The Role of Green Influencers in Shaping Green Brand Image: A Mediation Analysis of Green Consumer Trust

Through transparent and clear communication, green influencer marketing can effectively convey sustainable consumption information, reduce consumer confusion in the decision-making process, and thus enhance green consumer trust (GCT). At the same time, simplifying and optimizing information expression makes the green brand image (GBI) more intuitive and credible and promotes the popularization of green consumption behaviour. Based on social influence theory (SIT), this study applies the PLS-SEM method to analyse 363 Chinese consumer questionnaire data to investigate the role of green influencer marketing (GIM) on GCT and GBI, including the moderating effect of greenwash. Results demonstrate that environmental sustainability-oriented influence significantly enhances GCT, while environmentally friendly product-oriented influence has no significant effect. GCT positively affects GBI, and greenwash has a moderating effect on the above relationships. This study improves our understanding of GIM. GCT is an important factor in the relationship between them and GBI. Greenwash should be reduced by strategies that encourage sustainable production and green consumption (SDG 12).