Greenwashing - Consumer's Perspective

• Autorzy: Ewa Mazur-Wierzbicka
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify and assess the occurrence of greenwashing from the perspective of the company' main external stakeholder, that is consumer. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a critical review of literature, research studies, secondary data and reports. Findings: The discussion carried out in this article showed that consumer pressure is one of the main reasons why organizations apply both real and apparent (greenwashing practices) actions that serve to protect the natural environment. Greenwashing practices used by companies for whom consumers are the main recipients are not to their benefit in the long run (which some of the consumers do not realise). As consumers' ecological knowledge and awareness improve, we may hope that greenwashing practices will become scarcer. This trend may benefit from placing a greater emphasis (for example coming from the legislator) on the processes of sustainable production and consumption. Research limitations/implications: This paper includes a discussion based on a critical analysis of relevant literature and existing secondary data, which is its limitation. Due to the significance and validity of the subject matter discussed in the article, it seems important to take another step, that is a discussion on the impact of sustainable consumption on the development of greenwashing practices. Practical implications: The study identifies how important it is to be able to recognize greenwashing. It is because greenwashing is detrimental not only to consumers, but also to honest companies that treat the issues of environmental protection and sustainable development seriously. Social implications: The argumentation presented in the article points to the dangerous phenomenon of greenwashing. It is alarming because it gives the consumer an "ecological" product, a sense of satisfaction and involvement in environmental protection, whereas the use of greenwashing practices (e.g. overrating, false information) reinforces the social sense of mistrust and ignorance towards products and companies that take real environmental efforts. It is suggested that awareness-raising measures (e.g. campaigns) be undertaken so that consumers are more conscious of greenwashing practices and the resulting negative consequences. Originality/value: Showing the role of the consumer as an external shareholder from the point of view of an initiator and recipient of pro-ecological actions taken up by organizations (unfortunately also greenwashing practices), directed at creating environmentally-friendly (pro-ecological) products.(original abstract)

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Natural environment; Consumer; Stakeholders; Ecological awareness; Ecology

PL

Środowisko przyrodnicze; Konsument; Interesariusze; Świadomość ekologiczna; Ekologia

• Czasopismo: Zeszyty Naukowe. Organizacja i Zarządzanie / Politechnika Śląska
• Rocznik: 2022
• Numer: z. 164 Zarządzanie zasobami ludzkimi: perspektywy, wdrażanie i wyzwania = Human Resource Management : Perspectives, Implementation and Challenges
• Strony: 283--297

