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Article

Green Social Media Campaigns: Influencing Consumers’ Attitudes and Behaviors

by
Rakhshan Ummar
1,
Kanwal Shaheen
2,
Iram Bashir
2,
Junaid Ul Haq
3,* and
Mark A. Bonn
4
1
Department of Management Sciences, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
2
Department of Management Sciences, Government College Women University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
3
Faculty of Management Sciences, Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
4
Dedman College of Hospitality & Tourism Management (Ret.), Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 12932; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712932
Submission received: 26 June 2023 / Revised: 10 August 2023 / Accepted: 24 August 2023 / Published: 27 August 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rebuilding Sustainable Global Tourism after COVID-19)
Browse Figures
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

:
The main aim of this research was to shed light on the influence of social media campaigns on consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism, aligning with sustainable consumer behavior. However, the prior literature explored the campaign characteristics and perceived usefulness of attitudes toward green consumption that translate into green consumer behavior. Data were collected from four hundred social media users, and the confirmatory factor was used to measure their reliability and validity. Hypotheses were measured through structural equation modeling. This research suggested that managers should consider campaign characteristics such as informativeness and persuasiveness to develop positive attitudes toward green tourism. Moreover, researchers should focus on social media campaign characteristics and perceived usefulness as antecedents of consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism.

1. Introduction

Globalization and market expansion pose a significant challenge for organizations to remain competitive and operate successfully. To attract and retain consumers, organizations are increasingly reusing social media (SM) platforms and environmentally friendly approaches [1]. Being environmentally friendly is a way to influence green consumer behavior and achieve organizational goals [2]. Because the tourism industry represents one of the most significant business sectors on a global scale, it has a unique opportunity to promote sustainable (green) behaviors to the traveling public via SM platforms. Many countries such as the UK, USA, Malaysia, Turkey, and Thailand enjoy billions of dollars in economic value generated from tourism [3]. However, to remain highly competitive, destinations must continue to integrate different SM platforms to reach their desired tourism segments. Moreover, within the destination, some tourism-oriented businesses (hotels, resorts, foodservice, clubs, natural resource areas, etc.), employ green advertising on their social media pages to increase their brand as one that adheres to sustainable travel practices. At any moment, environmental issues can attract attention from various sources that may affect green consumer behavior [4], which includes recycling, repurchasing, and reusing products [5]. Research has shown that green practices help brands capture more market share, as they influence consumers’ attitudes toward green, sustainable consumption [2]. Prior research [6,7] has identified consumers’ attitudes as the forerunners of green consumer behavior. Furthermore, they have been proven to be influenced by external stimuli, such as those represented within sustainably oriented marketing campaigns [8]. In general, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns is determined by their informativeness and persuasiveness [9], which can inspire consumers’ attitudes toward decision-making. Social media campaigns also possess these two major characteristics that influence consumers’ attitudes toward green behavior. The concept of green consumption is designed to enhance consumers’ attitudes toward the sustainable aspects of brands for marketing purposes. Research has shown that consumers tend to purchase more environmentally friendly products and services from organizations that practice online green marketing and promote sustainability through environmental awareness [6,7]. The perceived usefulness of a product or service is a significant factor that influences consumer behavioral outcomes [10], and consumers evaluate green social media campaigns in terms of the level of product or brand usefulness within the context of tourism destination marketing. Thus, perceived usefulness can be an antecedent of consumers’ attitudes toward green consumption. Additionally, environmental awareness regulates green consumer behavior [11], and consumers’ attitude is an antecedent of green consumer behavior [12]. Therefore, environmental concerns, which include perceptions of brand sustainability, may interact with the relationship between consumers’ attitudes and their antecedents. This highlights the importance for brand marketing professionals to understand the influence that green brand campaigns involving sustainable travel practices have upon social media platforms and green consumer behavior.
Although prior research conducted on green brand campaigns has identified its influence upon consumers’ attitudes toward sustainable packaging [13,14] and conventional green advertising in the product sector [3,15], there is a dearth of research addressing the impact of green campaigns on social media platforms in the service industry and how they influence consumers’ behavior regarding their green, sustainable practices. Additionally, while many studies have examined the influence of persuasiveness and informativeness on green consumer behavior, including brand identification [16], brand image [17], and customer well-being [18], research has yet to explore the influence of persuasiveness, informativeness, and perceived usefulness of brand social media campaigns on developing positive attitudes toward green and sustainable consumption, in an effort to elicit positive consumer reactions. Several studies have investigated the influence of consumer awareness in various scenarios, including online selling [19], brand endorsements [20], online advertising [21], and fake reviews [22], but none has examined this concept within the context of online brand campaigns that focus on green and sustainable behaviors. Therefore, there is a need to identify the interaction effect of consumer awareness between online campaign characteristics and consumers’ attitudes toward sustainable outcomes.
This present research aimed to address these gaps. First, this research aimed to investigate the influence of online green brand campaign characteristics (persuasiveness, informativeness, and perceived usefulness) on consumers’ attitudes toward sustainable (green) consumption. Second, this research aimed to examine the influence of consumers’ attitudes toward green consumption on their behaviors associated with sustainable practices, including repurchasing, reusing, and recycling. Third, this research aimed to illustrate the moderating influence of consumer awareness on the relationship between social media green campaign characteristics (persuasiveness, informativeness, and perceived usefulness) and consumers’ attitudes.
This research represents both practical and theoretical contributions to the current body of existing information. From a practical standpoint, these research findings will assist destination managers in developing effective social media campaigns oriented toward tourists and their sustainable behaviors. The findings document that message characteristics, such as persuasiveness, informativeness, and perceived usefulness, are integral components of concepts related to green characteristics. This research also documents that consumers’ attitudes toward these characteristics can affect a campaign’s success on a brand’s social media platform. Additionally, this research highlights the importance of consumer awareness in marketing and the need for marketers to be mindful of consumer awareness when developing social media campaigns. From a theoretical standpoint, this research makes several contributions. First, its findings shed light on the impact of campaign characteristics, such as persuasiveness, informativeness, and perceived usefulness, on consumers’ attitudes toward green consumption. Second, these study findings illustrate that consumers’ attitudes are antecedents to green consumer behaviors, such as repurchasing, reusing, and recycling. Furthermore, this research emphasizes that consumer awareness is an integral construct that influences consumers’ perceptions of sustainably promoted brands.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Theoretical Background

