The Role of Social Media and Eco-consciousness in Driving Word-of-Mouth for Eco-Friendly Packaging
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This study aims to (1) examine the influence of social media, eco-consciousness, and green perceived value on word-of-mouth (WOM) for eco-friendly packaging, and (2) investigate the mediating role of green perceived value between social media and WOM for eco-friendly packaging. Data were collected from consumers who had prior experience purchasing eco-friendly food packaging in the upper northern region of Thailand. A non-probability sampling approach was employed using accidental sampling. Data were collected using an online questionnaire and analyzed through descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings show that the proposed WOM model demonstrates a good fit with the empirical data. Social media exerted a positive influence both directly on WOM (β = 0.158) and on green perceived value (β = 0.251). Eco-consciousness had a positive influence on green perceived value (β = 0.554), while green perceived value positively influenced WOM (β = 0.576) and emerged as the most influential factor in driving WOM (Total Effect = 0.576), followed by eco-consciousness (Total Effect = 0.319) and social media (Total Effect = 0.303), respectively. Together, the three factors accounted for 42.60% of the variance in WOM (R² = 0.426). Furthermore, green perceived value acted as a partial mediator between social media and WOM for eco-friendly packaging.
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