Consumer Trust and Purchase Intentions in Response to Authentic versus Green-washed Claims for Household Cleaning Products in Urban India

Emmanuel, Dilju (2025) Consumer Trust and Purchase Intentions in Response to Authentic versus Green-washed Claims for Household Cleaning Products in Urban India. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

This dissertation explores how Indian urban consumers understand authenticity cues within green advertisements plus how these understandings affect trust plus purchase intentions regarding household cleaners. Sustainability is a dominating factor in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) marketing. Because of all this, brands do increasingly use the eco-labels and nature-inspired imagery to make environmental claims. Consumer trust faces a critical challenge because of the rise of greenwashing where brands misrepresent or exaggerate their credentials. Within an underregulated Indian market, this study explores all of the psychological, cultural, and contextual processes. Consumers distinguish between authentic and misleading green claims by way of these processes.

The research uses a qualitative interpretivist design based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) and Signalling Theory (Spence, 1973). In Mumbai and Bengaluru, consumers plus marketing professionals were interviewed thirty times via semi-structured interviews analysed through Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis. Emerging were five key themes including consumer-led verification strategies, practical barriers' impact on perceived control, social norms' influence, greenwashing's emotional plus behavioural fallout, and verifiable authenticity signals' role.

Findings reveal that trust links authenticity cues to green purchase intention also acts as a central mediator. Credible signals such as third-party certifications together with transparent ingredients in addition to performance guarantees make consumers more likely to act. Conversely, vague low-cost signals generate scepticism especially among digitally literate or experienced consumers. The study integrates trust as a cross-cutting construct refining TPB and improving Signalling Theory through introduction of a dual-axis model using signal cost and delivery medium credibility.

Research offers a theoretical understanding into sustainable consumer behaviour in the Global South. Actionable recommendations are also provided toward ethical marketing, regulatory reform, and digital consumer empowerment. It underscores the idea that authenticity must not merely be declared within a trust-deficit landscape. Instead, authenticity must be demonstrated now.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Supervisors:	Name Email Batishcheva, Maria UNSPECIFIED
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing > Consumer Behaviour G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences > Environment H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Specific Industries > Retail Industry
Divisions:	School of Business (- 2025) > Master of Science in Marketing
Depositing User:	Ciara O'Brien
Date Deposited:	14 Feb 2026 11:23
Last Modified:	14 Feb 2026 11:23
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/9140

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