The Effect of Self-Congruence on Perceived Green Claims’ Authenticity and Perceived Greenwashing: The Case of EasyJet’s CO2 Promise

ABSTRACT In light of the increasing demand for environmentally friendly products and services, companies have expanded their green marketing activities, such as EasyJet in November 2019 with its promise to offset the carbon emissions of all flights. However, green claims entail the risk of being judged by customers as greenwashing. Given that previous research has largely neglected customer characteristics concerning the perception of greenwashing, this paper investigates the effects of customers’ self-concepts on the evaluation process of EasyJet’s green marketing efforts. The presented moderated mediation model is based on self-congruence theory as well as cognitive dissonance theory and is empirically tested. The findings show that ideal self-congruence increases the perception of authenticity, which in turn functions as an inhibitor of greenwashing. However, this effect depends on customers’ actual self-congruence. Overall, this study presents a model that strengthens and deepens the understanding of customers’ evaluation processes regarding companies’ green marketing efforts and provides marketers with advice to enhance the effectiveness of green claims.