The impact of greenwashing on H&M customer engagement behavior and H&M brand loyalty as perceived by French Generation Z.

Abstract

This research paper focuses on the impact of greenwashing on customer behavior and brand loyalty of H&M as perceived by French Generation Z. This is a relevant topic as it is one of the main issues today. Moreover, studying this generation specifically is important as they are the current and future consumers. To collect data from 18-29-year-old respondents belonging to Generation Z, a quantitative survey questionnaire was used. The survey questionnaire was in the form of a mono-method. The data was collected only once for each respondent, so the time horizon was cross-sectional. The research approach chosen is deductive, and the philosophy is realism. The results reveal that not every concept used in the questionnaire has a significant impact on brand loyalty. Only 3 hypotheses have been demonstrated as true on 9 hypotheses asked. The desired self-identity has a positive significant effect on Customer engagement behavior. The significance level is lower than <.0.001. Meanwhile, Green perceived value has a positive significant effect on Customer engagement behavior. The significance level is lower than <.0.001 and we can observe that when Green perceived value goes up of one unit, Customer engagement behavior goes up of about 0.362 units. Desired self-identity has a positive sig-nificant direct effect on Brand loyalty. The significance level is lower than 0.023 and we can observe that when Desired self-identity goes up of one unit, Brand loyalty goes up of about 0.201 units as a direct effect of change in Desired self-identity.

It would be beneficial for future studies to gather information regarding the nationality of participants. This would allow for a more thorough analysis and identification of potential regional differ-ences.