“I am a sceptic because I want to know”: demystifying consumers’ scepticism and purchase intentions of green aesthetic products via dispositional attribution traits

Increasing concerns over misleading or ambiguous environmental claims have heightened consumer doubt about green products, commonly referred to as green scepticism. While prior research has examined this phenomenon, limited attention has been given to its antecedents, underlying motives, and behavioural consequences within an integrated framework. Drawing on attribution theory, this study examines how attribution-based cues shape intrinsic and extrinsic motives, which in turn influence green scepticism and purchase intention, while also investigating the moderating role of consumers’ dispositional traits, namely information seeking and environmental knowledge. Data were collected from 205 Malaysian consumers and analysed using Partial Least Squares path modelling. The results show that green scepticism significantly reduces purchase intention. Extrinsic motives strongly increase scepticism, whereas intrinsic motives have a weaker mitigating effect, revealing an asymmetric attributional mechanism. In addition, information seeking weakens the negative relationship between scepticism and purchase intention, while environmental knowledge does not demonstrate a significant moderating effect. Overall, the findings advance understanding of green scepticism by offering an integrated attributional perspective and provide insights for more effective green marketing strategies.