As consumers become skeptical of green products, green brands may need to put trust-building on their business agenda. The study aims to use the rhetorical theory of Aristotle to examine the influence of a green brand story on perceived brand sincerity and brand trust. The study explores whether customer perceived value (CPV) mediates the effect between three means of persuasion used by a green brand story and perceived brand sincerity, and whether the need for cognition (NFC) plays a moderating role. A model is proposed and tested through three independent experiments in which participants were exposed to green brand stories and asked to complete a questionnaire. The results show that the green brand story with three means of persuasion has a more positive impact on perceived brand sincerity and brand trust than the green brand story without, and the impact is partially mediated by CPV. Besides, NFC moderates the effect: perceived brand sincerity of green brands improves with three means of the persuasion-laden story when NFC is relatively high. Specifically, the study reveals that pathos and ethos in a green brand story have positive effects on perceived brand sincerity through emotional value and social value, but the effect of logos is not identified. The findings contribute to the literature on brand storytelling, brand personality, and green marketing and have managerial implications for green brands to sustain a customer-brand relationship.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of pathos in sustainable brand stories featuring masculinity on brand masculinity and men’s sustainable brand attitude using Aristotle’s rhetoric theory.Design/methodology/approachThree independent online experiments (N = 398; N = 216; N = 247) were conducted to observe how participants responded to a sustainable brand story. Data collected through a post-experimental survey were used to test the proposed model. Research hypotheses were inspected using SPSS.FindingsThe authors reveal brand masculinity is influenced by varying degrees of pathos: participants who read stories with all three pathos elements (metaphor, humor and empathy) demonstrated the highest level of perceived brand masculinity. Male consumers showed more positive attitudes toward masculine sustainable brand stories than feminine ones. The authors also identify the moderating effect of consumer generation: Gen Z (versus Gen Y) consumers demonstrated stronger character identification with hybrid masculinity (versus hegemonic masculinity) sustainable brand stories, resulting in more favorable sustainable brand attitudes.Originality/valueThe study provides a new angle for exploring the relationship between gendered sustainable brand stories and sustainable brand attitudes. It is the first (to the authors’ knowledge) that links Aristotle’s rhetoric theory to brand gender research, and it empirically demonstrates how male consumers from different generational cohorts respond to different masculinity strategies used by sustainable brands.