Youyou Li
Xiaoya Chen*- Department of Business Administration, Dongshin University, Naju-si, Republic of Korea
This study aims to explore how corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices influence consumers’ purchase intention of green food through the mediating mechanism of brand trust. Drawing on signaling theory and stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) theory, this research develops a conceptual model illustrating the relationships among ESG practices, brand trust, and purchase intention. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to empirically test the model based on survey data collected from Chinese consumers. The findings indicate that environmental, social, and governance dimensions of ESG practices significantly and positively influence brand trust; brand trust, in turn, positively affects consumers’ purchase intention. Moreover, brand trust partially mediates the relationship between each ESG dimension and consumers’ purchase intention. This study clarifies the critical psychological role of brand trust linking ESG practices and consumer behavior, enriching the theoretical understanding of ESG research within consumer behavior literature, and providing actionable managerial insights for green food enterprises on enhancing consumers’ brand trust and purchase intention through effective ESG practices.
1 Introduction
The global food industry is currently confronting multiple challenges, including resource scarcity, ecological degradation, and evolving consumer demands, making sustainable transformation a widely recognized imperative (De Matteis et al., 2024; Latino et al., 2024). In recent years, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices have emerged as essential strategic pathways for food enterprises to achieve sustainable development (Lanzalonga et al., 2025). With consumers becoming increasingly attentive to food companies’ environmental impact, social equity, and governance transparency, a growing number of enterprises have integrated ESG principles into their management operations and brand strategies to respond effectively to consumer expectations and strengthen their market competitiveness (Lee and Chang, 2024).
Within the context of rapid expansion in the green food market, how enterprises effectively communicate ESG-related information and enhance consumers’ purchase intentions has become a key issue for realizing sustainability in the food sector. However, consumers often encounter significant uncertainty and perceived risks in making decisions about green food purchases due to prevailing market information asymmetry and high product homogeneity (Zhao et al., 2024). Consequently, brand trust, as a crucial psychological mechanism, has the potential to significantly reduce consumers’ perceived risks and enhance their intentions toward green purchasing (Song et al., 2024; Tran, 2023). Given this context, an in-depth exploration of how corporate ESG practices reinforce consumers’ brand trust, subsequently driving their green food purchase intentions, holds both theoretical value and practical significance for sustainable industry development.
Although existing research has preliminarily explored the relationships between ESG practices and consumer behavior, several theoretical gaps remain. First, previous ESG research has predominantly concentrated on macro-level corporate performance and financial outcomes (Bai et al., 2025; Pham et al., 2025), while systematic analyses of how ESG practices influence consumer purchasing decisions from the consumer’s perspective are still insufficient. Second, despite brand trust having been widely validated as a critical mediating mechanism linking corporate responsibility practices and consumer behaviors (Huo et al., 2022; Goyal and Goyal, 2021), few studies have adequately investigated brand trust as a mediator specifically between ESG practices and consumer behavior. Furthermore, prior studies have generally considered ESG practices as a unified construct, overlooking the potentially differentiated impacts of environmental, social, and governance dimensions on consumer behavior (Yu et al., 2025). Therefore, clarifying how each ESG dimension separately affects brand trust and subsequently influences consumers’ purchase intentions is essential for advancing the sustainable transformation of the food industry.
Drawing upon signaling theory and stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) theory, this study proposes a theoretical model of “corporate ESG practices → brand trust → consumers’ green food purchase intention” and empirically tests this model using survey data collected from Chinese consumers. The research aims to clarify the specific pathways through which the three ESG dimensions influence consumers’ brand trust and purchase intentions. This study not only enriches theoretical insights into ESG practices within sustainable consumption literature but also provides practical guidance for green food enterprises seeking to optimize their brand communication strategies and effectively enhance brand trust and consumer purchase intentions.
2 Literature review and hypothesis development
2.1 ESG
The concept of ESG originated from the field of socially responsible investment, highlighting corporate performance and sustainable development potential across environmental, social, and governance dimensions (Galbreath, 2013; Gillan et al., 2021). With the increasing prominence of sustainable development principles and the influence of capital markets, ESG has evolved from an initial investment evaluation tool into an important theoretical framework for assessing overall corporate social responsibility performance, widely applied in management, finance, and consumer behavior research (Gao and Zhang, 2025; Zou et al., 2025).
