Does greenwashing hinder employees’ brand citizenship behavior?

Purpose Previous studies focused on consumers’ perceptions of and responses to greenwashing, while this study explores whether greenwashing reduces employees’ brand citizenship behavior from an organizational perspective. Based on the social identity theory, this study also examines the mediating role of brand pride and the moderating role of green concern to reveal the underlying mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach Data was acquired from 332 respondents with a questionnaire survey, and hypotheses were tested with regression analysis and bootstrapping method using the PROCESS in SPSS. Findings Greenwashing reduces employees’ brand citizenship behavior, and the effect is partially mediated by brand pride. Meanwhile, the negative effect of greenwashing on brand pride is stronger at higher levels of green concern, and thus the mediating effect of brand pride and the total effect of greenwashing on brand citizenship behavior are also stronger at higher levels of green concern. Practical implications Brands should abandon greenwashing spontaneously and the public’s green concern should be strengthened. Originality/value This study has expanded the literature on greenwashing from an organizational perspective and revealed the mechanism of how greenwashing hinders employees’ brand citizenship behavior.