Theory of Planned Behavior and Theory of Reasoned Action

When discussing pro-environmental behavior in humans, researchers and managers often focus on specific behaviors such as water conservation, recycling, reuse, energy consumption (reduction), transportation usage, and avoiding disposable products [23]. These behaviors have led researchers and policymakers to develop environmentally friendly products and services. In the past, research in environmental psychology, social behavior, and travel behavior have relied extensively on the Theory of Planned Behavior [24] and the Theory of Reasoned Action [25] as conceptual frameworks for explaining pro-environmental behavior among consumers [26] within the context of the tourism industry. These theories have demonstrated strong predictive capabilities across a wide range of domains.
The Theory of Planned Behavior is a social cognitive model that has been widely applied within the marketing and consumer behavior literature to understand consumer purchase decisions and their antecedents [27]. Consumers’ attitude is particularly important within the context of environmentally friendly products and services due to the sustainable consequences specific to travel-destination areas [28].
According to the Theory of Reasoned Action, an individual’s behavior is based on external stimuli or individual attitudes. However, these are not the only factors that influence consumers’ attitudes. In the context of advertising, researchers [7] have highlighted numerous factors that stimulate consumers’ attitudes, such as advertisement characteristics and components, including visuals and information quality [8]. Consumers rely on the information provided by organizations in their advertisements to distinguish environmentally friendly products from conventional products and to regulate their attitudes for the benefit of environmental sustainability [29]. External stimuli can shape consumers’ attitudes toward environmental advertising. In terms of environmental campaigns, characteristics such as persuasiveness and informativeness can influence consumers’ attitudes toward sustainable consumption [30].