Specifically, the environmental dimension of ESG covers corporate responsibility practices related to resource utilization, ecological protection, pollution prevention, and carbon emission control. The social dimension emphasizes companies’ practices regarding labor and consumer rights, community relations, and social welfare initiatives. The governance dimension focuses primarily on compliance with laws and regulations, stakeholder rights protection, and anti-corruption practices (Lee, 2024; Puriwat and Tripopsakul, 2023). In recent years, ESG has increasingly become a crucial indicator for evaluating enterprises’ long-term value creation capability and social responsibility performance, garnering significant attention from both academia and industry (Wong et al., 2021).
Existing research has predominantly concentrated on the effects of ESG performance on corporate financial outcomes, generally concluding that superior ESG performance significantly reduces corporate risk and enhances long-term financial performance and market value (Yang et al., 2025). Simultaneously, there has been growing scholarly interest in examining ESG within brand management and consumer behavior contexts. Recent studies have demonstrated that effective corporate ESG practices can significantly improve consumers’ brand attitudes and preferences, fostering stronger brand identification and emotional attachment among consumers (Lah et al., 2025). However, compared with abundant evidence in the financial and investment domains, the mechanisms and pathways through which ESG practices influence consumer behavior remain relatively underexplored, particularly lacking empirical examination and deep analysis within specific consumption contexts, such as green food.
Moreover, most existing ESG studies have tended to aggregate the environmental, social, and governance dimensions into a single overall construct or have treated them collectively (Chou et al., 2024; Yu et al., 2025). However, there may be significant differences in the specific mechanisms and intensity through which these three ESG dimensions influence consumer decisions (Yun et al., 2024). For instance, the environmental dimension may influence consumers’ purchase intentions predominantly through enhancing a company’s eco-friendly image, while the social and governance dimensions might play more prominent roles by strengthening consumers’ psychological identification with the brand. Thus, separately examining the differentiated effects of ESG’s three dimensions in consumer decision-making processes is critical for a more refined understanding and application of ESG strategies.
2.2 Brand trust
Brand trust, rooted originally in social psychology trust theory, refers to a psychological state developed through consumers’ interactions with a brand. It reflects consumers’ willingness, based on past experiences and brand performance, to believe that the brand will fulfill its promises and not act against consumer interests (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001; Delgado-Ballester, 2004). As a crucial component of brand equity, brand trust is widely recognized as a pivotal psychological mechanism bridging companies and consumers, particularly in consumption contexts characterized by information asymmetry and high decision-making risks (Khamitov et al., 2024; Tosun et al., 2024).
Existing studies generally conceptualize brand trust along two key dimensions: reliability and intentionality. Reliability refers to a brand’s ability to consistently fulfill promises and deliver stable quality, whereas intentionality denotes the sincerity of a brand’s concern for consumer interests (Delgado-Ballester, 2004). The development of brand trust typically stems from consumers’ cumulative positive perceptions and experiences with a brand, encompassing not only consistent product and service quality but also corporate actions regarding social responsibility and environmental protection (Fatma and Khan, 2023; Moon et al., 2023).
A substantial body of empirical research has demonstrated that brand trust significantly reduces consumers’ perceived risks and uncertainties during the purchasing decision process, consequently strengthening their purchase intention and brand loyalty (Konuk, 2023; Liu and Wang, 2023). Particularly in green consumption contexts, once consumers believe a brand exhibits strong environmental responsibility, they are more likely to develop favorable brand attitudes and sustained purchasing behaviors (Wong, 2024). Furthermore, in green product markets where information asymmetry and product homogeneity prevail, brand trust often serves as a critical basis for consumer decision-making. Higher brand trust alleviates decision hesitation, enhancing consumers’ willingness to purchase and recommend the brand (Cai et al., 2025; Konuk, 2023).
Recent research has increasingly focused on brand trust as an important psychological mechanism linking corporate social responsibility (CSR) to consumer behaviors. Brand trust has been shown to effectively mediate the transformation of CSR performance into consumers’ purchase intentions and brand loyalty (Narayanan and Singh, 2023). It is also recognized as a significant mediator between corporate ESG performance and consumer word-of-mouth behaviors (Bae et al., 2023). Collectively, these findings underscore brand trust’s crucial bridging role between corporate responsibility practices, such as ESG and CSR, and consumer purchasing behaviors.
