Green, Healthy, or Cheap? Exploring How Claim Types Influence Purchase Intention

In recent years, there has been growing interest in sustainable consumption and the role of advertising in influencing consumer behavior. While surveys show increasing concern among consumers about environmental and health-related issues, a significant intention-behavior gap persists between stated intentions and actual purchasing decisions. This study explores whether advertising claims emphasizing health, environmental impact, product quality, or price influence consumers' purchase intentions for food products, and whether this relationship is moderated by individual differences in health awareness, environmental awareness, and perceived quality. To investigate these relationships, a between-subjects experimental design was employed with 234 participants, each randomly assigned to view one of four food advertisements featuring a distinct claim type. Participants completed validated scales measuring purchase intention, health awareness, environmental awareness, and perceived product quality. Manipulation checks ensured participants' attention and correct identification of the stimuli. Data analysis was performed via a regression. The study found that not all types of advertising claims are equally effective in encouraging consumers to buy food products. While health, environmental, and quality claims did not generally lead to higher purchase intention than price-related claims, the results showed that context matters. In particular, environmental claims were more persuasive among consumers who were already environmentally aware. Additionally, the perceived quality of a product strongly influenced people's willingness to purchase it, regardless of the claim shown. These findings suggest that tailoring marketing messages to match consumers' existing values and perceptions can improve the impact of sustainability-focused advertising. No significant moderating effects were found for health awareness. These findings contribute to the literature by reinforcing the importance of consumer segmentation in sustainable marketing strategies. While general claim effectiveness may be limited, environmental claims appear more persuasive among environmentally conscious consumers. From a practical perspective, this suggests that targeted messaging strategies-tailored to consumers' values and awareness levels-may be more effective in encouraging sustainable consumption. However, the study also notes several limitations, including the use of a fictional product, a one-time advertisement exposure, and a median-split method for categorizing awareness levels, which may reduce ecological validity and generalizability. Future research should test these findings in more realistic environments, potentially through longitudinal or field experiments that more closely mimic actual advertising exposure and consumer decision-making processes.