Beyond Eco-Labels: The Impact of Morality and Decision-Making Styles on Consumer Susceptibility to Deceptive Sustainability Claims

Abstract

As environmental awareness grows, so does the risk of deceptive marketing in sustainable retailing. Malevolent creativity manifests in the form of deceptive marketing strategies like greenwashing, where businesses mislead consumers about their products’ environmental impact to gain commercial advantage, in the name of sustainable retailing. The present study aims to explore the effect of morality, and consumer decision-making styles on consumer susceptible purchase responses when confronted with deceptive marketing techniques in sustainable retailing, and explores gender and locality-based differences in consumer purchase responses towards misleading marketing tactics among university students. Data acquisition involved a two-phase approach, wherein a preliminary questionnaire was administered to screen a relevant sample, followed by purposive sampling to collect data from 152 university going adults utilizing the Decision Style Questionnaire, the Moral Identity Questionnaire, and a self-constructed survey assessing Consumer Susceptibility to Deceptive Marketing Practices through their purchase responses. The data was analysed and the conclusion was drawn using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of this study revealed a significant impact of both morality and decision-making styles on consumer purchase response to deceptive marketing practices. This study emphasizes the significance of transparency and responsible consumer choices to promote consumer satisfaction by mitigating the impact of deceptive marketing.