2.2. Sustainable Marketing

The concept of sustainable marketing emerged in the early 1970s in the United States, with Reference [31] proposing his theory of responsible consumption. Other early contributions to the field include the concept of ecological marketing [32] and the idea of the environmentally concerned consumers [33]. These early theories of planned behavior focused on issues such as consumption and the pollution related to automobiles. However, the concept expanded to include green advertising and labeling [34], sustainable consumer behavior [35], and social desirability and consumer responses [36]. More recently, there has been debate about sustainable food consumption [37]. However, this present research attempted to identify the influence of sustainable marketing on the tourism industry.
The previous marketing literature has mainly focused on conventional media and conventional consumer behaviors and purchase decisions, with limited research on the influence of social media campaigns on sustainable consumer behavior and decision-making. This current research aimed to explore the characteristics of social media campaigns, such as informativeness, persuasiveness, and perceived usefulness of the product, and their impact on consumers’ attitudes, such as cognition and affection. Additionally, this study examined how these consumers’ attitudes affect green buying decisions related to product reusage, repurchasing, and recycling, Figure 1 presents the proposed conceptual framework.

2.3. Hypotheses Construction

2.3.1. Green Campaign Characteristics and Consumers’ Attitudes toward Green Tourism Advertising

The success of an advertising campaign or message depends on the information provided by the sender [37]. Within the context of advertising, the information and visuals are the most influential aspects that determine consumers’ attitudes toward the advertisement [7]. However, these aspects can be better understood by distinguishing between different types of advertising and campaigns in general terms [38]. Conventional campaigns and, specifically, social media campaigns possess certain characteristics, including informativeness, visibility, and persuasiveness [39,40]. These characteristics influence the level of attraction that consumers have toward the campaign or message related to the product [10]. Informativeness and persuasiveness are the core aspects of an advertising campaign that help to achieve desired results in terms of awareness, attitude toward the advertisement, and trust [41]. However, research shows that consumers’ attitudes are not solely based on informativeness and persuasiveness but also involve cognition and affection toward the product or brand [5]. Therefore, this present research hypothesized that campaign characteristics are the antecedents of consumers’ attitudes specific to green tourism.
H1a. 
The green-campaign characteristic informativeness has a positive impact on consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism.
H1b. 
The green-campaign characteristic persuasiveness has a positive impact on consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism.

2.3.2. Perceived Usefulness and Consumers’ Attitudes toward Green Tourism

Perceived usefulness refers to a consumer’s perception of a product’s usability or service attainment [42]. Studies suggest that consumers prefer products that are beneficial to them [43]. The research documents that various tourist destinations have been shown to provide services that are less useful, resulting in lower visitor numbers. Thus, destination managers must realize that consumers evaluate services based on their usefulness [44]. Research has identified perceived usefulness as a crucial factor in shaping consumer behavior [45]. Green consumer behavior is influenced by attitudes toward brands, organizations, and services [42]. Additionally, perceived usefulness governs consumer behavior, and consumer behavior is directly proportional to consumers’ attitudes [46]. Therefore, an indirect relationship exists between perceived usefulness and attitudes toward green products. This present research aimed to establish a link between perceived usefulness and attitudes toward green tourism. Thus, we present the following hypothesis:
H2. 
Perceived usefulness has a positive impact on consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism.

