Exploring Gen Z’s awareness of green promotion in developing markets Open Access

Green marketing is an issue of interest that leads to discussions among developing countries’ populations as consumers become more conscious of the environmental damage caused by business activities (Amoako et al., 2022; Shaik et al., 2025). This has been exacerbated due to global warming concerns (Tsai et al., 2014: Yong et al., 2022). There has been significant pressure on enterprises, in capacities of governmental regulatory bodies and consumer advocacy groups, to reduce these impacts (Khan et al., 2024; Sambo et al., 2024). However, while environmental health problems, like pollution and global warming, are becoming more of an issue, on the one hand, awareness and understanding by marketers and the concrete user has increased to such an extent that a change from a polluted past to a green future is an essential step (Qayyum et al., 2023). Nevertheless, in most enterprises, and particularly in Nigeria, the level of ability to translate green practices into reality is low, often dictated by the fact that enterprises are unsure how or where they can start the green shift–leading to the green shift becoming an aspirational rather than an operational phenomenon (Abanyam and Raymond, 2019). This phenomenon is further complicated by the extremely low correlation between the vast amount of information on sustainability available on social media and that of young people for whom behaviour is generally still unsustainable in daily life (Braimah et al., 2022).

Kautish et al. (2020) depicts that although green products and green behavior have increased, there is still a lot that consumers need to learn about the actual environmental toll that affects them. Not only the knowledge gap problem but also the significant negative influences on conscious buying, since green marketing is too elaborate for consumption (Putri and Anjaningrum, 2022). Ganimete and Fatos (2019) also pointed out that plastic and glass waste generated and consumed in non-alcoholic activities still causes environmental pollution despite the significant efforts in energy efficiency in production, organic beverage use, clean technologies, wastewater treatment and waste management. This backdrop gives organisations a responsibility to craft and appropriately disseminate eco-friendly messages. Recognising that this is not an absolute panacea, Zarei and Maleki (2018) demonstrate that asymmetries in customers’ subjective and objective environmental knowledge may lead to conflicting findings concerning the association between eco-friendly behavior and the intention to buy green products.

The nexus between environmental green promotion and consumerism across the generation of Z is yet to be discussed, more so in emerging economies. Despite some studies that have bridged adjacent domains, contributing to expanding knowledge on particular ones, the community still needs to be comprehensively described. For instance, Ariffin et al. (2019) studied the impact of green marketing mix components on firm performance in Malaysia. However, their study range was limited to institutional-level outcomes rather than looking for consumer behaviour information. More so, similar studies (Chang and Lee, 2023; Kautish et al., 2020; Shaik et al., 2025) have been carried on emerging and developing economies. However, these studies are primarily from the Asian countries which necessitates a balance of insights from African countries. Chao et al. (2022) characterized psychographic correlates of recyclable packaging, environmental advertising and web-based consumer packaged goods augmentation. However, their focus targeted specific demographics or product categories, overlooking a broader application to Gen Z and their distinct characteristics as a pivotal group for sustainable consumption.

Further contributions, such as Cicik et al. (2020), highlighted the importance of ecological innovation and outreach to green marketing performance. However, they could only answer how these factors may affect consumers’ behavior and decisions in a new market segment. Khan et al. (2021) have proposed the value of green marketing for the tourism supply chain to inspire socially responsible green behavior (but got only information about action intention concerning the whole spectrum of awareness and attitudes of Generation Z). Together, these studies suggest a gap in the literature concerning the perception of and reaction to green promotion in this age group, especially in the developing world’s culturally and economically diverse environment, which is compared to the cultures of industrialized countries.

Against this background, our contribution lies in a more specific focus on the role that targeted green marketing can achieve in prompting green consumer behavior. This attention to Gen Z, often characterized as digital babies (Chan and Lee, 2023) and as future leaders, offers practical recommendations for companies who want to align their strategies with sustainability objectives. By investigating these previously under-investigated dimensions, our work substantially contributes to the sustainability literature. It promotes green promotion as a valuable tool to foster eco-concerned consumer actions in this critical segment. It will first position green promotion strategies to appeal to Generation Z’s particular tastes and perspectives of an emerging African economy and then present suggestions about how sustainable marketing can be used to trigger wider ecological consciousness in this powerful generation.