Nonetheless, existing brand trust literature still exhibits notable theoretical gaps. Firstly, most previous studies have focused on the relationship between brand trust and singular dimensions of corporate responsibility (e.g., environmental or social responsibility) (Khan and Fatma, 2023), leaving the combined or differential effects of ESG’s three dimensions on brand trust under-explored. Secondly, empirical research sufficiently investigating brand trust as a comprehensive mediating mechanism between corporate ESG practices and consumer purchase intentions remains limited. Therefore, further clarification of the specific mechanism through which brand trust mediates the relationship between corporate ESG practices and consumers’ green purchasing intentions holds significant theoretical value for advancing both brand trust theory and corporate responsibility research.
2.3 Theoretical background
2.3.1 Signaling theory
Signaling theory, initially developed in the field of economics, primarily addresses the communication and decision-making behaviors between market actors under conditions of information asymmetry. According to this theory, due to disparities in the information held by transaction parties, the party possessing more information (signal sender) must effectively convey truthful and credible information to the less-informed party (signal receiver) to reduce perceived risks and decision-making uncertainties (Connelly et al., 2011). Thus, “signals” become central elements in the information transmission process, and their effectiveness depends largely on observability, credibility, and costliness (Kirmani and Rao, 2000).
In recent years, signaling theory has been extensively applied within CSR and ESG research domains to explain how corporate responsibility practices are perceived by stakeholders, particularly consumers, and how these perceptions translate into favorable attitudes and behaviors (Raza et al., 2025; Yu et al., 2022). Under conditions of pronounced market information asymmetry, consumers often face challenges in directly assessing whether companies genuinely fulfill environmental, social, or governance responsibilities. Consequently, corporate ESG practices serve as critical signals transmitting a firm’s commitment to responsible practices and societal values. Such signals effectively alleviate consumer uncertainty toward firms and brands, thereby enhancing consumer purchase intentions (Bian and Panyagometh, 2023; Huang et al., 2025).
Therefore, signaling theory provides a robust theoretical foundation for this study: corporate ESG practices can be viewed as essential signals communicated to consumers. Through effectively conveying corporate responsibility commitments and values, these signals help consumers form positive perceptions and trust toward brands, ultimately influencing their purchase intentions.
2.3.2 S-O-R theory
S-O-R theory aims to elucidate how external environmental stimuli influence individual behavioral responses through internal psychological or emotional states. Distinct from the traditional stimulus–response (S-R) model, S-O-R theory emphasizes the critical mediating role of internal organismic states between external stimuli and subsequent behaviors. Specifically, external stimuli first evoke internal cognitive or emotional responses, which then drive individuals’ behavioral or attitudinal outcomes (Jacoby, 2002).
Recently, S-O-R theory has been extensively applied in consumer behavior research to clarify how external marketing stimuli influence consumer decision-making and purchase behaviors through psychological mechanisms (Li and Shan, 2025). Previous studies have demonstrated that external stimuli, such as corporate social responsibility initiatives, green marketing practices, and environmentally friendly information, significantly affect consumers’ emotional and cognitive states, thereby promoting positive purchase intentions and actual purchasing behaviors (Li and An, 2025; Nguyen-Viet et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2024).
From the S-O-R theoretical perspective, this study conceptualizes corporate ESG practices as external environmental stimuli (S), brand trust as an internal psychological state (O), and consumers’ purchase intentions as behavioral response intentions (R). Companies actively engaging in ESG practices—through effectively communicating environmental responsibility, social commitment, and transparent governance—stimulate positive psychological states in consumers, specifically brand trust (Moon et al., 2023). The formation of this psychological state reduces consumers’ perceived purchase risks, enhances their perception of brand reliability and intentionality, and subsequently increases their green purchase intentions (Yadav et al., 2025).
Accordingly, drawing upon S-O-R theory, this study constructs the pathway “Corporate ESG practices → Brand Trust → Green Food Purchase Intention.” This conceptual pathway systematically illustrates how ESG practices, by activating consumers’ internal psychological mechanisms, ultimately translate into green purchase intentions, thereby providing a clearer theoretical explanation of responsible consumer behavior formation.