Twórcy

autor

Ewa Mazur-Wierzbicka

• University of Szczecin

Bibliografia

• 1. Ahmad, W., Zhang, Q. (2020). Green purchase intention: Effects of electronic service quality and customer green psychology. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 267, p. 122053. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122053.
• 2. Akturan, U. (2018) How does greenwashing affect green branding equity and purchase intention? An empirical research. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 36, pp. 809-824. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-12-2017-0339.
• 3. Baum, L.M. (2012). It's not easy being green... or is it? A content analysis of environmental claims in magazine advertisements from the United States and United Kingdom. Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture, Vol. 6(4), pp. 423-440. DOI:10.1080/17524032.2012.724022.
• 4. Berrone, P., Fosfuri, A., Gelabert, L. (2017). Does greenwashing pay off? Understanding the Relationship Between Environmental Actions and Environmental Legitimacy. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 144(2), pp. 363-379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2816-9.
• 5. Blome, C., Foerstl, K., Schleper, M.C. (2017). Antecedents of green supplier championing and greenwashing: An empirical study on leadership and ethical incentives. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 152, pp. 339-350. DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.03.052.
• 6. Braga, S.S., Jr., Merlo, E.M., Silva, D. (2016). I do not believe in green consumption: The reflection of ceticism in consumer purchasing behavior. Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental, Vol. 10, pp. 2-15. DOI: 10.5773/rgsa.v10i3.1133.
• 7. Chen, Y.S. (2010). The Drivers of Green Brand Equity: Green Brand Image, Green Satisfaction, and Green Trust. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 93(2), pp. 307-319.
• 8. Cho, C.H., Phillips, J.R., Hageman, A.M., Patten, D.M. (2009). Media richness, user trust, and perceptions of corporate social responsibility: An experimental investigation of visual web site disclosures. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 22(6), pp. 933-952.
• 9. Choi, D., Johnson, K.K.P. (2019). Influences of environmental and hedonic motivations on intention to purchase green products: An extension of the theory of planned behavior. Sustainable Production and Consumption, Vol. 18, pp. 145-155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2019.02.001.
• 10. Coskun, S., Ozgur, L., Polat, O., Gungor, A. (2016). A model proposal for green supply chain network design based on consumer segmentation. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 110, pp. 149-157. DOI 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.063.
• 11. Dahl, R. (2010). Greenwashing: Do you know what you're buying? Environmental health perspectives. Vol. 118, p. A246-52. 10.1289/ehp.118-a246.
• 12. Delmas, M.A., Burbano, V.C. (2011). The drivers of greenwashing. California Management Review, Vol. 54(1), pp. 64-87. https://doi.org/10.1525/cmr.2011.54.1.64.
• 13. Deloitte (2020). Raport: Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2020 Troska o środowisko naturalne i postawa proekologiczna. Warszawa: Deloitte Polska.
• 14. Deloitte (2021). Raport Climate Sentiment Index. Warszawa: Deloitte Polska.
• 15. Du, X. (2015). How the market values greenwashing? Evidence from China. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 128(3), pp. 547-574. DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2122-y.
• 16. Freeman, E.R. (1984). Strategic Management: A stakeholder approach. Marshfield (Mass): Pitman.
• 17. Geerts, W. (2014). Environmental certification schemes: hotel managers' views and perceptions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 39, pp. 87-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2014.02.007.
• 18. Gosselt, J.F., Rompay, T.V., Haske, L. (2017). Won't get fooled again: The effects of internal and external CSR eco-labeling. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 2, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3512-8.
• 19. Greer, J., Bruno, K. (1996). Greenwash: the reality behind corporate environmentalism. New York: Apex Press.
• 20. Groening, C., Sarkis, J., Zhu, Q. (2018). Green marketing consumer-level theory review: A compendium of applied theories and further research directions. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 172, pp. 1848-1866. DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.002.
• 21. Gualandris, J., Kalchschmidt, M. (2014). Customer pressure and innovativeness: Their role in sustainable supply chain management. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, No. 20(2), pp. 92-103. DOI:10.1016/j.pursup.2014.03.001.
• 22. Hamann, R., Kapelus, P. (2004). Corporate social responsibility inmining in Southern Africa: Fair accountability or just greenwash? Development, Vol. 47(3), pp. 85-92.
• 23. Hsu, T. (2011). Skepticism grows over products touted as eco-friendly. Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/21/business/la-fi-greenwash-20110521.
• 24. Huang, X.X., Hu, Z.P., Liu, C.S., Yu, D.J., Yu, L.F. (2016).The relationships between regulatory and customer pressure, green organizational responses, and green innovation performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 112, pp. 3423-3433.
• 25. Kahle, L.R., Gurel-Atay, E. (2015). Communicating sustainability for the green economy. New York, NY: Routledge.
• 26. Kantar. (2021). Ekocentryczni. Poznań: Blix, Kantar.
• 27. Kim, H.Y., Chung, J.E. (2011). Consumer purchase intention for organic personal care products. Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 28(1), pp. 40-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/ 07363761111101930.
• 28. Li, Y., Lu, Y., Zhang, X., Liu, L., Wang, M., Jiang, X. (2016). Propensity of green consumption behaviors in representative cities in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 133, pp. 1328-1336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.06.012.
• 29. Lyon, T.P., Maxwell, J.W. (2011). Greenwash: Corporate environmental disclosure under threat of audit. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Vol. 20, pp. 3-41. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530- 9134.2010.00282.x.
• 30. Lyon, T.P., Montgomery, A.W. (2015). The means and end of greenwash. Organization & Environment, Vol. 28(2), pp. 223-249. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026615575332.
• 31. Łuczka-Bakuła, W. (1996). Czynniki warunkujące proekologiczne zmiany modelu konsumpcji. Człowiek i Przyroda, No.4.
• 32. Marin, L., Ruiz, S., Rubio, A. (2009). The role of identity salience in the effects of corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior. Journal of business ethics, Vol. 84(1), pp. 65-78. DOI:10.1007/s10551-008-9673-8.
• 33. Marquis, C., Toffel, M.W. (2011). The Globalization of Corporate Environmental Disclosure: Accountability or Greenwashing? Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard School of Business.