Green promotion addresses advertising techniques emphasizing the ecological aspects of products to inform consumers and induce willingness to purchase environmentally sustainable products (Yohanes et al., 2023). Communication is quite essential at this stage of time, especially when addressing Generation Z and younger consumers, who, now more than ever, are consumers for whom sustainability and ethics concerns play a role in their purchase decisions (Dangelico and Vocalelli, 2017). Green marketing strategies, however, will need to take advantage of contemporary communication platforms that are at least appealing to these age groups, i.e. social media, influencer marketing and digital advertising. Designers of product value and environmentalists design these methods and induce eco-friendly purchase decisions in consumers (Hadi et al., 2023).

Companies are expected to commit to sustainability in line with the shift in consumer preference. For example, organizations such as IndusInd Bank have converted to digital communication modalities in the financial industry, thereby discontinuing counterfoils from Automated Teller Machines to minimize paper consumption (Anjali and Urvashi, 2020). This change represents a trend in companies using younger audiences on platforms with content aligned with their values. Green promotions promote awareness of environmentally friendly products by emphasizing their advantages and adopting environmentally friendly habits (Balween et al., 2022). Productive green advertising needs to consider lifestyle and environmental awareness and use messages convincing for consumers and believable to younger consumers (Alamsyam et al., 2021). Promotional activities need to speak to their need for real and frank discussion, usually distributed among digital platforms and social media, in a manner with which they can effectively raise environmental concerns. As Madeira (2019) has shown, this can be done across modes of communication (e.g. advertising, public relations and social media), which all centre around a company’s sustainability engagement. Ultimately, the success of green promotion depends on how well it can speak to a younger generation and bring about an atmosphere of awareness concerning the environment and a culture of sustainable consumption.

Mustafa et al. (2023) defines customer awareness as the information available to the customer at the time about the product’s features and whether a customer is likely to use the product or purchase it again. That is, a greater consumer awareness level is directly related to a more tremendous potential for trial and purchase of the product. As pointed out by Bashir (2023), marketers should pay careful regard to increasing awareness of their products, as critical consumer awareness includes the capacity to identify and remember a brand in a particular product category. For young consumers, for instance, this is especially important because young consumers are increasingly influenced by sustainability (Dangelico and Vocalelli, 2017). Bawono and Oktaviani (2016) also point out that brand awareness represents the level of brand awareness in consumers when choosing products or services and emphasizing brand recognition. Abdolvand et al. (2016) claim that consciousness, and thus knowledge, is an essential factor in changing consumer’s attitudes and behaviour toward products, which is fundamental to market development. Successful green marketing is one of these steps that should take advantage of and exploit this awareness using environmental labels and “green” messaging to engage with ecologically-minded young consumers effectively.

In addition, consumer literacy plays a significant role in buying (Anadol et al., 2018). Green marketing awareness is assessed by consumers’ knowledge of eco-labels, green messages, green corporate image and consumers’ general environmental attitudes (Alamsyah et al., 2021). A greater understanding of the brand and the brand proposition leads to greater confidence in the brand and the brand proposition and, hence, to improve perceived risk evaluation (Keller and Brexendorf, 2019). When buying, consumers first retrieve the brand name (Mittal and Gupta, 2023), and a lack of a familiar brand can reduce the possibility of considering it (Alimi and Workneh, 2020). With brands pushing more and more communication of the commitment to sustainability, especially to the younger consumer base, improving the understanding of eco-friendly actions is necessary, thus promoting environmentally responsible buying behaviour. Brands which can tap into this demographic will be better positioned to build market share and play a part in the wider trend toward sustainable consumerism and, ultimately, make themselves pioneers of sustainability.

The interplay of promotional mode and product type has a meaningful effect on conceptual fluency, specifically with the purchase of green products. Salinero et al. (2025) reveals emotional connection, proactive behaviors, consciousness and a sense of unity in shaping Gen Z’s sustainable tourism self-identity. Jun et al. (2021) propose that discount promotions provide a more robust stimulation of conceptual fluency than donation promotions for green products. In addition, the institutional-level implementation of green activities has been demonstrated to generate awareness within the institution and among customers, as observed by Tariq et al. (2021) and Zhu and Zhu (2020).

