Greenwashing and Green Marketing on Social Media: Implications for Trust-Related Reactions in the Food Sector.

This article examines how green marketing and the phenomenon of greenwashing on social media relate to consumers' trust-related reactions and their perception of food companies' sustainability orientation. The study is situated within the context of sustainability communication related to food products and food-related consumer decision-making. Particular attention is given to the role of environmental awareness in recognising misleading practices, investigating whether more informed and sustainability-oriented consumers are more likely to identify deceptive sustainability claims. The research employs a quantitative survey method to analyse consumer attitudes and perceptions. The study is based on a convenience sample of 145 adult social media users in Slovenia. The findings suggest that environmentally aware consumers are more capable of detecting greenwashing, that such practices are associated with negative trust-related reactions, and that greater exposure to social media is associated with increased attentiveness to misleading sustainability claims on social media. The results further indicate that verifiable evidence was not significantly associated with lower perceived greenwashing and should be interpreted with caution given the study's measurement limitations. Based on these findings, we suggest that companies build their sustainability communication on consistent and measurable environmental practices, use verifiable and transparent claims, and strategically leverage social media to enhance credibility.