Analysis of the Effect of Green Packaging on Attracting and Retaining Environmentally Friendly Customers with the Mediating role of Green Brand Image

Increasing the level of environmental knowledge of consumers and their level of concern to-wards the environment and green brands are among the important factors that have been con-sidered in the discussion of consumer behavior in recent years. Marketing managers also try to attract customers' attention to their green products and brands in order to succeed in selling and marketing their products. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of in-vestigating the effect of green packaging on attracting and retaining environmentally friendly customers with the mediating role of green brand image. In terms of the purpose of the research, the type of applied research, the method of collecting descriptive data is of the correlation type. The statistical population of this research is the students of University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, 373 of them were selected as a sample by referring to Morgan's table and using the available sampling method. The required data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed based on the structural equation modeling method and using SPSS and Smart PLS software. The results of the research showed that green packaging has a positive and significant effect on attracting and retaining environmentally friendly customers as well as the image of the green brand. On the other hand, the image of the green brand has a positive and significant effect on attracting and retaining environmentally friendly customers. Finally, green brand image acts as a mediating factor in the relationship between green packaging and attracting and retaining environmentally friendly customers.