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Public ecoliteracy : and its influence in the mass-market fashion industry : the case of H&M Conscious campaign

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Kulewicz Aleksandra Karolina 10620648

Master’s Thesis

Graduate School of Communication Master’s programme Communication Science

Supervisor Anke Wonneberger 22.01.2015

Public ecoliteracy

and its influence in the mass-market

fashion industry:

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Abstract

This research aims to analyze the influence of ecoliteracy and environmental concern (both theoretical and active) on the perceived attractiveness and purchase intention. Furthermore, it aims to analyze whether skepticism mediates those relationships based on a case study of H&M Conscious campaign. This research provides new insightful information to the way in which environmental values can translate into evaluating marketing campaigns. It provides a new approach to studying the green consumer, as it analyzes the relationship between the ecological values and the actual behavior of the green consumer once confronted with a mass-market fashion giant like H&M. The results indicate that the level of environmental knowledge or environmental concern is not influential on the processes of evaluating and purchasing the green products. Instead, only the consumers who actively recycle and take environment into consideration while purchasing products, thus represent active

environmental concern, are significantly more positive in their purchasing and evaluating processes. Furthermore, the level of skepticism can be seen as a mediating factor only in this one case. Moreover, there is a significant correlation between trustworthiness, attractiveness and purchase intention.

These results provide important indications for corporate benefits. As it turns out, in order to successfully sell a green product, there is no need for an environmentally educated and ecoliterate audience. Instead, there is a need for stimulation of the level of trust towards the corporate claims and towards the appeal of the campaign. This stimulation increases the level of perceived attractiveness and influences the purchase intention. This signifies that the role of the marketing campaign is far greater than it would seem. It needs to charm and persuade every customer to the purchase, regardless of his or her values. The results provide new insights into successful persuasion techniques used for promoting the green campaigns.

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Introduction

The world is in the process of change. Civilization has left its mark on the environmental situation of the globe. The ecological reality forces a moral obligation on corporations to provide more sustainable and environmentally oriented services and choices. Consumers are becoming more aware of their environmental impact and environmentally friendly and green products are becoming the most influential and desirable trend (D’Souza, Taghian, & Lamb, 2006; Phau & Ong, 2007; Gam, 2011; Niinimäki, 2010; Thiengnoi & Afzal, 2009).

Fashion industry, due to an overwhelming amount of products it creates, is a highly influential segment of corporate profit making where every previously mentioned concept of green wave can be easily seen and illustrated.“ Clothes satisfy many human needs, from protection, through status, to self-expression and lifestyle” (Phau & Ong, 2007, p.773). Furthermore, besides being a tool used to express personal style, fashion is also an expression of psychologically and culturally leaned patterns (Crane & Bovone, 2006). Thus, mass-market fashion is a segment, which most strongly illustrates the social and corporate improvements in the world of profit making.

This hybrid of social pressure and the latest environmental requirements caused the emergence of a new corporate phenomenon: ecofashion. This category of clothing puts a tremendous amount of importance on the environmental and social impact of fashion. “Ethical fashion emerges at the association of the workers rights’ concerns – implied in fair trade movements – with the environmental and energetic crisis – that growingly intensified – putting global scale socioeconomic systems under pressure and driving the growth in green product offerings” (Guedes, 2011, p. 340). In the world at the edge of a global environmental crisis, the new highly informed and conscious audience finds an opportunity to express themselves through fashion and support their ideologies through purchasing behavior. “Consumers find in ethical brands a set of values that fulfill not only their need for style but also give the opportunity, through consumption, to contribute to environmental preservation,

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to the improvement of working conditions and better of quality of life in their countries and in less developed countries” (Guedes, 2011, p. 345). In this new corporate and social paradigm, ecofashion has become “an economic imperative, not just a moral one” for mainstream brands and mass-market retailers (Beard, 2008, p. 449).

Despite the appealing ideology behind the ecofashion, this new corporate

phenomenon causes a lot of critique and disbelief. The paradox of this process lies at the core of the idea of fashion in the first place.“ Fashion involves short life cycles and waste when green promotes durability, sustainability and the recycling of products” (Cervellon & Wernerfelt, 2012, p.179). The process of generating new products within a short amount of time is a process that is hardly sustainable, let alone ecologically friendly. “Sustainability and consumerism do not go hand in hand” (Brenner, 2014, p. 1).

The most important aspect of evaluating ecofashion is to understand the green consumer. What drives them? How do they evaluate the organic and environmentally friendly fashion products? Do they feel satisfied with the offers, or do they see it as a marketing trick in order to sell more products? Most importantly, can they identify those campaigns, which only wish to sell products without truly being green? The ability to understand the green consumer is the pivotal tool in the processes of assessing the effectiveness of green marketing campaigns along with their possible frauds and misleading practices. The nature of

ecofashion calls for doubt and disbelief in terms of its authenticity and sustainability and it is important to understand how does the new and ecologically conscious green consumer navigate through the sea of marketing campaigns and manipulation techniques. The knowledge of how does the green consumer evaluate green marketing campaigns and how does this evaluation connects to his or hers ecological values, holds the power to

understanding on how to influence audiences.

Empirical research provides diverse clues on what could possibly influence green consumers. A great focus has been put on the aspects of brand familiarity (Laroche, Kim, &

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Zhou, 1996). Furthermore, researchers agree that pre-existing ecological values, like ecoliteracy and environmental concern have an effect on the evaluating and purchasing behavior (Lin & Huang, 2012). Additionally, personal values and emotions with regards to the environment also seem to influence these processes (Sweeney & Soutar, 2001).

However, there are a number of barriers and facilitators that buffer those processes. Consumers cannot be generalized as a segment with similar ideologies and values. They cannot be categorized or explained in any simple fashion and thus there cannot be any clear implications for the markets (D’Souza, Taghian, & Khosla, 2007). This creates the necessity to research and analyze the behavior of a green consumer in the scope of newly introduced green marketing campaigns. Despite the extensive research in the field of understanding eco-driven consumers, there is a significant literature gap. There is lack of research based on connecting the theories that exist within the field, with the current mass-market culture. The majority of the research focuses on understanding the values that drive the green purchasing behavior. However, none of these researchers have tried to test these theories against the pop-cultural phenomenon of the most influential mass-market clothing retailer in the world, H&M (Giertz-Mårtenson, 2012). In 2012, the fashion giant has introduced an ecological and

organic alternative collection, called H&M Conscious. Thus, analyzing the influence of ecological values mentioned in the research previously; ecoliteracy and environmental concern on the evaluation and purchasing intention processes based on H&M Conscious provides a unique approach. It introduces a realistic overview of how those theories behave in the reality of unstoppable consumerism and willingness to keep up with trends. This adds a new dimension to the research and thus provides a new insight into the world of green consumers. Besides looking at the level of preexisting ecological values and knowledge, this research also provides insights into the process of evaluation of attractiveness and appeal of a green marketing campaign. Finally, it helps to evaluate the level of importance of the

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Research Question

How does ecoliteracy and environmental concern (both theoretical and active) translate into the evaluation and purchase intention processes of eco-fashion campaigns?

