The Impact of Green Marketing Message Overload on Consumer Skepticism toward Sustainable Brands: The Mediating Role of Green Fatigue
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This study examines how green marketing message overload influences consumer skepticism toward sustainable brands, with green fatigue proposed as a mediating mechanism. Drawing on Cognitive Load Theory, the Persuasion Knowledge Model, and Green Consumer Theory, the research argues that excessive exposure to sustainability-related messages may exhaust consumers cognitively and emotionally, thereby weakening their trust in green brand communications. Using a quantitative, deductive design, data were collected from Malaysian consumers exposed to green branding, eco-labels, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) messages, and sustainability-oriented digital advertising. The model was tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results show that green marketing message overload does not directly increase consumer skepticism; however, it has a strong positive effect on green fatigue, which in turn significantly increases skepticism toward sustainable brands. Mediation analysis confirms that green fatigue fully mediates the relationship between message overload and consumer skepticism. These findings suggest that skepticism may arise not merely from greenwashing or poor message credibility, but also from consumers’ exhaustion caused by repeated sustainability communication. The study contributes to green marketing literature by validating green fatigue as a psychological mediator and offers practical guidance for brands to prioritize message relevance, clarity, and moderation over communication frequency.
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