Are explicit or implicit appeals more credible? The congruence effects of green advertising appeals and product category on consumers' evaluation

Consumers sometimes fail to follow with green consumption behaviour, despite claiming they favour products with environmental benefits. One important reason behind the phenomenon is the perceived performance liability associated with green products since consumers perceive them to be less effective than conventional alternatives. The current research draws on consumers' lay beliefs regarding environmental attributes to shed light on the interaction of green advertising appeals that differ in environmental prominence (i.e., explicit appeals and implicit appeals) and product category on consumer evaluation. Using three experimental studies, the results show that explicit green appeals are more effective for the gentleness products, under which consumers have higher expectations about product greenness, whereas implicit green appeals are more effective for strength products, under which consumers have concerns about the product performance. Furthermore, perceived advertisement credibility mediates the congruence effect on consumer evaluation. Green skepticism further moderates the congruence effect as well as the mediation effect of perceived advertisement credibility. The findings enrich understandings of how green advertising strategies impact consumer evaluation and supply practical implications for green product promotion.