Pseudo-environmentalist or true defender? How claim specificity and message framing influence consumers’ brand evaluation in green demarketing ads

This study examines how different green demarketing information types affect consumers’ brand evaluation and psychological processes. Based on three experiments conducted in China, our results reveal that specific claims have stronger effects on brand evaluations than vague claims. Additionally, specific (or vague) claims have a stronger indirect positive impact by stimulating environmental concern inferences and attitudes toward an ad when matched with loss (or gain) framing. Besides that, perceived environmental relevance of a product moderated this interaction effect, with specific claims using loss framing being more appropriate for high environmental relevance products, while low environmental relevance products are more appropriate for vague claims using gain framing. Therefore, green demarketing may significantly influence establishment of a favorable brand reputation and provide theoretical support for selecting and maximizing green demarketing strategies in the future.