2.3.3. Consumers’ Attitude toward Green Tourism and Green Consumer Behavior

Attitudes toward green services refer to the cognition and affection that consumers have toward environmentally friendly products [47]. Consumers who are aware of environmental issues are more inclined to seek out eco-friendly services [48]. Similarly, environmentally friendly brands tend to have a larger market share than conventional brands [49]. Research conducted by Reference [50] has also shown that consumers are more interested in finding eco-friendly services. Furthermore, consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism influence such green, sustainable consumer behaviors as word-of-mouth and purchase intentions [51]. However, these behaviors represent only a few of many consumer behaviors. This present research aimed to conceptualize the development of green consumer behaviors, which include the use and purchase of green services based on consumers’ attitudes toward the green services that encompass cognition and affection. This research also aimed to establish a link between these constructs within the context of social media branded campaigns to increase the awareness of sustainable goods. Therefore, we constructed the following hypothesis:
H3. 
There is a positive relationship between consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism and consumers’ green behaviors.

2.3.4. Moderating Role of Environmental Concerns

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the environment [52], which strongly influences their decision-making process when it comes to purchase decisions related to eco-friendly products and services [53]. Research by the authors of References [6,54] has shown that environmental concerns increase consumers’ expectations and satisfaction with provided services they intend to buy or have bought in the past. However, consumers also evaluate the information provided by brands or organizations about their services [42,55]. Some researchers argue that environmental concerns affect the intensity of consumers’ attitudes. Likewise, some researchers [29,54,56] have justified environmental concerns as being a strong motivator of the stimuli that influence consumers to purchase a service.
The informativeness and persuasiveness of a green advertising campaign motivates consumers to purchase a particular service, such as those offered by tourism providers [56]. Research by Reference [50] has also shown that the informational and visual content of campaigns can influence consumers’ decisions and attitudes [7]. Recent research claims that environmentally aware consumers have a high level of positive attitudes toward green products [39]. Therefore, environmental concerns may interact with campaign characteristics (informativeness and persuasiveness) to influence consumers’ attitudes, which encompass cognition and affection.
Moreover, consumers evaluate services in terms of usability and effectiveness, and the perception of a product is a crucial aspect that determines their attitudes and purchase decisions [37]. However, the perceived usefulness of a product may be reduced if advertising campaigns fail to highlight it effectively. When environmentally concerned consumers fail to find any usability in an advertisement, it can lead to negative attitudes [57]. Conversely, if a social media campaign emphasizes the positive perceived usefulness of a product, it can develop positive attitudes toward green products. The present research aimed to identify the interaction effect between perceived usefulness and consumers’ attitudes toward green and sustainable consumer behavior. Therefore, the following hypotheses were constructed:
H4a. 
Environmental concerns moderate the relationship between campaign characteristics informativeness and consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism.
H4b. 
Environmental concerns moderate the relationship between the campaign characteristics persuasiveness and consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism.
H4c. 
Environmental concerns moderate the relationship between perceived usefulness and consumers’ attitudes toward green product tourism.

3. Methodology

3.1. Research Design

The researchers employed a projective technique (a technique which allows the respondents to express their true opinions) for data collection based on the methodology used by [7]. Initially, researchers identified brands that offer green campaigns on their social media platforms by using green and eco-friendly keywords. Two brands were randomly selected, and their go-green campaign content, including videos and graphic content, was displayed to social media (SM) users who were exposed to an online social media tourism link. This was conducted specifically following the COVID-19 pandemic to identify post-pandemic consumer behavior. Data were obtained by asking SM users to complete an online questionnaire.

3.2. Data Collection and Data Analytics

The researchers collected data from 400 mostly young respondents who indicated that they use social media platforms daily. The reason for selecting this age subset was that youth use social media more critically than older respondents. Furthermore, the data collection was based on the principle that data must be at least ten times their indicators, and the indicators are twenty-two [58]. A total of 500 questionnaires were initially distributed among the social media users. Forty-eight hours was established as the time frame for receiving responses. All responses received beyond the 48-hour timeline were deemed unusable. Thus, a total of 40 questionnaires were identified as being improperly completed (unusable), and another 60 questionnaires were deemed as non-responses. The research questionnaire was composed of three sections: (1) information about the research, (2) scales reflecting the study constructs, and (3) demographic information of respondents.
SPSS and AMOS were used as statistical software for data mining, normality measures, validity, reliability, and hypothesis testing. The normality of the data was checked using skewness and kurtosis measures. Validity measures, including discriminant convergent validity, and common method-bias measures were checked using Harmon’s single-factor analysis [59], and the quality of measurement was examined. Researchers analyzed the convergent and discriminant validity by using three factors. For reliability measures, composite reliability and Cronbach’s alpha were calculated, and all validity and reliability measures were performed with the help of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis in AMOS. Hypothesis testing was performed with the help of structural equation modeling in AMOS.