• 34. Mazur-Wierzbicka, E. (2015). Wpływ konsumentów na rozwój społecznej odpowiedzialności przedsiębiorstw. Handel Wewnętrzny, No. 4, pp. 296-306.
• 35. Mazur-Wierzbicka, E. (2020). Changes of The Environment as A Creator of New Trends in Consumer Behavior. In: K.S. Soliman (Ed.), Proceedings of the 35th International Business Information Management Association Conference (IBIMA), pp. 6042-6049.
• 36. Mazur-Wierzbicka. E. (2016). Zachowania konsumenckie w kontekście społecznej odpowiedzialności biznesu. Studia i Prace Wydziału Nauk Ekonomicznych i Zarządzania Uniwersytet Szczeciński, No. 43(3), pp. 241-250. DOI: 10.18276/sip.2016.43/3-22.
• 37. MKiŚ (2020). Raport Badanie świadomości i zachowań ekologicznych mieszkańców Polski, Problemy Polski. Największe wyzwania dla Polski a problemy środowiska naturalnego. Warszawa: Ministerstwo Klimatu i Środowiska.
• 38. Nguyen, H.V., Nguyen, C.H., Hoang, T.T.B. (2019). Green consumption: Closing the intention behavior gap. Sustainable Development, Vol. 27(1), pp. 118-129. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1875.
• 39. Nguyen, T.K.C., Nguyen, D.M., Trinh, V.T., Tran, T.P.D., Cao, T.P. (2020). Factors affecting intention to purchase green products in Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, Business, Vol. 7(4), pp. 205-211. doi:10.13106/JAFEB.2020.VOL7.NO4.205.
• 40. Nguyen, T.T.H., Yang, Z., Nguyen, N., Johnson, L.W., Cao, T.K. (2019). Greenwash and green purchase intention: The mediating role of green skepticism. Sustainability, Vol. 11, p. 2653. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11092653.
• 41. Nielsen (2015). Global Corporate Sustainability Report: The sustainability imperative. New insights on consumer expectations. Nielsen.
• 42. Parguel, B., Benoît-Moreau, F., Larceneux, F. (2011). How sustainability ratings might deter 'greenwashing': A closer look at ethical corporate communication. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 102, pp. 15-28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0901-2.
• 43. Paul, J., Modi, A., Patel, J. (2016). Predicting green product consumption using theory of planned behavior and reasoned action. Journal of retailing and consumer services, Vol. 29, pp. 123-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.11.006.
• 44. Polonsky, M.J., Grau, S.L., Garma, R. (2010): The new greenwash? Potential marketing problems with carbon offsets. International Journal of Business Studies, Vol. 18(1), pp. 49-54.
• 45. Przybojewska, I. (2022). Greenwashing w kontekście unormowań prawnych. Prawne Problemy Górnictwa Ochrony Środowiska, No. 1, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.31261/ PPGOS.2022.01.07.
• 46. Ramus, C.A., Montiel, I. (2005). When are corporate environmental policies a form of greenwashing? Business & Society, Vol. 44, pp. 377-414. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0007650305278120.
• 47. Schons, L., Steinmeier, M. (2016). Walk the talk? How symbolic and substantive CSR actions affect firm performance depending on stakeholder proximity. Corporate social responsibility and environmental management, Vol. 23(6), pp. 358-372. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1381.
• 48. SEC Newgate (2021). Report Global ESG Monitor. Sydney: SEC Newgate.
• 49. Seele, P., Gatti, L. (2017). Greenwashing revisited: In search of a typology and accusation-based definitione incorporating legitimacy strategies. Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 26(2), pp. 239-252. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1912.
• 50. Sheehan, K., Atkinson, L. (2012). Special Issue on Green Advertising, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 41(4), pp. 5-7, DOI: 10.1080/00913367.2012.10672453.
• 51. Stern, P.C. (2000). New environmental theories: toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior. Journal of social issues, Vol. 56(3), pp. 407-424.
• 52. Sun, Z., Zhang, W. (2019). Do government regulations prevent greenwashing? An evolutionary game analysis of heterogeneous enterprises. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 231, pp. 1489-1502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.335.
• 53. Tateishi, E. (2018). Craving Gains and Claiming 'Green' by Cutting Greens? An Exploratory Analysis of Greenfield Housing Developments in Iskandar Malaysia. Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 40, pp. 370-393. DOI: 10.1080/07352166.2017.1355667.
• 54. TerraChoice (2009). The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. Environmental Claims in Consumer Markets. Summary Report: North America. Retrieved from: https://www.ul.com/insights/ sins greenwashing, 4.05.2022.
• 55. Vries, G., Terwel, B.W., Ellemers, N., Daamen, D.D.L. (2015). Sustainability or profitability? How communicated motives for environmental policy affect public perceptions of corporate greenwashing. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 22(3), pp.142-154. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1327.
• 56. Walker, K., Wan, F. (2012). The harm of symbolic actions and green-washing: Corporate actions and communications on environmental performance and their financial implications. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 109, pp. 227-242. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10551-011-1122-4.
• 57. Wang, H., Ma, B., Bai, R. (2019). The spillover effect of greenwashing behaviours: An experimental approach. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 38(3), pp. 283-295. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-01-2019-0006.
• 58. Witek, L. (2017). Idea konsumpcji ekologicznej wśród kobiet. Studia Ekonomiczne. Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Katowicach, No.337, pp. 194-203.
• 59. Witek, L., Kuźniar, W. (2020). Green Purchase Behavior: The Effectiveness of Sociodemographic Variables for Explaining Green Purchases in Emerging Market. Sustainability, Vol. 13(1), pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010209.
• 60. Woo, E.-J. (2021). The Relationship between Green Marketing and Firm Reputation: Evidence from Content Analysis. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, Vol. 8(4), 455-463. doi:10.13106/JAFEB.2021.VOL8.NO4.0455.
• 61. Wu, H.C., Wei, C.F., Tseng, L.Y., Cheng, C.C. (2018). What drives green brand switching behavior? Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 36,(6), pp. 694-708. DOI:10.1108/MIP-10-2017-0224.
• 62. Wu, S.I., Lin, S.R. (2016). The effect of green marketing strategy on business performance: a study of Organic farms in Taiwan. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, Vol. 27(1-2), pp. 141-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2014.959256.
• 63. Yu, E.P.-Y., Luu, B.V., Chen, C.H. (2020). Greenwashing in environmental, social and governance disclosures. Research in International Business and Finance, Vol. 52, p. 101192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2020.101192.

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.29119/1641-3466.2022.164.21