2.4 Hypothesis development
2.4.1 ESG practices and brand trust
Brand trust represents consumers’ psychological state formed through prior brand experiences, reflecting an integrated assessment of the brand’s reliability and intentionality. It serves as an essential psychological mechanism translating corporate responsibility practices into favorable consumer responses (Tosun et al., 2024). Drawing upon signaling theory, corporate ESG practices function as effective signals, transmitting responsibility-related information to consumers, thus significantly enhancing consumers’ trust toward the brand (Bae et al., 2023; Koh et al., 2022).
Specifically, corporate environmental practices effectively convey genuine commitments to ecological protection. When consumers perceive a brand actively adopting environmentally friendly measures—such as reducing environmental impacts, conserving resources, and utilizing eco-friendly materials—they become more convinced of the brand’s ability to fulfill its commitments. This perception enhances consumer evaluations of the brand’s reliability and intentionality (Bae et al., 2023). Similarly, corporate social practices—including safeguarding employee rights, protecting consumer welfare, and actively participating in community activities—demonstrate sincerity and concern for consumer and social welfare. These actions significantly elevate consumers’ overall perception of brand reliability and intentionality (Koh et al., 2022). Moreover, corporate governance practices, such as comprehensive compliance mechanisms and rigorous ethical standards, help mitigate consumer concerns regarding moral risks, reinforcing perceptions of brand integrity and responsibility (Bae et al., 2023; Koh et al., 2022). Thus, ESG practices across all three dimensions are expected to positively affect consumers’ brand trust within the context of green food enterprises. Accordingly, we propose:
H1a: Corporate environmental practices positively affect brand trust.
H1b: Corporate social practices positively affect brand trust.
H1c: Corporate governance practices positively affect brand trust.
2.4.2 Brand trust and purchase intention
Purchase intention typically refers to consumers’ likelihood of purchasing a specific product or brand in the future, serving as a critical predictor of actual purchase behaviors (Diallo, 2012). Previous studies have confirmed that brand trust, as a core psychological variable in consumer decision-making, exerts a significant positive influence on purchase intentions (Ling et al., 2023; Oppong and Bannor, 2024). When consumers believe that a brand consistently provides reliable products or services and genuinely cares about their interests, their perceived risks and uncertainties during decision-making are substantially reduced, leading to stronger brand preferences and increased purchase intentions (Dam, 2020; Liu and Wang, 2023).
In the context of food consumption, brand trust plays a particularly crucial role. Due to heightened consumer sensitivities regarding food safety, health, and environmental protection, establishing and maintaining consumer trust becomes essential (Sun et al., 2022). A higher level of trust in food brands considerably reduces consumer hesitation in decision-making, especially in scenarios characterized by product homogeneity and information asymmetry, thereby significantly enhancing purchase intentions (Bezbaruah et al., 2022). Consequently, in the green food market context, a greater level of brand trust is expected to foster stronger consumer purchase intentions. Hence, we propose:
H2: Brand trust positively influences consumers' green food purchase intentions.
2.4.3 Mediating role of brand trust
Drawing upon signaling theory and the S-O-R framework, brand trust may serve as a crucial psychological mediator between corporate ESG practices and consumer behaviors. Specifically, ESG practices send external signals that consumers perceive and internalize into positive evaluations regarding brand reliability and intentionality, thereby fostering an internal psychological state—brand trust (Bae et al., 2023; Koh et al., 2022). Subsequently, this psychological state of trust significantly reduces perceived risks and uncertainties in the consumer decision-making process, ultimately translating into favorable purchase intentions (Bezbaruah et al., 2022; Sun et al., 2022). Thus, brand trust serves as an intermediary psychological mechanism, implying that ESG practices do not directly influence consumer purchase intentions; rather, they indirectly affect these intentions via the mediating mechanism of brand trust (Moon et al., 2023). Consequently, we propose:
H3a: Brand trust mediates the relationship between corporate environmental practices and green food purchase intentions.
H3b: Brand trust mediates the relationship between corporate social practices and green food purchase intentions.
H3c: Brand trust mediates the relationship between corporate governance practices and green food purchase intentions.
