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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Environmental Psychology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1599472

Brand attitude as the catalyst: Transforming Perceived ESG to consumer's purchase intention in low-carbon consumption

Provisionally accepted
Ran  ZhangRan Zhang1Xiaolong  ZhouXiaolong Zhou2Qijia  LiuQijia Liu3Chen  WangChen Wang1*
  • 1Shandong Women's University, Jinan, Shandong, China
  • 2Shandong Polytechnic College, Jining, China
  • 3Shinhan University, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

This research examines the influence of consumers’ perceptions of corporate ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) performance on brand-related attitude and sustainable consumption behaviors, with attention to the boundary conditions imposed by varying degrees of green skepticism toward low-carbon offerings. Utilizing a multi-wave survey design, the empirical study establishes three critical pathways: (1) All perceived ESG dimensions exert significant positive effects on brand trust, (2) Environmental and governance indicators emerge as unique predictors of brand identification, and (3) These attitudinal shifts, in turn, positively influence consumers’ intentions to purchase low-carbon products. Theoretical contributions are twofold: First, the integration of signaling theory with brand attitude frameworks elucidates the psychological sequencing through which institutional sustainability signals translate into purchase behaviors. Second, the typological approach to green skepticism advances existing environmental psychology models by delineating context-specific moderation effects. Practically, the results provide actionable insights for marketers aiming to design effective ESG communication strategies and foster consumers’ positive brand attitude in low-carbon consumption.ESG communication strategies and foster consumers' positive brand attitude in low-carbon consumption.

Keywords: Perceived ESG, Brand identification, Brand trust, Green skepticism, low-carbon purchase intention

Received: 25 Mar 2025; Accepted: 29 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Zhou, Liu and Wang. 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) or licensor 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: Chen Wang, victorwang1921@163.com

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