Findings: This study shows that scepticism arises from several factors. Higher-educated consumers are more sceptical towards eco-labels. Aligned with previous research, transparency still plays a key role in making consumers trust green labels. This study expands the study of how to show transparency in the new digital era. QR is preferred by consumers to seek more information to identify which eco-labels are real. It could be a new way of adapting consumers’ habits to offer transparency. Besides, consumers prefer to believe local small companies' green claims even though some of them do not have green certification labels on their product packages. It also reveals that society norms transformed in different countries could shift consumers’ attitudes towards green labels.

Research limitations and future research: The sample size is limited for 35 participants who are residents in Jönköping, Sweden. Thus, limited geography may not fully capture the diversity of consumer attitudes towards eco-labeled products. The research method is a qualitative method taking semi-interviews and grounded on the Gioia Method to analyze the data. It limits the scale of surveys, the self-reported data could lead to subjective bias. In the future research, it could expand broadly and have deep insights based on each finding of this research, and could also employ mixed methods to reduce bias and improve researching accurancy.

Implications: The findings indicate critical implications for multiple stakeholders. For marketers, adapting consumers’ behavior in the digital era, offering QR codes on packages, could enhance transparency. Big companies should take localized communication strategies to enhance their relationship with consumers to show their transparency of green production. Smaller, local brands may capitalize on their perceived authenticity to build trust. Policymakers could prioritize stringent standardization and enforcement of environmental claims to restore label credibility. If companies are not in a high-trust, strong regulations country, they could link their green claims with authority green labels from some countries that have strict regulations or laws and high reputations for sustainable products. These measures can reduce scepticism and promote effective sustainable consumption.