From Greenwashing to Brand Avoidance: The Mediating Role of Green Trust Under the S-O-R Model in the Malaysian Sunscreen Industry

Ng, Lee Yen (2026) From Greenwashing to Brand Avoidance: The Mediating Role of Green Trust Under the S-O-R Model in the Malaysian Sunscreen Industry. Masters thesis, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

Greenwashing has become an increasing concern in the sunscreen industry as companies frequently promote environmental claims such as “reef-safe” and “oceanfriendly” despite growing scepticism regarding the authenticity of these claims. In Malaysia, rising environmental awareness and the expansion of the sustainable skincare market have intensified consumers’ sensitivity toward deceptive green marketing practices. However, limited studies have examined how psychological factors associated with greenwashing influence brand avoidance behaviour in the Malaysian sunscreen industry. Therefore, this study investigates the relationships between perceived greenwashing, green confusion, green scepticism, green trust, and brand avoidance among Malaysian sunscreen consumers by adopting the Stimulus–Organism– Response (S-O-R) model as the theoretical foundation. This study employed a positivist research philosophy with a deductive approach and adopted a mono-method quantitative research design. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed to Malaysian Generation Z consumers with experience purchasing or using sunscreen products. A non-probability sampling technique, comprising convenience and snowball sampling, was applied. The collected data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), including descriptive analysis, reliability analysis, validity testing, correlation analysis, and regression analysis to examine the proposed hypotheses. The findings indicate that perceived greenwashing, green confusion, and green scepticism negatively influence green trust. In addition, green trust was found to negatively affect brand avoidance. The results further demonstrate that green trust mediates the relationships between perceived greenwashing, green confusion, green scepticism, and brand avoidance. These findings suggest that consumers who perceive sunscreen brands as misleading, confusing, or lacking credibility in their environmental claims are more likely to lose trust and subsequently avoid those brands. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing a consumer-centric and psychologically grounded explanation of brand avoidance behaviour within the greenwashing context. The research extends the application of the S-O-R model by integrating multiple psychological antecedents and highlighting the mediating role of green trust in shaping behavioural responses. Practically, the findings offer important implications for sunscreen companies and marketers by emphasising the importance of transparent, authentic, and verifiable environmental communication strategies to strengthen consumer trust and minimise brand avoidance behaviour in the Malaysian market.