3.3. Scales and Measurements

The researchers used a five-point Likert scale for all construct measurements. The informativeness scale was adapted from [60]. The environmental-concern scale represented three items adapted from [54]. The scale measuring the attitude toward green marketing used six items adapted from [61,62], and the scale for green consumer behavior consisted of six items, which were adapted from [5]. The perceived-usefulness scale included four items adapted from [63]. All scale details are presented in Table 1.

4. Results

The demographic results indicated that 59% of all study respondents were males (236), while 41% were females (164). The ages of the respondents reflected three segments. A total of 40% of all respondents (n = 160) were between 16 and 20 years old, while 25% (n = 100) of all respondents were reportedly between 21 and 25 years old. A total of 30% of all respondents (n = 120) represented individuals between 26 and 30, and only a small percentage (n = 20) respondents belonged to the age group representing individuals 30 years and older. The education level of respondents was categorized into three groups, with 44.5% of all respondents indicating that they had earned diplomas from high school and bachelor’s degree programs (n = 178), followed by 44.3% who had obtained master’s degrees (n = 177). A total of 11.3% of all respondents indicated that they were enrolled in doctoral degree programs (n = 45). The frequency of SM usage was classified into three categories: sometimes (3.0%), often (9.8%), and daily (87.3%).

4.1. Reliability and Validity Measures

In addition to measuring the reliability and validity, analytical researchers also uses Herman’s common method bias to measure the variance. The author of Reference [59] proposed that when data are cross-sectional, there is a possibility of bias which can be observed through the common method bias test in SPSS. The results show that the percentage of the variance was 26.555%, which is less than 50%; this shows that the data have no bias and are appropriate for the further measures.
Validity measures were applied to check the quality of the research. Such measures express how accurate and answerable the method and measure are. In this context, the validity measures were checked by applying discriminant validity. Table 2 shows that correlations between the constructs and discriminant validity must be less than the value square root of AVE of each construct [45]; however, convergent validity depicts which factor is related to another factor in the given framework. In this regard, the convergent validity was assessed by testing the values of factor loadings, average variance extracted (AVE), and composite reliability (CR) [45]. The validity analysis was measured by reusing the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). In the present research, the measurement model was measured by reusing the good-model-fit indexes, and the results showed that the value of CMIN/DF was 2.031, GFI was 0.872, AGFI was 0.869, CFI was 0.930, NFI was 0.933, IFI was 0.913, TLI was 0.931, and RMSEA was 0.47. According to Hair et al. (2011), the value of CMIN/DF needs to be less than 3, so our CMIN/DF value was within the acceptable range. Moreover, the values of GFI, AGI, CFI, NFI, IFI, and TLI needed to be closer to 0.9, and all the given values were within the acceptable thresholds. The value of RMSEA needed to be less than 0.06, so our RMSEA value was also within the range of acceptability.
A Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed to check reliability and validity concerns. All the values of the model fit were exactly within the given ranges. The researchers analyzed the convergent and discriminant validity to examine the quality of measurement. The researchers also checked the convergent validity by using three factors: factor loadings, composite reliability (CR), and average variance extracted (AVE). The threshold was set to be 0.70 and above, which is considered the best threshold. Similarly, the indicators with a value of 0.40 or less were deleted during the analysis [58]. The deletion of these indicators caused an increase in the value of CR and AVE. Additionally, the outer loadings’ values needed to be equal to or above 0.60, and items below 0.50 were deleted. The value of the CR scores was greater than 0.70, and all AVE values were above 0.50. The value of Cronbach’s alpha needed to be greater than 0.70, which is given in Table 1.
Reliability measures are used to ensure the consistency of the construct being measured. This means that the chosen construct must accurately represent the desired goals. To measure reliability, the researchers used Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability, as well as factor loadings to assess the consistency of the indicators. Further details are provided in Table 1.
The CR measure reflects the validity of the constructs. The value of CR must be above 0.7, and all the values of the construct are above these thresholds. In addition, the value of the average variance extracted must be greater than 0.5 and all the values of the constructs were above this threshold. Thus, the results attained from the measure show the validity measure at their given thresholds. Table 2 presents the discriminant validity.