Theoretical Framework Ecofashion

The growing demand for ethical fashion gave rise to a movement that extended to luxury brands and other forms of corporate profit making; ecofashion. For instance, in the UK, the ethical fashion market more than quadrupled between 2004 and 2008 (McAspurn, 2009). The ethical brands targeted to the new and conscious consumer allow them to act according to their concerns through consumption. The aim to achieve sustainability in the process of production would have to integrate “economic, business performance, social and environmental performance” (Thiengnoi & Afzal, 2009, p. 15). Thus, currently, every

corporation, especially in the fashion industry, strives for obtaining sustainability. The aim of this process is to present the world a new ideology, that takes into consideration economic, social and environmental influences and consequences.

Only between 2009 and 2015 the worth of green products was estimated to grow to 845 billion (Munshi & Kurian, 2005). In this new corporate and social paradigm, ecofashion has become “an economic imperative, not just a moral one” for mainstream brands and mass-market retailers (Beard, 2008, p. 449). The latest decade has transformed the phenomenon of ecofashion from an ideological paradigm and philanthropic niche to an actual corporate commercial reality (Beard, 2008). The cultural requirement for a successful marketing

campaign became using fair trade cotton as well as organic and recycled materials. Therefore, the major retailers in the mass market-fashion world, from Prada to Zara, try to involve ecological and sustainable products and offers (Cervellon & Wernerfelt, 2012 ; Phau & Ong, 2007).

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This highly financially beneficial aspect of new and improved market creates tremendous exploiting opportunities. Currently, the world is facing a green marketing revolution (Lane, 2011). The pressure for a corporation to be organic and sustainable, both in the production process and materials it uses to create products, is very high. Thus, there is a possibility that the corporate claims made by a company are only a marketing stunt, rather than reality. “Corporate social responsibility is an invention of PR” (Munshi & Kurian, 2005, p. 23). Following this train of thought, it can be assumed that any corporate claim or form of external communication is designed in order to enhance the corporate identity and convince the audiences into buying more products. Thus, any corporate claim can be a tool in the process of charming the customers and promising them that their expectations will be met. Furthermore, manipulation allows a corporation to steer an image of environmental, social, and cultural responsiveness (Munshi & Kurian, 2005). This phenomenon is called

greenwashing. It happens when a firm engages in marketing practices that cause confusion and mislead the general public about environmental practices and benefits of the services and products provided by that company. To be more specific, greenwashing is defined as the intersection of two aspects: poor environmental performance and positive communication about that environmental performance in order to create an image of environmentally friendly and socially responsible corporation (Delmas & Burbano, 2011; Marciniak, 2009; Ramus, 2005).

The typical customer’s inability to successfully and consciously navigate through the greenwashing techniques has serious consequences on the wellbeing of the planet. Especially currently, when the majority of the corporations have decided to jump on this highly

beneficial green bandwagon (Marciniak, 2009; Phau & Ong, 2007; Tinne, 2013).

On the other hand, there are regulations that help the customers to navigate through the sea of green products. Ecolabels and legal symbols are developed in order to help customers recognize whether a product or service fits into the scope of green products.

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Consequently, ecolables provide consumers with information about the consequences and the effects of their consumption (Galarraga Gallastegui, 2002; Rex & Baumann, 2007). With the amount of possibilities in the green market, a typical green consumer needs to be armed with adequate tools that will help him or her with identifying false and greenwashed products and services.

Ecoliteracy

One of the tools that help the customers to navigate through the sea of persuasion and marketing tricks is their actual environmental knowledge, called ecoliteracy. This term indicates the level of knowledge that a consumer presents with regards to ecological and environmental issues. “Knowledge is recognized in consumer research as a characteristic that influences all phases in the decision process. Specifically, knowledge is a relevant and

significant construct that affects how consumers gather and organize how much information is used in decision-making and how consumers evaluate products and services“ (Laroche, Bergeron, & Barbaro-Forleo, 2001, p. 505). This ecological value is defined as consumers selecting products, recycling, and taking other actions to protect the environment based on their knowledge and understanding of the issue (Fraj & Martinez, 2006). Michel Laroche conceptualizes the term ecoliteracy and emphasizes the importance of that term in the process of evaluation of services and products. He states: “Ecoliteracy is used to measure the

respondent’s ability to identify or define a number of ecologically related symbols, concepts and behaviours. It was found to be correlated with some attitudes and behaviour toward the environment ” (2001, p. 505).

In the delicate process of evaluation that leads to possible purchasing behavior, the level of ecoliteracy plays a significant role. The actual knowledge about the environmental issues makes the process of identifying truthful corporate claims much easier. Furthermore, it is essential to correctly establish the level of ecoliteracy in a given audience in order to design a campaign that is effective amongst those audiences.

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Based on an empirical research conducted through focus interviews, the relationship between the objective and the subjective knowledge is examined. It is emphasized that high level of ecoliteracy is required in order for a consumer to make an informed and adequate decision in terms of evaluation and purchasing behavior (Ellen, 1994). This indicates that those consumers who represent a high level of ecoliteracy will more likely get involved with pro-environmental actions because of their greater ability to discriminate confusing and manipulative messages (Ellen, 1994). Consequently, lack of high ecoliteracy can result in poor decision-making process due to increased possibility of confusion (1994). Poor-decision making process is understood as the purchasing or positive evaluation of the level of

attractiveness or appeal of a product or campaign, which does not truly represent the

environmental values. However, those theories take into consideration authentic ecological, organic and green products. The previous theory about ecofashion states, that this

phenomenon might be a form of greenwashing due to the fact that mass-market fashion and sustainability do not go hand in hand. Thus, the level of ecoliteracy is said to help the customers in identifying, what truly represents their environmental values. Finally, the level of ecolietracy is said to be helpful when identifying the fakery in terms of environmental friendliness. Thus, those theories are the basis of the following hypotheses:

H1 The higher the ecoliteracy, the lower the (evaluation) perceived attractiveness of eco-fashion campaigns.

