Sustainable brand strategies: How green brand image, retail experience, and traceability influence green food loyalty

Developing trustworthy green food markets remains a significant challenge in emerging economies. It is particularly crucial to understand how sustainability indicators convert into lasting consumer loyalty. This study examines the influence of key sustainability signals, such as green brand image, eco-friendly retail experience, food quality, and origin traceability, on green food brand loyalty, mediated by three psychological factors: green satisfaction, trust, and perceived value. The research combines Signaling Theory, the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) framework, Image Congruity theory, and the Theory of Planned Behavior to explain how external sustainability features affect internal consumer assessments and loyalty. Based on survey data from 471 consumers in Ho Chi Minh City, analyzed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), findings show that green trust is the most significant predictor of brand loyalty, followed by green perceived value, while green satisfaction has no direct significant effect. Mediation analysis reveals that green trust is the main mechanism linking sustainability signals to loyalty. These results emphasize the importance of credibility and risk mitigation in markets with institutional uncertainty and information asymmetry. The study advances the literature by clarifying how sustainability signals lead to brand loyalty and provides empirical evidence from an emerging market. It also offers practical guidance for policymakers and practitioners to boost consumer confidence through credible eco-certifications, transparent communication, and effective traceability systems.