Khare and Kautish (2021), demonstrates how cosmopolitanism, global self-identity and online communities shaped green knowledge, which in turn influenced Indian consumers’ perception of green apparel, with social conformance and online community identification enhancing their understanding. Xiuting et al. (2022) shows that moral rules play a substantial role in adopting environmentally friendly practices, even for simple things like reusable cups. Also, Tulangow and Kunthi (2020) suggest that social responsibility and corporate reputation are the most essential factors of purchase intention. Their results suggest that although green marketing awareness and perceived innovativeness of marketing have both positive effects on corporate image and product image, the latter effect does not lead to purchase intention. Amoaka et al. (2022) found that marketing strategies influence consumer purchasing decisions and brand loyalty. Specifically, green marketing has a positive impact on purchase behavior, with price acting as a mediator in this relationship. Focusing on consumer behavior, Irfan and Idrees (2018) point out that a positive perception of understanding eco-labels enhances customer awareness. In addition, awareness is of the utmost importance in reinforcing the link between advertising attitudes and green purchase intentions. Fatin (2019) showed that people with exuding high levels of environmental concern tend to be influenced strongly by function ads, and conversely, those showing a low level of environmental concern are more influenced by ads eliciting emotional responses, which, in turn, affects green purchase intentions. Furthermore, Kautish et al. (2022) found that instrumental and terminal values significantly shape consumers’ level of product involvement, which plays a role when making purchase decisions in context to plastic packaging.

Kautish and Khare (2022) showed how social and peer influences, both online and offline, shaped Indian consumers’ perception of sustainable fashion, driving their behavioral intentions and eWOM engagement. Social media has been identified as a powerful means by which youth behaviors can be influenced and directed toward green consumption, as Salinero et al. (2025) pointed out. This transition toward sustainability fosters less carbon and greater awareness of environmental problems. Eco-labels are informative data sources, driving consumer perception of environmental concerns and safety. However, Braimahl et al. (2022) reported no significant relationship between media use and customer learning, which suggests an exciting phenomenon that should be explored further. Thus, it can be hypothesized that:

This theory has provided an essential axiomatic framework for very diverse behavior, especially those involving planning and related to internal and environmental factors. In Theory of planned behavior, attitudes toward a behavior are generated by positive or negative judgments concerning the performance of that behavior. For instance, whether in promoting awareness of environmental sustainability’s benefits, a person’s attitude toward buying green products will likely be positive. If consumers feel that ecologically friendly products are related to the social good, they can be more likely to adopt a positive attitude toward the product (Ajzen, 1991; Armitage and Conner, 2001).

Behind attitudes, subjective norms are an important factor of theory of planned behavior, representing social pressures and expectations exerted by indispensable people or groups in people’s lives. These standards represent the critical factor in the genesis of Gen Z’s knowledge about green marketing, mainly since this generation is very active on online social media networks and is affected by peer, family and influencer pressure. It has been shown that Gen Z is extremely responsive to social approval and acceptance, which may translate into sensitivity to eco-friendly products and advertising (Fishbein and Ajzen, 2010; Chen and Tung, 2014). For example, suppose Gen Z perceives eco-friendly behaviours as justifiable by their social group. In that case, Gen Z is more likely to engage in eco-friendly behaviours by themselves, further enhancing their understanding and awareness of eco-friendly products.

The third component, Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC), refers to ease or difficulty experienced while executing a given action based on confidence and resources. In developing markets, PBC is highly relevant as there are often barriers, such as limited access to green products, high costs and inadequate environmental education, which can influence Gen Z’s ability to engage with green initiatives. The TPB proposes that people’s likelihood of adopting green purchasing increases when they feel empowered and competent and have access to green offerings (Ajzen, 1991; Taylor and Todd, 1995). Nevertheless, in developing countries, a perceived lack of control resulting from financial and infrastructural limitations may prevent the realisation of green intentions of Gen Z consumers despite positive attitudes and facilitating social norms.

Uddin et al. (2024) using Behavioral Reasoning Theory (BRT) in understanding consumers’ reasons influencing electric vehicle, reveals that environmental concern, perceived technology and knowledge maintenance drive adoption, while skepticism, price and utility hinder it, with financial incentives mitigating resistance. The use of theory of planned behavior in the issue of Gen Z’s knowledge of green promotion in developing countries illustrates how attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control influence this knowledge. Gen Z traditionally carries and is expected to sustain positive attitudes toward green products since they fit into their environmental beliefs. However, social sustainability norms are also crucial, particularly in socially networked communities that rely on the choices affected by social media and social influence.

The research applied a quantitative approach by using a structured questionnaire to assess the level of awareness of university students because this methodology can deliver reliable, statistically measurable information; it can mathematically analyze the level of respondents’ knowledge and conditioning so that it can be improved as well. As based on a hypothetico-deductive model, the study design allowed for a systematic and large-scale acquisition of extensive amounts of data to minimize the risks of potential observer bias and to empirically test hypotheses (Mohajan, 2020; Rahman, 2017; Scarborough et al., 2019).