H2 The higher the ecoliteracy, the lower the purchase intention of products from eco-fashion campaigns.

Environmental Concern and Active Environmental Concern

Another value that is highly necessary in the processes of navigating through the sea of persuasion and possible greenwashing techniques is environmental concern and active environmental concern. Furthermore, those values are highly influential on the purchasing and evaluating behaviors of green consumers (Bang, Ellinger, Hadjimarcou, & Traichal,

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2000). Environmental concern is widely regarded to as New Environmental Paradigm, the term created in 1978 by Van Liere and Dunlap (Dunlap, 2008). Based on a survey, they have created a 12-item scale with indications for overarching measures of environmental concern (2008). This term indicates the level of concern or regard that consumers have for

environmentally oriented issues. “Studies have shown that consumers who are concerned about the environment will practice eco-friendly behavior and purchase more green products” (Gam, 2011, p.182). Fraj and Martinez also found that those consumers, who are aware of environmental problems, have an ecologically sensitive lifestyle (Fraj & Martinez, 2006). In addition, consumers who are inclined to practice eco-friendly behavior are more inclined to practice eco-friendly apparel consumption behavior (Kim & Choi, 2005). Another study confirmed the positive relationship between environmental concerns and response to green clothing advertisements in terms of evaluation of their levels of appeal and attractiveness (Damhorst & Kim, 1998).

Corporations first need to identify the environmentally conscious and green oriented segment of customers and target them with required values through their services and products in order to create financially successful marketing campaigns, (Schlegelmilch, Bohlen, & Diamantopoulos, 1996). Therefore, understanding the level of consumers’ environmental concerns and knowledge is essential in understanding attitudes towards environment, eco-friendly behavior as well as purchasing decisions. Thus, all of those theories state that the individual who represents a certain level of concern for the

environment will act differently towards green products than an individual with less concern. Furthermore, they state that not only the purchase intention process will be influenced but also the evaluation process of green marketing campaigns. The previous theory about

ecofashion states, that this phenomenon might be a form of greenwashing due to the fact that mass-market fashion and sustainability do not go hand in hand. The value environmental concern connects really strongly to the ecoliteracy level. They both influence the customer’s

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ability to navigate through the sea of false environmental claims and be pro-environmental in their buying processes only with the authentic and truthful organizations. Thus, the theories have been the basis for the following hypotheses: H&M

H3 The higher the environmental concern, the lower the (evaluation) perceived attractiveness eco-fashion campaigns.

H4 The higher the environmental concern, the lower the purchase intention of products from eco-fashion campaigns.

Furthermore, the theory clearly makes a distinction between ecoliteracy,

environmental concern and active environmental concern. The theories that exist within the field of green processes do apply to the active environmental concern, however due to the technical difference, it is important to notice that distinction. Some scholars call this value environmental commitment (Phau & Ong, 2007). This terms describes the level of active involvement and commitment to the ecological and environmentally friendly lifestyle, as oppose to theoretical knowledge about concerns related to the environment. It indicates the level of personal participation in the processes of protecting the environment, recycling and consciously choosing only those products which are biodegradable and not harmful to the planet (Laroche et al., 2001; Phau & Ong, 2007). Active environmental concern is a theoretical extension of environmental concern. Thus, in the light of this research, it is assumed that those theories, which apply to the environmental concern, also apply to the highest level of environmental concern, which is active environmental concern. Thus, consumers who are inclined to practice eco-friendly behavior are more inclined to practice eco-friendly apparel consumption behavior (Kim & Choi, 2005). Finally, those customers are more inclined to have positive evaluation of green clothing advertisements (Damhorst & Kim, 1998). The previous theory about ecofashion states, that this phenomenon might be a form of greenwashing due to the fact that mass-market fashion and sustainability do not go hand in hand. Thus, this can be the basis for the following hypotheses:

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H5 The higher the active environmental concern, the lower the (evaluation) perceived attractiveness of eco-fashion campaigns.

H6 The higher the active environmental concern, the lower the purchase intention of products from ecofashion campaigns.

Skepticism

Lastly, another value, which serves as guidance in the realm of persuasion and marketing tricks, is the level of skepticism. This value has been heavily neglected by some researches, yet found to be tremendously influential on the evaluating and purchasing processes. Skepticism is a connection between the three previously introduced concepts: ecoliteracy, environmental concern and active environmental concern. Those values can be seen as the basis of the psychological processes and the level of skepticism can be regarded to as a result that acts like mediation. Depending on the level of ecoliteracy that a consumer represents, his level of skepticism will differ. Thus, the final process of evaluation of a marketing campaign as well as purchasing behaviors will depend not only on the initial values but also on the level of skepticism. A quantitative study has analyzed the relationship between the environmental concern and the level of skepticism. Furthermore, it has analyzed whether the correlation between the values could possibly influences the green purchasing and evaluating behavior (Albayrak, Aksoy, & Caber, 2013). They have found that skepticism has a significant influence on the possible green purchase behavior. “Skepticism is a cognitive reaction that varies in accordance with the occasion and content of the communication. If the customers feel skeptical about a company’s claims, the effects of the advertisements decrease”

(Albayrak et al., 2013, p. 29). Thus, there is a reason to expect those customers who present a high level of skepticism to be less positive towards a doubtful green campaign. Furthermore, the level of skepticism can cause the customer to resign from the purchase completely (2013). This can mean that skepticism, emerging from ecoliteracy, environmental concern and active environmental concern acts like a buffer in the advertising and marketing processes.

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Moreover, in a research which aims to analyze the influence of skepticism on ad evaluation, it was found that the more skeptical customers will be more likely to be less positive towards the ad than the ones who present a low level of skepticism (Obermiller, Spangenberg, & MacLachlan, 2005). Furthermore, a research states that skepticism is an important and highly influential aspect that mediates the environmental values and the approach towards

environmental claims in marketers (Mohr, Eroǧlu, & Ellen, 1998). For this reason, skepticism needs to be taken into account when environmentally sensitive consumer behavior is

examined. Skepticism is an important aspect meditating the effect between the consumer values; ecoliteracy, environmental concern, active environmental concern and the evaluation of the green marketing campaigns as well as hypothetical purchase intention (1998).

This leads to the following hypotheses, which state that skepticism will act as a mediator for the previously established relationships.