2.5 Conceptual framework
Based on the theoretical analysis and hypothesis development presented above, this study draws upon signaling theory and the S–O–R framework to propose a conceptual model illustrating how corporate ESG practices influence consumers’ green food purchase intentions through the mediating role of brand trust (Figure 1). Specifically, this theoretical model conceptualizes the three ESG dimensions (environmental, social, and governance practices) as external stimuli, brand trust as the internal psychological (organism) state, and consumers’ purchase intention toward green food as the ultimate behavioral response.
Figure 1. Theoretical model.
3 Research design
3.1 Sample and data collection
To empirically test the conceptual model and hypotheses proposed in this study, data were collected through a structured questionnaire survey. The questionnaire comprised three main sections. The first section provided an introduction and informed consent statement. The second section gathered respondents’ demographic information, including gender, age, educational level, occupation, and monthly income. The third section included the measurement items of the five core variables: environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, brand trust, and purchase intention.
To ensure data validity and relevance, a brief explanation of the ESG concept was provided at the beginning of the questionnaire, followed by a screening question: “Are you aware of or have you paid attention to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices of green food enterprises or brands?” Only responses from participants who answered “yes” were included in subsequent analyses. The survey was conducted through a professional online survey platform,1 targeting a diverse group of consumers across different regions in China. A total of 344 responses were collected, and after excluding invalid responses, 318 valid samples remained. According to guidelines for structural equation modeling (SEM), it is generally recommended that a sample size exceeding 200 observations is adequate, whereas samples above 300 are considered robust and preferable for ensuring stable parameter estimation and valid outcomes (Kyriazos, 2018; Westland, 2010). Thus, the effective sample size in this study meets statistical requirements for SEM analysis.
The demographic characteristics of respondents are detailed in Table 1. Of the valid respondents, 47.48% were male and 52.52% were female, indicating a balanced gender distribution. Age groups were predominantly young and middle-aged consumers, with 48.74% aged between 26 and 35 years, and 23.90% aged between 36 and 45 years. In terms of education level, 87.11% of participants held bachelor’s degrees or higher, suggesting that the respondents possessed relatively high education levels. Regarding occupational structure, corporate employees or managers accounted for the largest share (74.53%). Furthermore, over 60% of respondents reported a monthly income ranging between 5,001 and 12,000 RMB, indicating stable economic status among the surveyed population.
Table 1. Demographic information of respondent.
3.2 Measures
The measurement items for each core variable were adapted from established and validated scales, with necessary contextual adjustments made to reflect the specific context of green food consumption, thereby ensuring theoretical relevance and empirical validity. Specifically, the measurement items for the three dimensions of corporate ESG practices (environmental, social, and governance) were adapted from scales developed by Lee (2024) and Puriwat and Tripopsakul (2023). Items measuring brand trust were based on the scale developed by Delgado-Ballester (2004), while purchase intention was measured using the scale proposed by Diallo (2012). All measurement items were assessed using a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = “strongly disagree” to 5 = “strongly agree,” to evaluate respondents’ level of agreement with each statement. Detailed measurement items for all variables are presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Variable and measurement item.
4 Results
4.1 Reliability and validity testing
To ensure the reliability and validity of the measurement instruments, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. Results of the EFA indicated that the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) measure was 0.951, and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (p < 0.001), confirming the suitability of the data for factor analysis.
The internal consistency reliability of each variable was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. As shown in Table 3, all variables exhibited Cronbach’s α values exceeding 0.8 (Environmental = 0.819, Social = 0.821, Governance = 0.848, Brand Trust = 0.898, Purchase Intention = 0.879), indicating strong internal consistency reliability.
Table 3. Cronbach’s α, standardized estimates, AVE, and CR.
Furthermore, the convergent validity of the measurement model was assessed using composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE). As reported in Table 3, all variables demonstrated CR values higher than the recommended threshold of 0.7 and AVE values exceeding the standard of 0.5, thus confirming satisfactory convergent validity.
Additionally, discriminant validity was evaluated using the criterion proposed by Fornell and Larcker (1981). As illustrated in Table 4, the absolute values of the correlation coefficients between variables were significantly lower than the square roots of the corresponding AVE values, meeting the discriminant validity requirement. Thus, the measurement model displayed strong discriminant validity.