The study population totalled 25,000 students from the six geopolitical regions in Nigeria to represent the country’s population clearly and accurately. To obtain the sample size, the study relied on the Krejcie and Morgan sample size table with 493 participants as the sample size. The sample was evenly distributed over all six geopolitical regions, increasing the representativeness and generalizability to the rest of the student population.

Data were gathered through a structured and validated questionnaire, and the response rate achieved was 79.5%. To test the hypothesis, linear regression was used in such a way that it allows assessing the associations between the variables included in the study. This methodology was central in these respects, ensuring that the study results were supported by statistically significant data, which led to the strength of the study results. To measure the level of knowledge and attitude of students, a structured questionnaire was used, adopting a six-point Likert scale from 1 Very Disagree (SD) to 6 Very Agree (SA). This continuum enabled fine-grained analysis of the measures of participants’ responses, including middle-ground options of 3 Partially Disagree (PD) and 4 Partially Agree (PA) to better capture nuances in their attitude responses (Krosnick, 2018). The survey items were constructed to accurately reflect major themes studied in the research while being clear and targeted to the study goals. Table 1 describes the questions’ sources and lists the items in the survey questionnaire.

This section presents the results of the measurement model assessment, where validity and reliability tests were conducted to ensure construct accuracy. The findings of these tests are displayed accordingly. For hypothesis testing, a simple linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of green promotion on customer awareness, with the results provided in detail.

Validity is critical to the reliability of a research instrument, i.e. that measurement of the constructs being observed by a study can yield meaningful and interpretable results (American Education Research, 2014). As shown in Table 2, this paper assessed construct validity by Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) values, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity and average variance extracted (AVE). Green Promotion and Customer Awareness variables scored a KMO value of 0.5 or greater (0.865 and 0.686, respectively) and, thus, adequate (Chetwynd, 2022). Furthermore, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity yielded extremely statistically significant (p 20.00 and p.05 (p.05) findings for the two measures exhibiting a high degree association to the variables (Keyworth et al., 2020). Furthermore, the AVE scores for Green Promotion 0.641) and Customer Awareness 0.874) exceeded the 0.5 threshold, establishing convergent validity and confirming that these constructs reliably measure their respective variables (Keyworth et al., 2020). These validity indices support the proposition that the measurement items applied in the current study are valid and appropriate for the analysis Reliability in research is measured by the ability to consistently and stably reproduce an instrument’s findings so that outcomes are reliable and nonrandom (Sürücü and Maslakci, 2020). As presented in Table 3, this study assessed reliability through Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability, both critical indicators of internal consistency. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for Green Promotion 0.831) and Customer Awareness 0.864) exceeded the recommended threshold of 0.70, indicating that the items consistently measure the same constructs (Hwui and Lay, 2018). Composite reliability values were also greater than 0.70 for both constructs 0.854 for Green Promotion, 0.883 for Customer Awareness), and thus internal consistency and construct reliability (Hair et al., 2017). According to Fuller et al. (2020), by way of the instrument validity and reliability measures, the study results confirm the instrument reliability measurement by means of the pilot study results.4.2 Linear regression assessment

Table 4 gives the regression analysis results for the green promotion effect on customer awareness of the respondents in the study. The findings show that green promotion (β 0.509, t 10.47, p 0.05) is a significant and positive contributor to customer awareness of university students. This result indicates that green promotion is an important determinant in increasing customer knowledge. Furthermore, the R value (0.468) backs this view, reflecting a moderate positive correlation between green promotion and customer awareness in this group. The coefficient of determination, R² 0.217, shows that the green promotion models 21.7% of the variation in customer awareness, while the remaining 79.3% is affected by other factors not considered in the model. As the final predictive and prescriptive regression models, the following formulation is adopted:

where:

CA = Customer Awareness; and

GPR = Green Promotion.

The regression model for green promotion revealed positive customer awareness, remaining at 2.317 and maintaining constant green promotion at 0. In the predictive model, green promotion showed a positive and statistically significant impact on students’ awareness, emphasizing its relevance and thus included in the prescriptive model. Results of the simple regression analysis show that as the green promotion increases by 1, consumer awareness is expected to increase by 0.509, which implies that better green promotion can lead to an improvement in the intent to buy among students. Furthermore, the F-statistic (df 1,392) 109.540 at p 0.000 (p 0.05) further validates the model’s generality in explaining the contribution of green promotion to consumer knowledge. This finding suggests that green promotion significantly impacts building student awareness among peers. In this process, organizations should pay more to prepare a green promotional strategy to elevate this awareness. As a result, the null hypothesis (H0), stating that green promotion does not significantly influence students’ knowledge, was rejected.