H7 The level of skepticism will mediate previously mentioned evaluating and purchasing behaviors toward eco-fashion campaigns.

Attractiveness

A factor that can heavily influence the previously mentioned relationships is attractiveness. People’s individual perception and visual taste dictate, what they find attractive. Rooted in the old Greek word aesthetics, literally means “understanding through sensory perception” (Hekkert & Leder, 2008, p. 260). ” Psychology of perception has achieved a good

understanding of how our perceptual system makes sense of our environment by analyzing edges, contours, blobs, and basic geometrical shapes” (2008, p. 260). Balance in the design proportion, symmetry, colors, emotional connotations driven by culture, are only some of the values that are unconsciously being assessed when looking at a product. Based on this initial feeling, an opinion on the level of attractiveness is formed. This perceived value holds the biggest power in advertising and marketing. The ability to make a customer feel good is the ultimate goal of consumerist-based corporations. Current capitalism sells feelings and

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emotions, thus turns their products into emotional values. The appeal of attractiveness holds a promise of pleasure, credibility, usability, social status and luxury (Crane & Bovone, 2006; Phau & Ong, 2007). From a psychological point of view, attractiveness holds a strong

position in the marketing world. Research states that there is a strong correlation between the vision of a happy life and following the trends and fashion promoted by the media (Engeln-Maddox, 2006). H&M, being the most influential mass-market fashion retailer in the world strongly influences the previously mentioned relationship. Thus, this theory is the basis for the following hypothesis.

H8 The higher the attractiveness, the higher the purchase intention of products from eco-fashion campaigns.

H&M Conscious Campaign

All of these values and theories will be tested on a case study of H&M Conscious campaign. This campaign perfectly represents the current mass-market trends. Furthermore, the aspect of H&M adds a value of popularity and following the trends. Thus, this research will analyze how the previously mentioned theories act in the realm of mixture of consumption and pop culture. The Conscious campaign has been introduced in 2012, and it focuses on emphasizing the sustainability and environmental concern of the company (H&M, 2014). H&M is one of the fastest growing and largest clothing retailers in the world. Currently, it has 75,000 employees and approximately 2000 stores in 35 countries worldwide (Giertz-Mårtenson, 2012). Those tremendous numbers carry a consequence to them. “Sustainability and consumerism do not go hand in hand” (Brenner, 2014, p. 1). The core value of H&M is to offer fashion and quality at affordable price; therefore it reaches a wider clientele by attracting customers from different social classes (Adab, 2012; Thiengnoi & Afzal, 2009). Furthermore, the Conscious campaign is designed in order to fit the new social and political requirement by appearing more organic, sustainable and ecologically conscious both in the production process and the consequents of its products on the environment. Thus, this

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research will try to analyze the previously mentioned hypotheses on the case of H&M Conscious.

Graph1 - Conceptual Model

Methodology Design

This quantitative research aims to analyze the possible influence of the levels of ecoliteracy environmental concern and active environmental concern on the processes of evaluation and purchase intention of green marketing campaign Conscious, by H&M. Furthermore, the aspect of trustworthiness/skepticism will be measured as a possible mediator of the

previously mentioned relationships. A survey has been designed in order to gather the data necessary to test the hypotheses. The questionnaire has been created on an online platform Qualtrics and distributed to the respondents via the social media; Facebook and email accounts. The questionnaire consisted out of four segments (Appendix 1). The first segment of the survey measured the level of ecoliteracy that the customers present. The second segment aimed to evaluate the level of the environmental concern that the respondents present; both perceived and active. The third segment presented the respondents with the

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H&M Conscious campaign objectives, goals and product offers. Furthermore, it presented the respondents with corporate claims made by the H&M CEO, Karl Johnsson and asked the respondents to evaluate the attractiveness of the campaign, express their opinion on the level of trustworthiness that it represents and state whether they would be interested in purchasing items from this collection (Appendix 1). The fourth segment of the questionnaire asked demographic questions.

Procedure

The survey was analyzed using the analytical statistical program SPSS. The data collection has started on the 20th of November and finished on the 5th of December. The respondents have been approached through social media (Facebook) and asked to fill out the

questionnaire and to forward it to their friends and family. First page of the survey informed the respondents about the idea behind the research and it’s ethics. Furthermore, it provided confirmation that the data is strictly confidential and used only for the purpose of the research. Lastly, the respondents have been asked to confirm that they have read and understood the ethical and confidential statement and that they wish to proceed with the survey. Furthermore, they have been informed that they survey will take approximately five minutes.

Sample Unit

One hundred forty one respondents have filled in the survey (N=141), however only the surveys that have been finished completely, made it to the final sample. Thus, after removing the inadequate questionnaires, one hundred twenty four respondents were left (N=124). The aim of this research is to analyze the approach towards green marketing campaigns across different target audiences. Thus, the selection criteria included both, possibly green and non-green oriented customers as well as the ones familiar and not familiar with the H&M

Conscious campaign. Out of all participants, forty six (38,3%) were male and seventy four (61,7%) were female. Out of all the nationalities that took part in the survey, Dutch and

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Polish were the most common. Twenty-three respondents were of Dutch origin (18,5 %) sixty were of Polish origin, (48,3%) and forty-one were of diverse other nationalities (33,2%). Education wise thirteen people were in high school (10,8%), thirty eight people had a Bachelor’s Degree( 31,7%), sixty four respondents had completed a Master’s Degree (53,3%), and five people had stated other as a level of their education(4,1%). Occupation wise, sixty six people were employed ( 55%), forty six were students( 38,3%) and eight people were unemployed (6,7%). Furthermore, fifty-seven respondents have reported to be single (47, 5%), thirty-eight in a relationship (31,7%) and nineteen married (15,8%). In terms of the area of living, one hundred fourteen of the respondents live in the urban area (95 %) and six ( 5%) in the rural area.

Measures Operationalization Ecoliteracy

The inspiration for the questions measuring the level of ecoliteracy, has been drawn from the work of Cheah and Phau (2009) and LaRoche et al. (2001). Furthermore, the questions have been adjusted by the researcher to fit the aim of the study, thus to measure the level of knowledge with regards to green and environmentally oriented issues. The questionnaire measuring the level of ecoliteracy provided respondents with five statements about their level of knowledge about environmental issues and asked them to evaluate their correctness on a 7 point Likert Scale (from 1 strongly agree to 7 strongly disagree) (M= 2.95, SD= 1.09). The statements were as follows: I am highly informed about the global warming information (Appendix 1). Five statements asked the respondents to evaluate their level of knowledge with regards to the following issues; global warming, deforestation, potable water pollution, ocean pollution and the disappearance of ozone layer. The internal reliability analysis indicates the Cronbach’s Alpha level to be .853.