Table 4. Pearson correlations and square roots of AVE.
4.2 Structural equation modeling and hypothesis testing
Structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS software was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. First, the overall model fit was assessed. As indicated in Table 5, the model exhibited good fit: χ2/df = 1.747, RMSEA = 0.049, RMR = 0.018, GFI = 0.904, CFI = 0.956, NFI = 0.904, and NNFI = 0.951. These fit indices all satisfied the recommended thresholds, indicating that the structural model effectively fit the observed data and was appropriate for subsequent path analysis and hypothesis testing.
Table 5. Results of model fit indices.
Next, path analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses. As shown in Table 6, the environmental (β = 0.363, p = 0.001), social (β = 0.332, p < 0.001), and governance dimensions (β = 0.213, p = 0.008) of ESG practices each exhibited significant positive effects on brand trust, supporting hypotheses H1a, H1b, and H1c. Additionally, brand trust demonstrated a strong positive impact on consumers’ green food purchase intention (β = 0.830, p < 0.001), thereby supporting hypothesis H2.
Table 6. Results of hypotheses testing.
4.3 Mediation effect analysis
To further clarify the mediating role of brand trust in the relationship between ESG dimensions and consumers’ green food purchase intention, a bootstrapping analysis with 5,000 resamples and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was conducted.
As presented in Table 7, the indirect effect of brand trust between the environmental dimension and purchase intention was 0.139 (95% CI: [0.062, 0.215], z = 3.532, p < 0.001); between the social dimension and purchase intention was 0.128 (95% CI: [0.066, 0.209], z = 3.559, p < 0.001); and between the governance dimension and purchase intention was 0.097 (95% CI: [0.041, 0.170], z = 2.970, p = 0.003). All indirect effects were significant, and none of the 95% confidence intervals contained zero, confirming that brand trust significantly mediated the relationships between all three ESG dimensions and purchase intention.
Table 7. Mediation effect analysis results.
Moreover, the direct effects of ESG dimensions on green food purchase intention were also significant (environmental dimension = 0.199, social dimension = 0.127, governance dimension = 0.152), indicating that brand trust partially mediated the relationships between ESG dimensions and consumers’ purchase intention.
5 Conclusion
5.1 Main findings and discussion
Drawing upon signaling theory and the S-O-R framework, this study explored how corporate ESG practices influence consumers’ purchase intentions toward green food through the psychological mechanism of brand trust. Based on SEM analysis and mediation tests of survey data collected from 318 Chinese consumers, the key findings are as follows:
First, corporate ESG practices significantly and positively influence brand trust. Specifically, the results indicate that environmental (β = 0.363, p = 0.001), social (β = 0.332, p < 0.001), and governance (β = 0.213, p = 0.008) practices each positively enhance consumers’ perceptions of brand trust. These findings are consistent with prior research demonstrating that corporate engagement in environmental protection, social equity, and transparent governance practices serves as clear and credible signals of corporate responsibility, thereby enhancing consumer perceptions of brand reliability and intentionality (Bae et al., 2023; Koh et al., 2022). Furthermore, this study confirms that ESG practices constitute an important pathway for strengthening brand trust, particularly highlighting stronger influences from the environmental and social dimensions. This outcome likely reflects consumers’ heightened sensitivity to environmental protection and social responsibility within the context of green food consumption.
Second, brand trust significantly and positively affects consumers’ purchase intention toward green food (β = 0.830, p < 0.001). This finding reinforces brand trust as a crucial psychological determinant in consumer decision-making related to green food consumption. When consumers perceive that a brand consistently delivers products meeting or exceeding their expectations, and genuinely cares about consumer interests, their perceived risks and uncertainties diminish substantially, thus leading to greater purchase intentions. While previous research has shown that brand trust positively impacts purchase intentions for agricultural and natural food products (Bezbaruah et al., 2022; Sun et al., 2022), this study explicitly confirms its influential role within the specific context of green food. This might be attributed to the multiple consumer concerns involved in the green food sector, such as food safety, health benefits, and environmental impact, rendering brand trust even more critical in consumer decision-making processes.