The outcome of the current study’s hypothesis testing shows that green promotion has a significant effect on consumers’ awareness level, and this matches previous work, which points to the role of green actions in increasing consumers’ awareness. The findings in the current study are consistent with those of Tariq et al. (2021), Xiuting et al. (2022), and Yong et al. (2022). Zhu and Zhu (2020) reported that the mechanism of consumer awareness for promoting green behaviors at the institutional level is adequate. Irfan and Idrees (2018) also state that eco-labels can facilitate consumer knowledge by conveying to the consumer the environmental impact of the product, analogous to the effect established in the present study in engineering (where the communicator’s role is to inform the consumer of the impact of the promoted product on the environment in green promotional messages).

Bridging the gap between these claims, Tulangow and Kunthi (2020) see green marketing awareness and perceived innovation as positive predictors of corporate reputation, product image and social responsibility. This implies that awareness initiatives positively affect consumer sentiment toward brands after sustainability. Salinero et al. (2020) further points out that social media considerably affects adolescent actions related to green consumption, i.e. an increase in environmental commitment. The present study shows that better greening may affect consumer preference and encourage eco-friendly purchasing. These investigations support the current literature, which establishes the role of green promotion as one of the most important drivers of environmental concern and green consumer behaviour, especially those in the Gen Z generation, who are increasingly and actively looking for eco-friendly action.

The combined experimental data validate the present results, subjugating an important role of green promotion in improving environmental consciousness and green consumption behavior for the Gen Z generation, which is increasingly interested in eco-friendly actions.

These results explain the theoretical lack of progress made in green marketing, in that green promotion serves as a propeller to heighten the consumers’ alertness to adopt green products and thus leads to better execution of green consumption behaviour, especially among the Gen Z generation that is becoming more responsive to green actions. Based on observing a positive relation between green promotional activities and consumer knowledge, this study offers evidence to endorse the hypothesis that green marketing activities may also serve as a valuable tool to educate consumers about and be empathetic toward environmental problems. This contribution is in line with broader theories of consumerism, demonstrating the power of well-rehearsed eco-based messages to raise intentions toward sustainable consumption. Moreover, the findings offer a contemporary understanding of the generational shifts and, more specifically, the behavior of Gen Z, which emphasize the increasing importance of green promotion in developing consumer behavior and building a sustainable business context.

From an applied perspective, these findings indicate that for companies and organizations, the promotion of green promotional activity should be noticed, not just because it may be effective in captivating customers’ eyes but also because it may promote green consumption. Bearing in mind that Gen Z consumers are known to be sensitive to environmental problems, companies can integrate ecolabeling, pro-environmental communication and educational campaigns into their marketing mix to better target this consumer segment. These activities not only help build brand loyalty but also enhance the organisation’s image as a socially responsible entity and a broader social sustainability objective. Not surprisingly, it is also logical to propose that on its own, green promotion itself has a positive effect, at least in terms of consumer consciousness, marketers should promote the transparency of environmental benefits messaging and, in so doing, produce choice-based consciousness and green consumerism.

Given the significant role green promotion plays in Gen Z’s awareness, proposed actions such as green campaigns and sensitization should be made accessible to the public, especially students in campuses and at social events. To encourage the propagation of eco-messages, media houses can subsidize the cost of advertising and promotion; this is more flexible with urban Gen Z’s as they can be reached through online social platforms. Pressure groups and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) can initiate policies with the backing of the parliament to make enforceable eco-policies with legal implications.

A significant restriction of this work is that it is based on data from a population sample (university student population) only. Although this population contributes to essential observations about the influence of green marketing on awareness among consumers, the results may be somewhat generalizable across other age groups or geographical locations with different degrees of awareness and buying behavior. In addition, the research is built on self-reported information with the potential for response bias and limits the objective assessment of actual green consumption activities.

Future research should replicate the sample for older age groups and participants in different geographic areas to alleviate these constraints. This will allow a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of green promotion on a wider population. Further, using objective behavioural (e.g. purchase records, observation) data would enhance the ability to draw conclusions, complement self-report data and minimize exposure to bias.