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The questions in this part of the survey have been inspired by the work of LaRoche et al (2001) and Cheah and Phau (2009). Furthermore, some of the questions have been changed and adapted in order to fit to the environmental and ecological scope of the survey. The variable environmental concern was measured through five statements with regards to concern about environmental issues. The questionnaire asked the respondents to evaluate their correctness on a 7-point Likert Scale (from 1 strongly agree to 7 strongly disagree) (M= 2.57, SD= 1.09). The following statement is an example used in the survey: On a scale from

1 to 7 how concerned are you with environmental issues (Appendix 1) This section of the

survey asked the respondents to express their level of concern for the following aspects; environmental, deforestation, ocean pollution, global warming and potable water pollution issues. The reliability analysis for this variable indicates the level of Cronbach’s Alpha to be .909.

Active Environmental Concern

The questions in this part of the survey have been inspired by the work of LaRoche et al (2001) and Cheah and Phau (2009). Active environmental concern measures the active pro-environmental behavior, rather than theoretical interest in the concept. The active

environmental concern variable was measured through one question with five statements with regards to the quantity and frequency of times that the respondents consider environmental issues when making a purchasing decision. 7-point Likert Scale was provided to evaluate the correctness of the statements (from 1 never to 7 always) (M= 2.79, SD= .70). An example of a statement is the following statement: On a scale from 1 to 7, how often do you consider

environmental issues when buying a product (Appendix 1). Besides asking about

environmental issues, the respondents were also asked to evaluate the following: paying attention to the way a product was assembled and manufactured, paying attention to what is the influence of the product on the environment and active recycling. The reliability analysis for this variable indicates the Cronbach’s Alpha to be .802.

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Attractiveness

This variable aims to measure the attitude of the respondents towards the green marketing campaign as well as their process of evaluation of the appeal and attractiveness of it. This variable was measured through two questions in the questionnaire. One of them openly asked the respondents to evaluate the attractiveness of the campaign on a 7-point Likert Scale (1 very attractive to 7 very unattractive) and the other asked to do the same process, but through judging the level of attractiveness on a 7-point Likert Scale (from 1 very high to 7 very low) (M= 3.29, SD= 1.02). (Appendix 1). The Reliability Analysis for those questions indicates the Cronbach’s Alpha to be .764.

Purchase Intention

This variable aims to provide information whether the customers would hypothetically be interested in purchasing the products from the H&M Conscious collection. This variable is measured by one question in the questionnaire. This question asks the respondents to evaluate the correctness of the following statement; I am willing to buy a product from the H&M

Conscious Campaign based on the organic and recyclable nature of the product that it offers

(Appendix 1) (M= 3.48, SD= 1.51). The respondents were asked to evaluate the correctness of this statement on a 7-point Likert Scale (from 1 strongly agree to 7 strongly disagree). Trustworthiness

This variable aims to measure the level of skepticism that the respondents present towards the H&M Conscious campaign. The level of trustworthiness serves as a mediator in the

conceptual model. This variable was measured through six questions in the questionnaire. The first question asks the respondents to evaluate on a 7-point Liker Scale (from 1 strongly agree to 7 strongly disagree) the correctness of the following statement: I completely trust the

claims made by H&M campaign (Appendix 1). The latter five questions are quotes made by

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on a 7-point Likert Scale (from 1 very trustworthy to 7 very untrustworthy) (M= 3.87, SD= 1.19). The Reliability Analysis presents the Cronbach’s Alpha to be .936.

Control variables

The theory states that certain variables have an effect on the green evaluating and purchasing behavior (LaRoche, 2001). The fact that a person has a family to protect and take care of influences their approach towards the green and environmentally friendly products. Thus, gender as well as martial status will possibly have a direct significant influence on the level of attractiveness and purchase intention. Furthermore, the differences in the approach towards evaluation processes have been linked to the level of education that a person has received (the higher the education level the higher the ecological knowledge necessary to evaluate the messages appropriately), thus variables like education level have been added. Finally, the area in which the respondent lives is indirectly connected to the previous variables (LaRoche, 2001). Potential culture and values shared by the people (family oriented vs. career-oriented) could also affect that, thus the area of living variables has also been included in the model. Results

Attractiveness

The responses in the variable attractiveness are distributed normally, with no outliers. The highest amount of responses fall under the category: Neither attractive nor unattractive (28%). In order to assess the correctness of H1, H3 and H5, there is need for appropriate tests. Furthermore, in order to control for any other variables that might possibly influence these relationships, certain control variables have been introduced. Thus, multiple regression analysis was run in order to tell how well the independent variables are able to predict the level of attractiveness (Table 1). Thus, the model used the following variables; ecoliteracy, environmental concern, active environmental concern and the following control variables; gender, education level, occupation, martial status and area of living. The model is not significant F (8, 111) = 268, p < .975 (Table 1). Variables ecoliteracy (b* = .025, t= .221, p<

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.825, 95 % CI .196, .246]), environmental concern (b* = .041, t= .357, p< .722, 95 % CI [-.184, .265]), active environmental concern (b* = .024, t= .155, p< .877, 95 % CI [-.278, .326]), gender (b* = .018, t= .085, p< .932, 95 % CI [-.390, .425]), education (b* = .092, t= .743, p< .459, 95 % CI .153, .366]), occupation (b* = .029, t= .260, p< .795, 95 % CI [-.192, .250]), marital status (b* = -.030, t=-.294, p< .769, 95 % CI [-.235, .174]) and area (b* = .279, t=.602, p< .548, 95 % CI [-.640, 1.199]) are all insignificant. They do not add to the model. This means that the model is not a good fit for the data. This can be caused due to the presence of control variables, out of which none adds to the model significantly.

Furthermore, the strength of possible prediction is extremely low; 1,9 percent of the variation could have been explained by the model (R2

= .019). There is no change in the R2

after adding the remaining control variables (= .019).

Table1. Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for variables predicting attractiveness (N=124)

IV’s + Control Attractiveness

Variable B b*

Constant -0.899

Ecoliteracy 0.025 0.026

Environmental Concern 0.041 0.043

Active Environmental Concern 0.024 0.016

Gender 0.018 0.008 Education 0.092 0.076 Occupation 0.029 0.027 Marital Status -0.03 -0.03 Area 0.279 0.06 R 0.019 F 0.268 Note *p< .05 **p< .01 ***p< .001

Lastly, none of the independent variables or control variables had a significant effect on the dependent variable. This is an indication, that the H1, H3 and H5 should be rejected. Purchase Intention

The level of purchase intention was derived from the responses to the statement: I am willing

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environmentally friendly products. The responses are distributed normally, with no outliers.

