The ‘greenfluencer’ effect on consumers’ sustainable behavioral intentions through the lens of the Information Adoption Model

Since fast fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries, determining how consumers can be driven towards more sustainable behavior, is essential. Greenfluencers are important actors in disseminating sustainability-related messages, with many focusing on fashion-related content. This paper aims to understand greenfluencers’ effects by conducting a conceptual replication of the Information Adoption Model (IAM). Specifically, we examine how argument quality and source credibility affect information usefulness, which is a known predictor of information adoption and behavioral intentions. In two studies, a cross-sectional survey (Study 1; N = 186) and an experiment (Study 2; N = 200), greenfluencers increase consumers’ perceived information usefulness through perceived argument quality, but not through source credibility. Moreover, increased perceived usefulness leads to more sustainable purchase (Study 1) and non-purchase behavioral intentions (Study 2) through an increase in information adoption. Thus, greenfluencers should focus on their argument quality whenever trying to persuade consumers to more sustainable consumption behavior.