4.2. Hypothesis Testing

Structural equation modeling (SEM) reusing AMOS was employed for hypothesis testing. The researchers computed the listed variables and their dimensions to develop the hypothesis-testing model by following the guidelines recommended by [58] and conceptualized the p-value at 0.05 as the level of confidence. The details of the hypothesis testing are given in Table 3.
Regarding H1a, information content had a positive effect on green consumption (β = 0.179, t = 2.479); thus, the hypothesis was accepted because it satisfied the requirement for the p-value to not be less than 0.001. Similarly, for H1b, persuasiveness positively affected the attitude toward green marketing with (β = 0.179, t = 2.479); thus, this hypothesis was accepted because it has p-values less than 0.001. With respect to H2, perceived usefulness was proven to increase the consumer’s positive attitude toward green marketing (β = 0.278, t = 3.989), with a reported p-value < 0.001. Finally, for H3, the attitude toward green marketing behavior positively affected the consumer’s green behavior (β = 0.312, t = 4.211), thus accepting H3 with a p-value less than 0.001.

4.3. Moderation Analysis

The researchers applied the partial SEM to measure the moderation analysis in the AMOS by following the path of [7]. In addition, the measurement of moderations was conducted by partial SEM. The acceptance model threshold for measuring the hypothesis was 0.5; all hypotheses were accepted, and the results are given in Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4.

5. Discussion and Conclusions

This discussion section aims to provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between predictors and criteria. Regarding H1a, which suggests that the informativeness of a green campaign on social media has a positive impact on people’s attitude toward green tourism, the literature supports the idea that informativeness is the most influential aspect affecting attitudes [64]. Similarly, H1b, which suggests that persuasiveness has a positive influence on people’s attitude toward green tourism, is also supported by the prior literature [65].
In addition, H2 suggests that perceived usefulness has a positive influence on attitudes toward green consumption. This finding is in line with previous research that found perceived usefulness to be an antecedent of consumers’ attitudes [66,67]. Moreover, H3 suggests that the attitude toward green tourism has a positive influence on consumers’ green behaviors. This finding aligns with the previous literature that suggests that attitudes toward green, sustainable tourism practices affects consumer decision-making in terms of rebuying, recycling, and reusing [5,68,69].
Furthermore, H4a, H4b, and H4c suggest that environmental concerns strengthen the positive relationships between informativeness, persuasiveness, and perceived usefulness, respectively, and attitude toward green tourism. This indicates that if a campaign positively portrays informativeness or persuasiveness and consumers have a higher inclination toward environmental concerns, it will develop positive attitudes toward green tourism and increase their tendency toward green consumer behavior.

5.1. Implications

The practical implications of this research suggest that managers should focus on the informativeness and persuasiveness of green social media campaigns, as they are influential antecedents of consumers’ attitudes toward green, sustainable tourism behavior. Campaign developers and managers should also focus on the perceived usefulness of their tourism services, as this is an essential aspect of consumer evaluation in practical terms. Furthermore, managers need to pay attention to the attitudes of consumers while developing green social media campaigns to increase their desired goals. This research also suggests that tourism and destination managers must be aware of their consumers regarding their green and sustainable services offered to tourists to enhance their goals. In addition, more sustainable campaigns will increase green behaviors among visitors (repurchase of their services and recycling and reuse of products). Theoretically, this research suggests that advertisement characteristics play a crucial role in developing consumers’ attitudes toward green, sustainable tourism behavior. Researchers should consider the constructs of informativeness, persuasiveness, and environmental concern as significant factors in the development of positive consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism.

