From Forest to Market: Investigating the effect of sustainability cues on consumer behavior for products from the Amazon Forest
(A2025-125889)

AUTHORS

Gabriela Nobre Dias, University of São Paulo and University of Antwerp; Kavita Hamza, University of Sao Paulo; Ingrid Moons, University of Antwerp; ANNOUK LIEVENS, University of Antwerp - Faculty of Business and Economics

ABSTRACT

Co-created products and multi-stakeholder networks are crucial for ethical sourcing and traceability of rainforest products. This study explores how sustainability cues—sustainability labels (SL), traceability QR codes (TQC), and co-creation labels (CCL)—affect consumer intention to buy (ITB) and willingness to pay (WTP). While SLs are well-researched, traceability systems and co-creation labels remain underexplored. Hypotheses suggest that TQC and CCL outperform SLs in boosting ITB and WTP, with trust and sustainability perception (SP) as mediators. Moreover, consumer knowledge, values, and product complexity are moderators. An online experiment with 571 Brazilian participants revealed that sustainability cues did not directly affect ITB or WTP. However, trust and SP significantly mediated the effect of TQC. Knowledge and values moderated consumer responses. These findings highlight TQC and CCL’s potential to engage less informed consumers and promote sustainable products.