Not every green label looks good: The effect of customer’s environment involvement on perception of carbon labeling

Abstract

Growing interests in carbon labeling among corporations and consumers are observed in the marketplace. However, extant research is limited to the effectiveness of carbon label design in conveying carbon-related information. This research investigates the impact of carbon labeling on consumer perceptions, specifically focusing on the influence of product type and consumers’ environment involvement. The survey experiment is conducted using cheesecake as a representative of vice (rich, authentic) and virtue (healthy, low-fat) products. The result shows that the level of environment involvement moderates the effect of carbon labels on each product type. Individuals with high environment involvement respond negatively to carbon-labeled products when a carbon label is attached to a vice product. These findings suggest that the mismatch of carbon labels with pleasure-oriented products may hinder their positive impact on environmentally engaged individuals. By enhancing our understanding of consumer responses to carbon labels, this research contributes to the limited body of knowledge on carbon label’s effectiveness with important implications for companies and policymakers.