Is a green brand able to determine customer's choice?

Summary of aims: The environment is acquiring an increasingly strategic role for firms to increase competitiveness. Is a green brand able to help consumers to choose products and services that respect the environment? Is the adoption of a green brand a real expression of an environmental attention of firms? The aim of this work is to display the opportunities and the advantages concerning the enforcing of ecological trademarks. Particular attention will be devoted to the tourism sector and to the adoption or not of the Ecolabel brand. The choice of the tourism sector is connected with the recent enlargement of this brand to this sector by the EU. Moreover, we try to understand whether tourists consider the attention to sustainability relevant for their choices and if these firms are attractive. The authors have the purpose to contribute to fill a gap in the “green brand” studies. The attention to Ecolabel is the first step of a more articulated research that has the aim to analyze other kinds of green brands adopted in Europe, both in tourism and in other economic activieties. Approach: A qualitative approach with the analysis of a survey conducted by the research center ISPO. Key arguments/findings: Sustainability, green brand, Ecolabel.