Does the Brand Value Build on Online Communities Influence Customers to Buy Green Products? Role of Brand Credibility as a Mediator and Trust on the Brand as a Moderator to This Relationship

Purpose: The main purpose of this research is to investigate the role of online communities to develop the brand value and consumers’ attachment with the green products. Also, the paper aims to study the role of brand credibility as a mediator towards the brand offering green products.Design/methodology/approach: An empirical study is carried out with 230 respondent from India through online survey forms. The research instrument was developed using a seven-point Likert type scale. The SPSS 22.0, AMOS 24.0 and Process (Prof. A. Hayes) were employed for data examination and hypothesis analysis.Findings & Implementations: The research helps to conclude that online communities are influencing the people to go for green products as the brand value through online communities is getting developed positively. And, the level of significance of brand credibility as a mediator is acceptable, and the trust as a moderating mediator is influencing customers’ attachment behavior more positively. Therefore, green products companies should focus on using online communities to build credibility and ultimately to influence people to buy green products to protect the environment.Limitations: The research may suffer from external validity issues as sample size taken is relatively small and limits to people residing in India. A greater number of respondents from the urban part of the country whereas rural people are not participating in any online communities more actively.Originality: The study is original in the sense it provides insights into the influence of virtual recommendation to consumers' buying habit. And brand value build on the virtual platform is more valuable to develop the customers' perceived perception about the credibility of the brand offering green products