Original title: From sustainability signals to brand attitudes: the roles of locus of control, brand activism beliefs, brand genuineness, and trust among generation Z consumers
Researchers showed Generation Z participants either a green or a conventional brand website. People who felt more control over their lives reacted more positively to the green website, seeing the brand as more genuine and trustworthy. Stronger beliefs that brands should take action on social issues also went with seeing sustainability-focused brands as genuine. These impressions shaped brand attitudes, but the study found no significant effect on purchase intention.
Imagine choosing a meal after reading a restaurant’s menu. A claim that the ingredients are responsibly sourced might sound good, but you may doubt it if the restaurant does not seem sincere. In this paper, the menu’s claim stands for a website’s sustainability message, and believing the restaurant’s claim stands for seeing the brand as genuine and trustworthy. Those impressions can improve how you feel about the restaurant without changing what you plan to order.
For organizations communicating environmental commitments online, a greener message alone may not be enough. Gen Z consumers’ sense of whether the brand is genuine—and their own beliefs about personal control and brand activism—shape their brand evaluations, while positive attitudes do not necessarily lead to stronger purchase intentions.
The abstract reports no significant effect on purchase intention, so the study does not show that green website messages lead Gen Z consumers to intend to buy. It does not provide details about the sample size, study setting beyond the website experiment, or how long the effects last.
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From sustainability signals to brand attitudes: the roles of locus of control, brand activism beliefs, brand genuineness, and trust among generation Z consumers — Polyxeni Jenny Palla, Evangelia Palla, Dimitris Drossos — Frontiers in Communication — doi:10.3389/fcomm.2026.1904390
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.