The highest amount of responses fall under the category: Somewhat agree (34%). In order to predict the level of purchase intention from the following independent variables; ecoliteracy, environmental concern, active environmental concern and the following control variables; gender, education level, occupation, martial status and area of living, the multiple regression analysis was run (Table 2). The regression model is significant, F (8, 111) = 2.021, p < .05. Therefore, the model is a good fit for the data and can be used to predict the level of purchase intention. The strength of the prediction is very weak; only 12,7 percent of the variation in the level of purchase intention can be explained by the variation in the independent variables (R2

= .127). After adding the remaining control variables, there is no change in R2

(= .127). The variables ecoliteracy (b* = .056, t= .358, p< .721, 95 % CI [-.254, .366]), environmental concern (b* = .198, t= 1.239, p< .218, 95 % CI [-.118, .514]), gender (b* = .056, t= 358, p< .721, 95 % CI [-.254, .366]), education (b* = -.156, t= -.897, p< .371, 95 % CI [-.499, .188]), occupation (b* = .033, t= -.212, p< .832, 95 % CI [-.277, .344]), martial status (b* = .146, t= 1.009, p< .315, 95 % CI .141, .433]), and area (b* = -.156, t= -.240, p< .811, 95 % CI [-.1448, 1.135]) are all insignificant and do not add to the model. Only the variable active environmental concern, with b* = .524, t = 2.449, p < .016, 95% CI [0.10, 0.949] is significant in this model (Table 2). Thus, with every increase by 1 unit in the level of purchase intention, the active environmental concern increases by .524 units.

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Table 2. Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for variables predicting purchase intention (N=124).

Note *p< .05 **p< .01 ***p< .001

Despite the fact that there is a direct effect of active environmental concern on the purchase intention, this is not sufficient result to accept the hypotheses. The hypothesis assumed that there would be a direct negative effect of active environmental concern on the purchase intention, not a positive one. Thus, based on these results, the hypotheses H2, H4 and H6 have to be rejected.

Mediation

However, this data shows that there is a possibility that mediation might occur between the variables active environmental concern and purchase intention through the variable

trustworthiness. Multiple regression analysis was run in order to check for that possible mediation. The first step in the mediation analysis is to check whether there is a direct effect of independent variable on the dependent variable. In order to establish that relationship in this case, a multiple regression analysis was run for independent variable active

environmental concern and the dependent variable purchase intention. Furthermore, in order to control for other possible variables that might influence that relationship, independent variables; ecoliteracy and environmental concern have been added as well as control

IV's + Control Purchase Intention

Variable B b*

Constant 1.842

Ecoliteracy 0.056 0.04

Environmental Concern 0.0198 0.141

Active Environmental Concern .524* .241*

Gender -0.064 -0.021 Education 0.092 -0.087 Occupation -0.156 0.021 Marital Status 0.033 0.096 Area 0.146 -0.022 R 0.127 F 2.021

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variables; gender, education level, occupation, martial status and area of living. This test includes the same exact values as the test conducted above (Table 2). The regression model is significant, F (8, 111) = 2.021, p < .05 (Table 2). The strength of the prediction is very weak; 12,5 percent of the variation in the level of purchase intention can be explained by the

variation in the active environmental concern (b* = .524, t = 2.449, p < .016, 95% CI [0.10, 0.949]) (Table 2). After adding the remaining control variables, there is no change in R2 (=

.127). This data shows that there is a significant direct effect of active environmental concern on the purchase intention. The second step in establishing the possible mediation relationship is to test whether the independent variable, active environmental concern, has a significant direct effect on the mediating variable: trustworthiness. Furthermore, in order to control for other possible variables that might influence this relationship other independent variables have been added; ecoliteracy, environmental concern as well as control variables; gender, education level, occupation, martial status and area of living. The model is not significant, F (8, 111) = 1.198, p < .307 (Table 3). This means that the model does not fit the data. This can be caused due to the fact that none of the control variables add to the model significantly. Only 7,9 percent of the variation in the dependent variable can be explained by the variation in the independent variables (R2

= .079). After adding the remaining control variables, there is no change in R2

(= .079). Despite the fact that the model is insignificant, the significance levels of individual variables are still reliable.

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Table 3. Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for variables predicting trustworthiness (N=124)

IV's + Control Trustworthiness

Variable B b*

Constant 2.128

Ecoliteracy -0.046 -0.042

Environmental Concern -0.101 -0.091

Active Environmental Concern .338* .198*

Gender 0.266 0.108 Education 0.213 0.15 Occupation -0.18 -0.143 Marital Status -0.002 -0.002 Area 0.385 0.07 R 0.079 F 1.198 Note *p< .05 **p< .01 ***p< .001

The strength of the prediction is very weak; 7,9 percent of the variation in the level of purchase intention can be explained by the variation in the active environmental concern (R2

= .079) (b* = .338, t = 1.953p < .053, 95 % CI [-0.005, .682]) (Table 3). This means that if the purchase intention increases by 1 unit, the active environmental concern increases by .338 units. Ecoliteracy (b* = -.046, t= -.361, p< .719, 95 % CI [-.297, .205]), environmental concern (b* = -.101, t= -.786, p< .434, 95 % CI [-.357, .154]), gender (b* = .266, t= 1.139, p< .257, 95 % CI [-.197, .729]), education (b* = .213, t= 1.514, p< .133, 95 % CI [-.066, .491], occupation (b* = -.180, t= -1.423, p< .158, 95 % CI [-.432, .071]), marital status (b* = -.002, t= -.020, p< .984, 95 % CI .234, .230]) and area (b* = .385, t= .731, p< .466, 95 % CI [-.660, 1.314]) are all insignificant. The third step in establishing a possible mediating relationship is to check the effect of mediator variable (trustworthiness) controlled by the active environmental concern on the purchase intention. Furthermore, in order to control for other possible variables that might influence this relationship other independent variables have been added; ecoliteracy, environmental concern as well as control variables; gender, education level, occupation, martial status and area of living. The model is significant, F (9, 110) = 10.736, p < .000 (Table 4). 46,8 percent of the variance in the purchase intention can

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be explained by the variance in the independent variables (R2

= .468). After adding the control variables, there is no change in R2

(.468) (Table 4). This means that the model is a good prediction of the variation of the dependent variable based on the mediator and all other relevant independent and control variables.

