Green Marketing and Repurchase Intention in the Airline Industry: The Mediating Role of Electronic Word-of-Mouth

Abstract

The aviation industry faces increasing pressure to reduce its environmental footprint, prompting airlines to adopt green marketing practices that align with sustainability goals. Grounded in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study investigates the influence of green marketing on consumers’ repurchase intentions, with electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) as a mediating factor. An online survey was conducted among 390 airline passengers in Turkey, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that green marketing significantly enhances both e-WOM and repurchase intention. Additionally, information quality and credibility exert significant effects on e-WOM and make a modest direct contribution to repurchase intention. While e-WOM is positively associated with repurchase intention, its mediating role in the relationship between green marketing and repurchase intention is not statistically supported. These findings suggest that e-WOM functions as a reinforcing rather than a transmitting mechanism linking green marketing to repurchase intention. The model explains 68.9% of the variance in repurchase intention and 18.9% in e-WOM. The study contributes by integrating green marketing, e-WOM, and information characteristics within an ELM-based framework for the airline context, offering actionable insights for sustainability-oriented marketing strategies. © 2026 by the authors.