Toward a Bidirectional Loop of Green Brand Image and Sustainable Consumption Behavior: Evidence From Dual Sequential Mediation

ABSTRACT A persistent discrepancy exists between sustainability‐conscious consumers' attitudes and their actual purchasing behavior. This gap highlights the need for firm‐embedded strategic mechanisms that translate sustainability values into market outcomes. Drawing on the value–attitude–behavior framework, this study examines whether altruistic values, environmental beliefs, and green attitude mediate the relationship between green brand image and sustainable consumption behavior. It also tests a reverse‐direction model, grounded in moral identity theory, in which sustainable consumption behavior may reinforce green brand image through the same psychological mechanisms. Using an online survey and purposive sampling, data were collected from Taiwanese adults with prior purchasing experience across 12 sustainable product categories, yielding 462 valid responses. The results show that green brand image is positively associated with sustainable consumption behavior both directly and indirectly through altruistic values, environmental beliefs, and green attitude. Specifically, the findings support both the proposed sequential mediation process and a reverse‐direction pathway. Within this broader pattern, the individual mediators represent more immediate psychological pathways, whereas the broader altruistic values–environmental beliefs–green attitude sequence captures a deeper process through which green brand image and sustainable consumption behavior may become mutually reinforcing over time.