Navigating green food decision-making: the interplay of information asymmetry, green identity, green food knowledge, and eco-label credibility

Purpose Based on the stimulus–organism–response framework (S–O–R) and signalling theory, this study examines how eco-label credibility, shaped by information asymmetry and green identity and moderated by consumer knowledge, affects the consumer decision-making process in green food purchases. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from 501 consumers were analysed using structural equation modelling with SPSS AMOS. Findings Information asymmetry and green identity drive eco-label credibility. Credibility positively influences problem recognition and information search, negatively affects the purchase stage, and has no effect on post-purchase evaluation. Consumer knowledge moderates these relationships across most decision-making stages. Practical implications Marketers should strengthen eco-label credibility by reducing information asymmetry and aligning sustainability communication with consumers’ environmental values, while enhancing consumer knowledge to support purchase decisions. Originality/value Unlike prior S–O–R studies that predominantly examine purchase intention, this study adopts a stage-based decision perspective and shows that eco-label credibility influences early decision stages rather than directly driving purchases, with knowledge strengthening effects in later stages. Focusing on Croatia as an emerging green food market, the findings reveal that information asymmetry is a stronger predictor of eco-label credibility than green identity, thereby refining signalling theory.