Exploring Green Brand Associations through a Network Analysis Approach

Abstract

In compliance with society's growing concern for the environment, an increasing number of enterprises are willing to act in socially responsible and environmentally conscious ways. Green‐related issues for enterprises have been an important academic research topic for at least three decades; however, few studies have focused on green brand associations. Based on the associative network perspective, the authors attempt to explore green brand associations through a network analysis approach. By combining network analysis with the qualitative elicitation method, the authors utilize commonly used measures of network analysis (i.e., centrality and cohesion measures) to reveal the content and structure of associative networks for green brands; next, they demonstrate empirical support for the findings. The results contribute to providing brand researchers with different analytical perspectives on the existing knowledge about green brand associations and offering strategic information for green brand practitioners.