Competence or warmth: why do consumers pay for green advertising?

Purpose This study aims to assess the impact of functional green advertising receptivity and emotional green advertising receptivity on consumers' green purchase intention. The authors then examine the mediating role of perceived competence and perceived warmth. Furthermore, the authors explore the moderating effect of power distance belief (PDB) on the relationships between green advertising receptivity with different appeals and consumers' perceived competence and perceived warmth respectively. Design/methodology/approach Based on the online survey platform, a total of 468 responses were obtained in China from January to March 2022. 408 valid replies were collected and analyzed in this study. The research hypotheses were empirically verified with bootstrap approach. Findings The empirical results indicate that both functional green advertisi\ng receptivity and emotional green advertising receptivity are significantly positively correlated with green purchase intention, and perceived competence and perceived warmth play the mediating role. Besides, PDB significantly strengthens the relationship between functional green advertising receptivity and perceived competence, but weakens the incentive effect of emotional green advertising receptivity on perceived warmth. Originality/value The psychological mechanism of the receptivity of green advertising with different appeals affecting green purchase intention remains unclear. This is one of the first studies to uncover how functional green advertising receptivity and emotional green advertising receptivity influence green purchase intention. Besides, the impact of PDB on the formation process of consumer perception is also a black box. By clarifying and comparing the moderating role of PDB on the relationships between advertising receptivity with different appeals and consumers' perceived competence and perceived warmth, this study contributes to the research on the effectiveness of green advertising.