5.2. Conclusions, Limitations and Future Research

This study documents that informativeness, persuasiveness, perceived usefulness, and environmental concerns are important factors that positively influence consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism. This study’s results also suggest that managers should focus on these factors when developing green campaigns to increase positive consumer behaviors. In addition, green campaigns attract more consumers of tourism services compared to traditional tourism campaigns. Moreover, the use of green social media campaigns is more beneficial for organizations to assess those sustainable consumer behaviors.
However, as with all research studies, this study has some limitations that need to be discussed. First, this study was limited to the use of tourism campaign exposure. Future research should explore additional campaign characteristics and consumer knowledge about green campaigns in specific tourism-related services, such as lodging, attractions, foodservice, transportation, and other tourism-related businesses. Overall, this study highlights the importance of green campaigns in promoting eco-friendly consumer behaviors.
This research also recognizes several study limitations and suggests avenues for future research. The study focused on only two green campaign characteristics, so future research should include other characteristics, such as visuals. Most important, this research attained its data from young consumers (16-to-30 years of age). Thus, future research should consider older SM-user segments. The study also only applied environmental concern as the sole moderator, so future research should consider other relevant measures, such as consumer knowledge about green tourism industry campaigns. Future research should also evaluate other service products and industries. Moreover, future research should apply conventional campaigns and test the findings in more developed markets. Future research should also consider applying the study to different segments of the traveling public to assess their behaviors pertaining to green marketing campaigns and their behavioral outcomes.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, J.U.H.; Methodology, R.U. and K.S.; Validation, J.U.H.; Formal analysis, I.B.; Investigation, K.S.; Writing—original draft, R.U.; Writing—review & editing, M.A.B.; Visualization, I.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

The authors received no funding to conduct and publish this research.