Table 4. Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for trustworthiness predicting purchase intention (N=124)

Note *p< .05 **p< .01 ***p< .001

The variable active environmental concern became insignificant (b* = .263, t= 1.540, p< .126, 95 % CI [-.075, .602]) (Table 4). The mediating variable trustworthiness is significant, (b* = .772, t= 8.388, p< .000, 95 % CI [.589, .954]. This means that there is a significant direct effect of trustworthiness on the purchase intention. With 1 unit increase in the purchase intention, the trustworthiness increases .772 units. Furthermore, control variable education is significant, (b* = -.320, t= -2.326, p< .022, 95 % CI [-.592, -.047]). This means that with 1 unit increase in the trustworthiness, the education level decreases by .320 units. Lastly, environmental concern became significant, (b* = .276, t= 2.199, p< .030, 95 % CI [-.027, .525]). This means that with every 1 unit that purchase intention increases, there is an increase in environmental concern by .276 units. The variables ecoliteracy, occupation, gender, marital status and area are all insignificant.

IV's + Control Purchase Intention

Variable B b* Constant 0.2 Ecoliteracy 0.091 0.066 Environmental Concern .276* .196* Active Environmental Concern 0.263 0.121 Gender -0.27 -0.086 Education -.320* -.178* Occupation 0.173 0.108 Marital Status 0.148 0.097 Area -0.454 -0.065 Trust .772* .608* R 0.468 -0.002 F 10.736

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To sum up, all three requirements of the mediation have been met. The test statistic value for the Sobel test is 1.90. The test is significant, p < .05. The fact that the observed p-value does fall below the alpha level of .05 is an indication that the correlation between the active environmental concern and the purchase intention is reduced significantly by the inclusion of the variable trustworthiness (Kenny, 2014; Soper, 2014).

Attractiveness on Purchase Intention

In order to establish the relationship between the attractiveness and the purchase intention another multiple regression analysis was run. Furthermore, in order to control for other possible variables that might influence this relationship other independent variables have been added; ecoliteracy, environmental concern, trustworthiness, attractiveness as well as control variables; gender, education level, occupation, martial status and area of living. The model is significant, F (10, 109) = 11,893 p < .000 (Table 5). This means that the model is a good prediction of the variation of the purchase intention from attractiveness. 52,2 percent of the variance in the purchase intention can be explained by the variance in the independent variables (R2

= .522) (Table 5). After adding the remaining variables, there was no change in R2

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Table 4. Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for attractiveness predicting purchase intention (N=124)

IV's + Control Purchase Intention

Variable B b* Constant 1.312 Ecoliteracy 0.65 0.047 Environmental Concern 0.224 0.159 Active Environmental Concern 0.357* 0.164* Gender -0.195 -0.062 Education -0.299* -0.166* Occupation 0.102 0.064 Marital Status 0.162 0.107 Area -0.473 -0.068 Trust 0.46* 0.362* Attractiveness 0.498* 0.335* R 0.522 -0.002 F 11.893 Note *p< .05 **p< .01 ***p< .001

Attractiveness has values: (b* = .498, t= 3.513, p< .001, 95 % CI [.217, .779]) (Table 5). This means that with every 1 unit increase in purchase intention there is an increase in attractiveness by .498. Thus, the last hypothesis can be accepted. Furthermore, variables trustworthiness (b* = .460, t= 3.685, p< .000, 95 % CI [.212, .707]), education (b* = -.299, t= -2.283, p< .024, 95 % CI [-.559, -.039]) and active environmental concern (b* = .357, t= 2.166, p< .033, 95 % CI [.030, .684]) all have an effect on purchase intention (Table 5). The variables ecoliteracy, environmental concern, gender, occupation, marital status and area are all insignificant.

Discussion and Conclusion

The main purpose of this study was to measure whether the level of ecoliteracy,

environmental concern and active environmental concern have a direct effect on the process of evaluation and purchase intention of H&M Conscious campaign. Furthermore, this research aimed to analyze whether the level of skepticism that the respondents present could possibly mediate the relationship between the previously mentioned variables. Lastly, it aimed to analyze whether there is a significant influence of the level of attractiveness on the

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possible purchase intention. The results present a rather interesting revelation. First of all, it turned out that the level of ecoliteracy does not have a significant effect on the level of attractiveness. Furthermore, the level of environmental concern does not have an effect on attractiveness either. Finally, the level of active environmental concern is also insignificant in influencing the level of attractiveness. This means that the level of knowledge is not a pivotal aspect of the evaluation processes of a corporate service, product and offer. Contrasting to the previously noticed theory, the level of environmental knowledge does not seem to have an effect on the evaluation process of environmentally friendly products. On the contrary to what has been previously though and popularized, knowledge is not “a characteristic that influences all phases in the decision process” (Laroche et al., 2001, p. 505). Furthermore, it is not “relevant and significant construct that affects how consumers gather and organize how much information is used in decision-making and how consumers evaluate products and services” (Laroche et al., 2001, p. 505). The environmental concern did not have an effect on the level of attractiveness either. Despite the supposed environmental focus of the H&M Conscious campaign, the environmentally concerned customers do not evaluate it differently than not interested ecologically customers. The assumption that the green consumer would use their environmental knowledge, environmental concern and active environmental concern in the process of evaluation of the level of attractiveness of a green product does not hold true in this instant, as oppose to what has been hypothesized (Damhorst & Kim, 1998). On the contrary to what has been stated by the researchers, those values are not highly influential in the processes of evaluating green campaigns (Bang, Ellinger, Hadjimarcou, & Traichal, 2000). The same lack of influence has been found when testing the influence of those values on the hypothetical purchase intention. On the contrary to what has been expected, none of those values turned out to be influential on any active pro-environmental behavior, such as purchasing the products (Bang, Ellinger, Hadjimarcou, & Traichal, 2000; Ellen, 1994). Active environmental concern turned out to be significant only in the case of positive

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influence on the purchase intention. This result is contradictory to the hypothesis that expected the value to negatively influence the purchase intention. This signifies, that the theoretical concepts like knowledge and environmental concern are not powerful enough in order to influence the behavior of a customer when faced with the reality of shopping. Only those customers who already participate in active environmental concern (take environment into consideration when they shop or recycle) will purchase the green products. Lastly, the level of trustworthiness (which represents skepticism) does mediate the positive relationship between the active environmental concern and the purchase intention (Albayrak, Aksoy, & Caber, 2013; Obermiller, Spangenberg, & MacLachlan, 2005). This can mean that only at this level of environmental concern (active) the processes expected from the literature start to work. Thus, any type of theoretical knowledge or understanding does not translate to actual green purchasing and evaluating behaviors just yet.

