing Communications · doi:10.1080/13527266.2017.1290671 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Environmental claims in online video advertising: effects for fast-fashion and luxury brands
Gogichaishvili, T., Ko, E., & Kim, S. J. (2019) · International Journal of Advertising · doi:10.1080/02650487.2019.1644144 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
The influence of skepticism on the university Millennials’ organic food product purchase intention
Hoyos-Vallejo, C. A., Carrión-Bósquez, N., & Ortiz-Regalado, O. (2023) · British Food Journal · doi:10.1108/bfj-02-2023-0093 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Uncharted Territory in Research on Environmental Advertising: Toward an Organizing Framework
Matthes, J. (2019) · Journal of Advertising · doi:10.1080/00913367.2019.1579687 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“While some studies have found stronger effects for highly involved consumers (Chan and Lau 2004; Kinnear and Taylor 1973), others have found the opposite (Schuhwerk and Lefkoff-Hagius 1995) or only a marginal role of consumer involvement (Matthes, Wonneberger, and Schmuck 2014). Another key predisposition is advertisi…”
BackgroundThe Impact of Green Advertising on Consumer Purchase Intention of Green ProductsPreprint
Zhu, B. (2012) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2182906 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Assessing the Greenness of Environmental Advertising Claims Made by Multinational Industrial Firms
Leonidou, L. C., Leonidou, C. N., Hadjimarcou, J. S., & Lytovchenko, I. (2014) · Industrial Marketing Management · doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2014.02.003 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“Thus, more extensive communication of factual information concerning the eco-friendly practices of the supplying firm is necessary (Chan & Lau 2004).”
BackgroundShin, S., & Ki, E. (2018) · Management Decision · doi:10.1108/md-01-2017-0043 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Joshi, G. Y., Sheorey, P. A., & Gandhi, A. V. (2019) · Benchmarking An International Journal · doi:10.1108/bij-03-2018-0082 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Alnıaçık, Ü., & Yılmaz, C. (2012) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Corporate Social Responsibility Communication Effects
Lécuyer, C., Capelli, S., & Sabadie, W. (2017) · Journal of Advertising Research · doi:10.2501/jar-2017-051 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“To avoid potential noise and bias due to brand-reputation or brand-positioning effects, this study featured advertising material for a fictitious brand, in line with previous studies of CSR communications (Chan and Lau, 2004; Grau and Folse, 2007; Groza et al., 2011; Nan and Heo, 2007; Yoon, GürhanCanli, and Schwarz,…”
MethodResultVázquez, J.-L., Carrizo, A. L., García, J. A., & Moraño, X. (2023) · Sustainable Production and Consumption · doi:10.1016/j.spc.2023.03.025 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Wonneberger, A. (2017) · Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing · doi:10.1080/10495142.2017.1326873 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“An impact of environmental concern on persuasive effects has, for instance, been found for advertising environmentally friendly products (Chan & Lau, 2004; Grimmer & Woolley, 2012; Lee, Choi, Youn, & Lee, 2012).”
BackgroundGreen Marketing: A Grey-based Rough Set Theory Analysis of Activities
Xu, Z., Liu, X., Bai, C. A., & Hu, L. (2015) · International Journal of Innovation Science · doi:10.1260/1757-2223.7.1.27 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“INTRODUCTION Over the past decades, social concerns such as the environment and corporate social responsibility have become not only a significant public issue but also a crucial focus of academic research [10].”
BackgroundSi, L., Xiong, M., Wang, Y., & Zhang, M. (2021) · Resources Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.106062 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Clustering Consumers According to Their Environmental Concerns and Scepticisms
Albayrak, T., Caber, M., & Aksoy, Ş. (2010) · International Journal of Trade Economics and Finance · doi:10.7763/ijtef.2010.v1.16 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Attribution and attributional processes of organizations’ environmental messages
Shin, S., & Ki, E. (2020) · International Journal of Market Research · doi:10.1177/1470785320934294 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Murgado‐Armenteros, E. M., Gutiérrez-Salcedo, M., & Ruíz, F. J. T. (2020) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su12083472 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Gangadharbatla, H., Vardeman, C., & Quichocho, D. (2020) · Journal of Marketing Communications · doi:10.1080/13527266.2020.1857818 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“Theoretically, our results support, confirm, and extend some of the previous studies that examine the role of message specificity in green advertising such as Davis (1993), Chan and Lau (2004), and Alniacik and Yilmaz (2012).”
