Country Image and Willingness to Buy: The Mediating Role of Green Product Image in Consumers Perceptions

This study examines the mediating role of Green Product Image (GPI) in the relationship between Country Image antecedents – namely: Affective Country Image (ACI) and Cognitive Country Image (CCI) – and consumer Willingness to Buy (WTB), with a particular focus on Italian food products among Indian consumers. The analysis, which was conducted using structural equation modelling (SEM) on data from 175 respondents, revealed that GPI significantly mediates the relationship between ACI, CCI, and WTB, with a stronger mediation effect observed for ACI. Additionally, the findings indicate that ACI exerts a more pronounced influence on GPI in comparison to CCI. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that GPI has a substantial direct impact on WTB, highlighting its central role in transforming favourable country image perceptions into consumer purchase intentions. This study contributes to the existing literature by elucidating the way in which perceptions of a country's environmental image impact consumer behaviour. From a managerial perspective, the findings indicate that companies should prioritise both the emotional appeal and environmental attributes of their products in their marketing strategies. It is recommended that future studies investigate these relationships in cross-cultural contexts with larger and more diverse samples to further validate the results.