Limitations to the research

There are certain evident limitations to this research that could significantly influence the results. First of all, the nature of the survey can cause bias in itself due to the formatting of the questions. The questions used in the survey could have been biased or could have been leading towards a certain response, which naturally decreases the level of authenticity in the respondent’s responses. It can happen due to framing or wording of a certain question or statement. Certain words and phrases used in the questions could have been leading towards one desired outcome and could have been subconsciously associated with pejorative or positive aspects. The questions, which measure the level of trustworthiness that the

respondents believe a corporate statement has, are an example of it. The question asked the respondents to provide an evaluation of the level of trustworthiness of the claim. However, the fact that this question asked about the level of trustworthiness could have already been suggestive to the audience. The way that this question has been designed already implies the necessity to critically assess the authenticity of the claim and further emphasizes the aspect of

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doubt. Thus, this framing of the question could have been an extra sign for the respondent to be cautions and much more suspicious than usual.

Second of all, the design of the survey could have been rather suggestive and thus imply the desired responses from the audience. The first part of the survey has tried to analyze the level of ecological and environmental knowledge and concern. Currently ecological and environmental concerns are seen globally as the issue with the highest priority. Thus, the respondent who is aware of this fact is able to get the impression of what type of response is expected out of him. The social desirability for a certain approach can cause the respondents to act in a way that does not mirror their authentic values but rather fits to the general scope of societal pressure. This could have led the respondents to provide an opinion or response that is more in the alignment with the socially desired one rather than authentic and truthful response that they would have provided otherwise.

Furthermore, this research has provided information that supports the theory about the level of skepticism mediating green processes only partially. This could be the result of an inadequate approach to gather the information with regards to the level of skepticism. It could have been collected in the same way as the other variables have been; with a question or a test aiming to gather the general level of skepticism, rather than the specific level for the H&M Conscious campaign. The lack of significance of the trustworthiness could be caused by the fact that this particular H&M Conscious campaign has affected the respondents in such a way. Moreover, if the survey would have asked the respondents about their general level of skepticism at first and only asked them to evaluate the H&M Conscious campaign later, it would have provided more insightful information. This would be the basis to understand whether there is a difference between the levels of skepticism towards green marketing campaigns in general and the level of skepticism towards that particular H&M campaign. This would provide the researchers with knowledge, whether the level of trust/skepticism changes due to the campaign.

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Furthermore, as Laroche states, brand familiarity and confidence are determinants in the processes of evaluation and purchase intention (Laroche et al., 1996). Thus, in order to take this aspect into consideration and avoid possible bias in the response, the future research should divide the respondents into groups with different levels of brand familiarity. Doing so will enable the researcher to analyze the possible differences in the evaluation processes and possibly measure the connection between the brand familiarity and the response. This ideology could be narrowed down to making a distinction between the respondents based on their familiarity with the H&M Conscious campaign as oppose to the whole retailer. Thus, it is recommended for future research to take those notes into consideration and readjust the approach to studying green consumer behavior.

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Appendix 1

Ecoliteracy Questionnaire

Disclaimer: Dear sir/madam, Thank you for participating in this survey, which aims to analyze public opinion and attitudes towards the green movement. Your responses help me complete my master thesis in Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam. Please remember, that the aim of this research is to gain information on your honest and true opinion and thoughts! Thus, there are no right or wrong answers, just your genuine

opinion! This questionnaire is anonymous and will take approximately 5 minutes to complete. Please make sure to carefully read through the questions in order to respond in a credible way. There is no compensation for completing the survey. The data collected in this survey will be used only for academic purposes. All of the information and data provided in this survey will remain strictly confidential. On the following page you will be presented informed consent, which states that you have been informed sufficiently about the nature and aim of the research. Please read and approve it before starting your survey. Yours

sincerely, Karolina Kulewicz

Informed Consent: I hereby declare that I have been informed in a clear manner about the nature and method of the research, as described on the previous page. My questions have been answered satisfactorily. I agree, fully and voluntarily, to participate in this research study. With this, I retain the right to withdraw my consent, without having to give a reason for doing so. I am aware that I may halt my participation in the experiment at any time. If my research results are used in scientific publications or are made public in another way, this will be done such a way that my anonymity is completely safeguarded. My personal data will not be passed on to third parties without my express permission. If I wish to receive more information about the research, either now or in the future, I can contact Karolina Kulewicz (karolina.kulewicz@gmail.com). Should I have any complaints about this research, I can contact the designated member of the Ethics Committee representing the ASCoR, at the following address: ASCoR secretariat, Ethics Committee, University of Amsterdam,

Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam; 020-525 3680; ascor-secr-fmg@uva.nl. m I declare that I have read these statements and I agree to take part in this study

The following part of the survey will present you tables, on which you will be asked to evaluate to what extent do you agree or disagree with statements concerning fashion brands. Q1. The following brands present very high level of environmental friendliness.

Strongly Agree (1) Agree (2) Somewhat Agree (3) Neither Agree Nor Disagree (4) Somewhat Disagree (5) Disagree (6) Strongly Disagree (7) ZARA (1) m m m m m m m MANGO (2) m m m m m m m H&M (3) m m m m m m m

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Q2. The following brands present very high level of social responsibility. Strongly Agree (1) Agree (2) Somewhat Agree (3) Neither Agree nor Disagree (4) Somewhat Disagree (5) Disagree (6) Strongly Disagree (7) ZARA (1) m m m m m m m MANGO (2) m m m m m m m H&M (3) m m m m m m m

The following part of the survey will present you tables, on which you will be asked to evaluate to what extent do you agree or disagree with statements concerning your level of environmental knowledge and concern.

Q3. I feel strongly informed about the following issues.

Strongly Agree (1) Agree (2) Somewhat Agree (3) Neither Agree nor Disagree (4) Somewhat Disagree (5) Disagree (6) Strongly Disagree (7) Global Warming (1) m m m m m m m Ocean Pollution (2) m m m m m m m Potable Water Pollution (3) m m m m m m m Defrostation (4) m m m m m m m Alternative Sources of Energy (5) m m m m m m m

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