Easy to Know, Hard to Act: How Do Green Attribute Centrality, Environmental Concern, and Trust Exert a Chain Effect on Purchase Decisions?

Promoting the transformation of green consumption has emerged as a critical pathway to address ecological constraints. However, existing research exhibits significant discrepancies in understanding the relationship between green attributes and purchase intention and lacks a deep unpacking of the underlying individual psychological mechanisms. Employing three situational experiments, this study integrates the chain effects of green attribute centrality (GAC), environmental concern (EC), and green trust (GT) to systematically explore the formation mechanism of consumers’ green purchase decisions. Results show three key findings: (1) When consumers exhibit high EC, GAC enhances their green purchase intention (GPI) more effectively; however, when EC is low, GAC demonstrates no significant differential impact on GPI. (2) The interaction between GAC and EC influences GPI via green perceived value (GPV) (i.e., this interaction effect is mediated by GPV). (3) GT further moderates these relationships: under high GT conditions, consumers with high EC show a stronger preference for high-centrality green products; conversely, under low GT conditions, such consumers exhibit a greater preference for low-centrality green products. This study provides a novel theoretical explanation and practical pathway for bridging the “attitude-behavior gap” in green consumption. It not only deepens the understanding of the mechanisms underlying green consumption decision-making but also offers precise references for enterprises to implement differentiated green marketing strategies and for policymakers to guide public green consumption.