Institutional Review Board Statement

All the participants were informed that their information would be used collectively and would be used only for research purposes. This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Department of Management Sciences, Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. Conceptual framework.
Figure 1. Conceptual framework.
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Figure 2. Representation of the moderating role of environmental awareness between the informativeness of a green advertisement and attitude toward green tourism (ST = 0.213 p = >0.001). This shows that environmental concerns strengthen the positive relationship between informativeness and attitude toward the green tourism.
Figure 2. Representation of the moderating role of environmental awareness between the informativeness of a green advertisement and attitude toward green tourism (ST = 0.213 p = >0.001). This shows that environmental concerns strengthen the positive relationship between informativeness and attitude toward the green tourism.
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Figure 3. Depiction of the interacting role of environmental concerns between the relation among persuasiveness and attitude toward green tourism (ST = 0.190, p = >0.001). The results show that environmental concerns strengthen the positive relationship between persuasiveness and attitude toward green tourism.
Figure 3. Depiction of the interacting role of environmental concerns between the relation among persuasiveness and attitude toward green tourism (ST = 0.190, p = >0.001). The results show that environmental concerns strengthen the positive relationship between persuasiveness and attitude toward green tourism.
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Figure 4. Representation of the moderating role of environmental concerns between perceived usefulness and attitude toward green tourism (ST = 0.289 p = >0.001). This illustrates that environmental concerns strengthen the positive relationship between perceived usefulness and attitude toward green tourism.
Figure 4. Representation of the moderating role of environmental concerns between perceived usefulness and attitude toward green tourism (ST = 0.289 p = >0.001). This illustrates that environmental concerns strengthen the positive relationship between perceived usefulness and attitude toward green tourism.
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Table 1. Convergent validity and reliability.
Table 1. Convergent validity and reliability.
VariableItemsNarrationFLCRALPHAAVE
InformativenessINF1Social media advertisement is a good source of product information.0.7820.9520.9480.666
INF2Social media advertisement supplies relevant product information.0.750
INF3Social media advertisements provide timely information.0.638
INF4Social media advertisement is a good source of up-to-date product information.0.748
Environmental
Concerns		EC1I am extremely worried about the state of the world’s environment and what it will mean for my future.0.7390.8640.8590.567
EC2When humans interfere with nature, it often produces disastrous consequences.0.785
EC3Mankind is severely abusing the environment(R).0.733
Attitude toward
Green tourism		AD1I feel good about buying tourism plans which are less damaging to the environment.0.6930.9440.9400.706
AD2I am willing to make a special effort to buy tourism products which are made from recycled materials.0.790
AD3I will prefer environmentally friendly tourism products over non-environmentally friendly tourism products in the case that the product quality is similar.0.802
AD4I am willing to make a special effort to buy chemicals such as detergents and cleaning solutions that are environmentally friendly. 0.815
AD5Products labeled as ‘environmentally safe’ or ‘ecological’ are just to attract and sell.0.814
AD6Most of the environmental claims made by the marketers are confusing.0.824
Consumer Green BehaviorCGB1I always use disposable tableware during trips.0.8290.9500.9470.552
CGB2I try to buy high-efficiency rechargeable lights to save energy for trips.0.875
CGB3I try to buy energy-efficient appliances.0.823
CGB4I always reuse paper bags or plastic bags during trips.0.783
CGB5I always reuse the water on my trips.0.795
Perceived UsefulnessPU1Using a social media tourism service is an efficient way to plan my trip.0.7990.9370.9330.747
PU2Using a social media platform makes my life easier.0.812
PU3Overall, using a social media app is a useful way to plan a trip.0.819
PU4It is easy to find what I want through social media.0.854
Note: FL stands for factor loading, AVE stands for average variance extracted, CR stands for composite reliability, and ALPHA is Cronbach’s alpha.
Table 2. Discriminant validity.
Table 2. Discriminant validity.
CRAVEINFPUECADCGB
Informativeness0.9520.6660.816
Perceived usefulness0.9370.7470.0220.864
Environmental concerns0.8640.5670.1310.0800.753
Attitude toward green tourism0.9440.7060.2870.0940.1710.840
Customer’s green behavior0.9500.5520.2000.0040.0590.0920.743
Note: CR = composite reliability; AVE = average variance extracted. All of the bold diagonal values are the square root of the AVE.
Table 3. Hypothesis testing.
Table 3. Hypothesis testing.
SRRelationSDT Valuep-ValueAccepted/
Not Accepted
H1aInformation content → attitude toward green tourism0.1792.4790.001Accepted
H1bPersuasiveness → attitude toward green tourism0.2143.6870.001Accepted
H2Perceived usefulness → attitude toward green tourism0.2783.9890.001Accepted
H3Attitude toward green tourism → consumer’s green behavior0.3124.2110.001Accepted
Note: SD stands for the standardized estimates which display the intensity of the influence in a hypothesis.
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Ummar, R.; Shaheen, K.; Bashir, I.; Ul Haq, J.; Bonn, M.A. Green Social Media Campaigns: Influencing Consumers’ Attitudes and Behaviors. Sustainability 2023, 15, 12932. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712932

AMA Style

Ummar R, Shaheen K, Bashir I, Ul Haq J, Bonn MA. Green Social Media Campaigns: Influencing Consumers’ Attitudes and Behaviors. Sustainability. 2023; 15(17):12932. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712932

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ummar, Rakhshan, Kanwal Shaheen, Iram Bashir, Junaid Ul Haq, and Mark A. Bonn. 2023. "Green Social Media Campaigns: Influencing Consumers’ Attitudes and Behaviors" Sustainability 15, no. 17: 12932. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712932

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