BackgroundResultEffectiveness of Environmental Advertising for Hotels
Chan, K., & Han, X. (2014) · Services Marketing Quarterly · doi:10.1080/15332969.2014.946874 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“This viewpoint was supported by empirical studies using experimental design (Alniacik & Yilmaz, 2012; Carlson et al., 1996; K. Chan & Fan, 2013; R. Y. K. Chan & Lau, 2004; R. Y. K. Chan et al., 2006).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialBerens, G. A. J. M., & van Rekom, J. (2008) · EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) · doi:10.4324/9780203931943-14 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
How specific should corporate communication be?
Berens, G. A. J. M., & van Rekom, J. (2008) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203931943.ch6 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Darlius, C., & Keni, K. (2021) · Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research/Advances in social science, education and humanities research · doi:10.2991/assehr.k.210805.005 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Logic vs Aesthetic: The Effect of Environmental Claim and Visual Design in Green Advertising
Kostan, H., & Salendu, A. (2020) · Media Ekonomi dan Manajemen · doi:10.24856/mem.v35i2.1468 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Consumers, seemingly, are aware of these tricks and a lot of research findings have highlighted that respondents showed skepticism when they were exposed with unconvincing environmental claims (Schmuck, Matthes, & Naderer, 2018; Chan & Lau, 2004; Alniacik & Yilmaz, 2012).”
BackgroundInfluentialconsumo verde: un aporte teórico desde la teoría del comportamiento planificado.
Carrión-Bósquez, N., & Salinas, B. V. S. (2021) · Visión empresarial · doi:10.32645/13906852.1068 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Let’s Be Vegan? Antecedents and Consequences of Involvement with Vegan Products: Vegan vs. Non-Vegan
Miguel, I., Coelho, A., & Bairrada, C. (2023) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su16010105 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Wonneberger, A., & Matthes, J. (2015) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-531-18916-1_32 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
The Effects of Environmental Claim Types and Consumer Vocabulary on Eco Fashion Advertisement
Kim, M., Chun, E., & Ko, E. (2017) · Fashion & Textile Research Journal · doi:10.5805/sfti.2017.19.2.166 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“친환경 주장 유형과 광고효과의 관계에서 조절효과를 가지는 변수들의 존재는 여러 연구를 통해 증명되어 왔다(e.g., Chan & Lau, 2004; Chan et al., 2006; Choi et al., 2013; Lee & Yoon, 2016).”
InfluentialPopović, S., Laban, B., POPOVIC, V. M., Jovin, S., & Grublješić, Ž. (2018) · Poljoprivredna tehnika · doi:10.5937/poljteh1803038p · Cited by 5 · see citing works
How Consumers Perceive Environmental Advertising in the Banking Context
Chan, K., & Fan, F. (2015) · Asian Journal of Business Research · doi:10.14707/ajbr.150011 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“The result was consistent with previous findings (Chan and Lau, 2004; Chan et al., 2006; Hu, 2012).”
ResultXu, H., & Tian, C. (2024) · Resources Conservation & Recycling Advances · doi:10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200234 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Folcalvez, X. L., Skeaff, S. A., & Bradbury, K. E. (2024) · Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand · doi:10.1080/03036758.2024.2392801 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Most studies fi nd that speci fi c, rather than vague, environmental claims elicit more favourable responses from consumers (Davis 1993; Manrai et al. 1997; Chan 2000; Chan and Lau 2004).”
