A conceptual framework of the impact of green packaging on brand attachment

Introduction:
In the modern marketing era, emotional concepts related to branding have become the core of many marketing activities. “Brand attachment” refers to the emotional connection between people and brands. What creates attachment is unique between each brand and consumer. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in environmental protection around the world. In this sense, green packaging is very important to reduce the effects of waste and pollution and promote sustainable development. Green packaging, also known as “environmental green packaging”, “eco-friendly packaging”, “sustainable packaging” or “recyclable packaging”. An important area of research is the study of ways in which consumers demand the use of green packaging strategies to reduce the negative impact of packaging on the environment. The role of consumers in green packaging is very important, as modern lifestyles often demand a longer product shelf life. Green packaging affects different aspects of branding. Packaging has various functions related to product protection, transportation efficiency, and consumer evaluation of a product based on its packaging. A brand identity is a set of tools or elements used by a company to create a brand image. Brand image is customers' perception of the brand, which includes various associations related to it and memories associated with interacting with it. Brand identity and its elements derive from the company's mission, brand value proposition, long-term goals, competitive position in the market, and connection with the values and interests of the audience. According to the theory of planned behavior, the normative beliefs that ultimately cause a person's mental involvement in a phenomenon include two dimensions: command and description. A normative belief is the subjective expectation or likelihood that a given individual or reference group (e.g., friends, family, spouse, colleagues) will approve or disapprove of performing the behavior under consideration. Descriptive normative beliefs, on the other hand, are beliefs about whether significant others would perform the behavior themselves (Brado et al., 2022). Marketing professionals have repeatedly emphasized that green marketing practices do not happen in a vacuum; rather, their effect is through the effect they have on the attitude of customers. According to the theory of planned behavior, attitude is a component that plays an effective role in customer behavior. Customer attitude is a combination of people's beliefs, feelings, and behavioral intentions towards a business (or a brand). All actions taken in the field of green marketing are done to create a green and environmentally friendly image for the brand. A green brand image leads to green brand equity—a company with a green brand image will be positively viewed and trusted by environmentally conscious consumers. If the company has a green brand image that is supported by green practices and shown to customers, those customers will trust the company's commitment to environmental responsibility. Therefore, green brand image can be considered a potentially effective variable for attachment to green brands. The present study was conducted with the aim of examining the effect of green packaging on brand attachment.
 
Materials and methods:
This study is applied in terms of its purpose, which was carried out in the form of descriptive survey research with a cross-sectional approach. The statistical population includes all food consumers in Tehran. Considering the unlimitedness of the statistical population, a sample of 384 people was randomly selected. In this study, a questionnaire containing 7 dimensions and 36 questions was used to collect information to test hypotheses. The necessary data to answer the research questions was collected through an adapted questionnaire. To measure green packaging from the questionnaire of Chen et al. (2017); to measure brand attachment from Lee et al.'s (2023) scale, including 5 items; to evaluate brand awareness from the Barima questionnaire (2015), to measure brand image from the 6-question questionnaire of Chen et al. (2017), to measure brand identity from a three-question questionnaire Basra et al. (2023), Mahmoud et al.'s (2022) questionnaire was used to measure environmental interest, and Salehzadeh et al.'s (2023) questionnaire was used to measure the quality of environmental attitude. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed using the methods of content validity and convergent validity, and the reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient and composite reliability. The partial least squares technique and Smart PLS software were used to test the hypotheses.
 
Findings:
To check the normality of the data in this research, the valid Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used. The significance level of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for all research variables is less than 0.05. As a result, all research variables have a non-normal distribution. The results of the research hypotheses test showed that green packaging has a positive and significant effect on brand awareness, mental engagement, and brand identity. It was also found that customers' environmental attitude moderates the relationship between green packaging and mental involvement, brand awareness, and brand identity. It was also found that brand identity, brand awareness, and the mental involvement of customers all have a positive and significant effect on brand image. Finally, it was found that brand image has a significant effect on brand attachment.
 
Discussion and Conclusion:
Finally, the results of this research show that brand image has a positive and significant effect on brand attachment. Attachment is the degree of perceptual connection between a person and a specific object. Brand attachment is the result of a long-term relationship between the self and the brand. The closer the relationship, the stronger the brand attachment. When a brand is considered part of the self, it becomes the brand-self relationship. The result obtained in this hypothesis shows that in order to realize attachment to a green brand, an environmentally friendly image of that brand must be formed. Firms adopt greening for various reasons, such as regulatory compliance, competitive advantage, stakeholder pressure, and top management initiatives. As companies take on social responsibilities and face intense competition, they gradually realize the importance of creating a green image to highlight their environmental awareness and social responsibility. In addition, green consumers care about environmental issues, and their purchasing decisions will be based on green considerations. Therefore, many companies have started to develop a green marketing strategy to create a green image for their brand. As it is clear from the definition of brand attachment, attachment is a highly emotional-psychological category. Therefore, it is highly influenced by the image formed in the customer's mind. Based on the results obtained in this research, managers of food industry companies are recommended to pay attention to the following considerations to realize brand attachment: implementation of environmental standards in the production unit, use of recyclable material in the packaging of food products, and use of ecological labels. Packaging to influence the attitude of customers and participation in environmental programs to improve the company's brand image.