EWOM intentions and renewable energy A quantitative research on how social media behaviour is influenced by media portrayal, trust, and environmental concern

Global warming is taken more seriously now that more people start to experience the consequences of it. Consumers are becoming aware that they can contribute to the stagnation of this rise in temperature by changing their consuming habits. Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy is one of the actions consumers can take to contribute. Energy suppliers often promote themselves online, which is also the place where consumers search for information about their products. Online messages by other consumers and organisations are very important in this process. The individual level of environmental concern is assumed to play a big role in the decision whether to participate in electronic word-ofmouth (eWOM) about renewable energy or not. This is also expected of the level of trust the consumer has in the organisation. This research aims to discover more about the relationship between media portrayal of renewable energy and the intention of consumers to participate in eWOM about this, and its relation to trust and environmental concern. To answer the research question, an online experiment has been conducted with a unifactorial design with three conditions (green condition, grey condition, and a control condition). The sample consists of 273 respondents. The results show that media portrayal did not have a direct effect on eWOM intentions. Media portrayal does significantly influence the level of trust the respondent has in the organisation. The green condition showed higher levels of trust than the grey condition. Consequently, higher levels of trust lead to more positive eWOM intentions. Environmental concern does not have a moderation effect on the relationship between media portrayal and eWOM intentions. Furthermore, a full mediation of trust has been found in the relationship between positive/green media portrayal and negative eWOM. Only a partial mediation of trust has been found between negative/grey media portrayal and negative eWOM. For positive eWOM, no mediation has been found. The findings provide insights for marketers and energy suppliers on how to create a strategy for promoting their products, and into what happens when negative or positive messages are posted about them by a third party. More research will be necessary to be able to fully comprehend the relationship between media portrayal, trust, environmental concern, and eWOM.