Escobar-Moreno, N. R. (2012) · Revista Facultad de Ciencias Económicas · doi:10.18359/rfce.2165 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Communicating the "incommunicable green"
Li, X. (2010) · doi:10.17077/etd.d5j2wky1 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Sustainable Development: Green Marketing Perspective
Ashtankar, O., Kakade, K. S., Srivastava, S., Nigadkar, M. P., Brahmane, J. S., & Dayma, B. (2023) · International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Control for Engineering and Business Systems (ICCEBS) · doi:10.1109/iccebs58601.2023.10448664 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“[29] stated that the degree of environmental consciousness of consumers affect the effectiveness of communication of green advertisement.”
Determining factors of the green products’ buying intention: A case of Indonesia
Amar, K., Kusuma, T. Y., & Islamadina, A. N. (2020) · IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science · doi:10.1088/1755-1315/575/1/012067 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Masouleh, S. A., Koochaksaraei, H. M., Saeedi, N., & Mousavian, S. I. (2013) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Mao, Z., & Li, Y. (2026) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106674 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Slobodan, P. (2017) · Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research · doi:10.26717/bjstr.2017.01.000503 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Multidisciplinary approach for proper functioning of specific green spaces in cities, and green islands that are raised in large cities boulevards essentially begins with recognition of specific space [1,3].”
BackgroundPark, Y. S., 이승인, & 장우성 (2018) · Journal of Product Research · doi:10.36345/kacst.2018.36.1.001 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Individual Barriers to Energy-Efficient Appliance Purchases
Joshi, G. Y., Panda, R., & Sheorey, P. A. (2021) · International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development · doi:10.4018/ijsesd.287119 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Larsen, F. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57198-0_7 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN: THE CASE OF ÇUKURAMBAR, ANKARA
Kölmek, E. F. (2011) · Bilkent University Institutional Repository (Bilkent University) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Why firms in China go green and how they market green
Song-Turner, H. (2014) · FedUni ResearchOnline (Federation University Australia) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flores-Zamora, J., & Pelsmacker, P. D. (2026) · International Journal of Advertising · doi:10.1080/02650487.2026.2670862 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…of EC (Matthes, Wonneberger, and Schmuck 2014; Parguel, Benoit-Moreau, and Russell 2015; Schmuck, Matthes, and Naderer 2018; Shen et al. 2024; Szabo and Webster 2021), others report a significant moderation effect (Atkinson and Rosenthal 2014; Schuhwerk and Lefkoff-Hagius 1995; Chan and Lau 2004).”
Firm Strategies and Political Instruments
Heinzle, S. L. (2012) · ZEW economic studies · doi:10.1007/978-3-7908-2849-8_4 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Clustering Consumers According to Their Environmental Concerns and Scepticisms
Albayrak, T., Caber, M., & Aksoy, Ş. (2010) · International Journal of Trade Economics and Finance · doi:10.7763/ijtef.2010.v1.24 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Neuroscience in Linguistic Patterns of Communication Campaigns for Environmental Sustainability
Saczyna, M. (2019) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Antecedents of Green Advertisement Credibility
Truong, H. A. T. (2019) · Tuwhera (Auckland University of Technology)
سليمان, س. ن., & القادر, ع. أ. ع. (2021) · المجلة العلمية للدراسات والبحوث المالية والتجارية · doi:10.21608/cfdj.2021.207577
How does green advertising serve as a quality signal in the gray market?
Yu, Y., Wen, D., & Chen, X. (2026) · Journal of Industrial and Management Optimization · doi:10.3934/jimo.2026087
Li, J., Geng, L., & Chang, Y. (2026) · Information & Management · doi:10.1016/j.im.2026.104388
- Authors
- Chan, R. Y. K., & Lau, L. B. Y.
- ORCID
- Chan, Ricky Y. K.
- Venue
- Journal of Marketing Management
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2004-04
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 273-319
- ISSN
- 0267-257X (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1376
- OpenAlex
- W2027308636
- Cited by
- 76
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 4.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Marketing Management (publishedVersion)
- PolyU Institutional Research Archive (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Environmental Education and Sustainability
- Keywords
- environmental claims, communication effectiveness, high-involvement purchases, Chinese consumers, situational approach, green marketing
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
