Paper Details

Name: Vikash Kumar Keshri
Country: India

Year: 2025
Volume: Volume-12, Issue-1 Year: 2025 (Jan-June)
Page Number: 220-229
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20286740

The increasing use of sustainability-related claims has made green marketing an important strategic tool for firms. However, the rising occurrence of greenwashing has created serious concerns about its long-term effects on consumer behaviour. Although earlier studies have mainly examined the short-term impact of greenwashing on consumer trust and purchase intention, relatively little academic attention has been paid to its cumulative psychological effects on consumers. To address this gap, the present study seeks to conceptualise consumer fatigue as a significant outcome of repeated exposure to greenwashing and to analyse its influence on ethical consumption behaviour. Using a systematic review methodology, this
study integrates existing literature on greenwashing, consumer cynicism, and ethical
consumption in order to identify key themes, theoretical perspectives, and research gaps. Grounded in signalling theory and the literature on consumer cynicism, the paper proposes a conceptual framework that explains how continuous exposure to misleading environmental claims contributes to consumer fatigue, which in turn alters ethical consumption behaviour. This study advances the green marketing literature by introducing consumer fatigue as a distinct theoretical construct and by emphasising the long-term behavioural effects of greenwashing that go beyond the erosion of consumer trust. The findings provide important implications for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who aim to encourage genuine sustainability communication and to rebuild ethical engagement among consumers.