Third, brand trust partially mediates the relationship between ESG dimensions and consumers’ purchase intentions toward green food. Specifically, the analysis reveals that brand trust partially mediates the relationships between environmental (indirect effect = 0.139), social (indirect effect = 0.128), and governance (indirect effect = 0.097) dimensions and consumer purchase intention. These results further validate brand trust as an essential psychological mechanism linking corporate ESG practices to consumer behavior, in alignment with previous findings. Prior studies have shown brand trust mediates between ESG dimensions and consumer behaviors such as word-of-mouth and repurchase intentions (Bae et al., 2023; Moon et al., 2023); this study extends these findings by explicitly verifying the mediating role of brand trust between each ESG dimension and purchase intention within the green food consumption context. Additionally, this study highlights that the environmental and social dimensions exert stronger indirect influences through brand trust, suggesting that companies should prioritize communication and implementation of environmental and social practices when promoting ESG initiatives. Conversely, the governance dimension exhibited a relatively weaker indirect effect, potentially because consumer perceptions of governance practices are more indirect and require longer periods of brand interaction and experience to become evident.
5.2 Contributions
At the theoretical level, this study expands the current understanding of the relationship between ESG practices and consumer behavior. Specifically, it systematically elucidates, for the first time, how corporate ESG practices across environmental, social, and governance dimensions influence consumers’ green food purchase intentions via the key psychological mechanism of brand trust. By identifying and validating the mediating role of brand trust, this research enriches and advances the integration and application of signaling theory and the S-O-R framework within a specific consumer context. This provides a clear theoretical framework and empirical foundation for future research in related domains.
From a practical standpoint, the findings offer clear managerial guidance for green food enterprises seeking effective ESG brand strategies. The results suggest that companies should emphasize communication strategies particularly related to environmental and social dimensions of ESG, consistently delivering clear and credible responsibility-related information to foster consumers’ brand trust, ultimately enhancing their purchase intentions toward green foods. This insight underscores the critical role of brand trust in the implementation of corporate responsibility strategies and provides actionable recommendations for effective ESG communication and brand management.
5.3 Limitations and future research directions
Despite its theoretical and practical contributions, this study has certain limitations that offer avenues for further research. First, the cross-sectional data utilized in this research may not fully capture the dynamic processes underlying brand trust formation and consumer behavior over time. Future research could therefore adopt longitudinal or experimental designs to explore the long-term formation and evolution of brand trust, thus more robustly validating the sustained impacts of corporate ESG practices on consumer behavior. Moreover, since the data relied on consumers’ self-reported measures, potential social desirability bias may exist. Future studies could integrate multi-source or objective behavioral data to enhance the robustness and reliability of research outcomes.
Second, as this study was conducted within the specific context of the Chinese market, cultural influences and consumption habits may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research could incorporate cross-cultural or cross-regional comparative studies to examine differential mechanisms through which ESG practices influence brand trust and consumer behaviors across diverse cultural or national contexts, thereby improving the external validity and applicability of the conclusions. Furthermore, the current research only examined brand trust as a mediator, without considering other potential mediating or moderating variables such as brand image, consumers’ environmental awareness, or perceived authenticity of ESG practices. Future studies could integrate these additional factors to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how corporate ESG practices generate differentiated effects, thus enriching and refining the theoretical framework and improving its precision.
Data availability statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
Ethics statement
Ethical approval was not required for the studies involving humans because Ethical approval was not required for the studies involving humans because this study collected data solely through anonymous consumer questionnaires and did not involve any personal sensitive information or intervention experiments. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.
Author contributions
YL: Software, Validation, Supervision, Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Data curation, Resources, Visualization, Methodology, Project administration. XC: Supervision, Methodology, Data curation, Validation, Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Resources.
Funding
The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Generative AI statement
The authors declare that no Gen AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Footnotes
1. ^www.wjx.cn
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Keywords: ESG, brand trust, purchase intention, green food, signaling theory, S-O-R theory
Citation: Li Y and Chen X (2025) Can corporate ESG practices promote consumers’ purchase intention of green food? The mediating role of brand trust. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 9:1622653. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1622653
Edited by:
Francesco Bozzo, University of Bari Aldo Moro, ItalyCopyright © 2025 Li and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Xiaoya Chen, Y3h5YUBkc3UuYWMua3I=