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Celebrities communicating about environmental sustainability on social media have the power to inspire young adults to engage in pro-environmental behavior, such as reducing their consumption behavior or only buying local and organic food. However, at the same time, celebrities’ carbon-rich and luxurious lifestyles might generate skepticism when they preach about environmental action. Thus, this study aims to shed light on the effects of celebrity pro-environmental messages on young adults’ perceived authenticity and greenwashing and, subsequently, on young adults’ pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, this study examined the moderation effect of congruent (vs incongruent) messages in the celebrity’s social media profile depicting an environmentally friendly (vs unfriendly) lifestyle.

The authors conducted a 3 (celebrity pro-environmental messages: with concrete action claim vs without vs control group) x 2 (celebrity message-lifestyle congruence: congruent vs incongruent) between-subjects experimental study (N = 400) with young adults (16–26 years old).

Results showed a significant positive effect of celebrity pro-environmental messages with concrete green action claims on authenticity perceptions only when the social media profile depicted a congruent environmentally friendly lifestyle. Moreover, higher perceived authenticity of the celebrity by social media audiences led to a higher likelihood of young adults’ engagement in pro-environmental behavior.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to consider celebrity message characteristics and young adults’ perceptions of authenticity and greenwashing when investigating the effects of celebrity pro-environmental messages on young adults’ pro-environmental behavior.

This study investigates the combined impact of two packaging cues (i.e. packaging material, recycled content claim) and a price premium on young consumers’ product perceptions and choices.

Experimental data were collected online via a questionnaire and a hypothetical choice task completed by 221 young consumers (i.e. 19–25 years). We manipulated two packaging cues for a liquid food product: the packaging material (glass vs plastic) and the presence (vs absence) of a recycled content claim (i.e. 100% recycled). We also manipulated whether a price premium was attached to these packaging variations.

The packaging material and the claim both had a significant influence on young consumers’ sustainability perceptions, and these perceptions extended to perceptions of various product attributes (e.g. healthiness, quality). When all products cost the same, participants were more likely to choose a glass bottle (i.e. 81%) than a plastic bottle, and a bottle with the recycled content claim (i.e. 79%) than a bottle without this claim. However, these preferences dropped significantly when a price premium was attached to these packaging variations.

While most studies have relied on surveys and qualitative methods to investigate consumers’ reactions to sustainable packaging, our research uses an experimental method to assess how packaging impacts young consumers’ perceptions and choices. Additionally, by manipulating the presence of a price premium, this study uniquely investigates the impact of such a premium on young consumers' willingness to choose sustainable packaging.

Organic food consumption has received great attention due to the increase in consumer environmental and health concerns. This study intends to analyse how customers' green purchasing intentions for organic food are affected by internal factors of attitude and health consciousness and external factors of social norms and environmental concern, as well as how green trust operates as a moderator between green purchase intention and actual purchase.

A quantitative research methodology was employed in this study. The data (n = 323) were gathered via a self-administered questionnaire. The respondents, who were current purchasers of organic food, were chosen through a purposive sampling technique. Data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling with the aid of IBM SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 25.

The results reveal that customers' green purchase intention for organic products is positively influenced by internal factors (attitude and health consciousness) and external factors (social norms and environmental concern). This study also shows the moderating effect of green trust on intention and action, demonstrating the necessity of building green trust among customers to diminish green purchasing inconsistency.

The study's results have ramifications for producers of organic goods, merchants and market oversight organizations. Establishing a viable strategy while considering customers' concerns about health and the environment is necessary. The formulated strategy must target specific customer niches, therefore strengthening customers' trust in and understanding of organic food items, which will in turn diminish green purchasing inconsistency in the organic industry.

This study contributes to the existing literature by extending the Theory of Planned Behaviour model to organic food consumption and by visualizing how various factors (internal, external and green trust) affect a consumer's inclination to make organic food purchases. The authors added to the empirical evidence that green trust plays a crucial role in stimulating green buying intentions into behaviour and ultimately diminishing green purchasing inconsistency.

Purpose: The study focusses on the systematic review of the greenwashing literature to present the research gaps to researchers for future studies.

Design/methodology/approach: The systematic review has been used to analyse past studies on ‘greenwashing’. The 325 research articles of the previous 10 years (2014–2023) were downloaded from the Scopus-indexed database using the keyword ‘greenwashing’.

The findings: There is a need for a study on greenwashing in developing countries like India. An attempt should be made to analyse the research with a large sample size.

Research limitations: The scope of the data used in this study is limited by the source of retrieval, that is, the Scopus. The current source adequately serves the study’s purpose, as the Scopus database is one of the most significant citation databases. This study analyses data from the years 2014 to 2023 to improve credibility and reduce biases.

Practical implications: The research findings will significantly help researchers, green marketers, and practitioners be aware of the emerging markets of greenwashing and consumers’ rising greenwashing perception of green products.

Originality/value: This study is a novel attempt to explore a better understanding of greenwashing for researchers. The study is original; work has yet to be performed on this topic.

Companies around the world have included ecolabels as a marketing strategy to convince consumers to choose products with lower environmental impact. However, the literature lacks a consensus on the effectiveness of ecolabels in persuading consumers to choose green products. The present meta-analysis addresses this gap by first evaluating the net persuasion effect of using ecolabels and second by investigating the role of cultural orientations, operationalized at the country level, in this effect.

This cross-cultural meta-analysis analyzed data from 26,116 consumers across 18 countries, encompassing 75 papers published between 1995 and 2023. Univariate and meta-regression analyses were utilized.

The results demonstrate that the presence (vs absence) of ecolabels has a medium positive persuasion effect. Findings show cultural orientations moderate the persuasion effect of ecolabels in that the effect is stronger in countries with high power distance, individualism, masculinity (motivation towards achievement and success) and uncertainty avoidance orientation, which create contingent conditions to ecolabels’ persuasion. In addition, results show other methodological factors that affect ecolabel persuasion. Contributions and implications of the findings are discussed.

This meta-analysis is distinctive for its global scope, including diverse countries and cultures. It addresses a crucial gap in ecolabel persuasion research, providing insights that reconcile discrepancies in existing studies. It offers practical implications for businesses and policymakers while laying the groundwork for future cross-cultural research in this field.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of environmental risk on corporate governance through market reaction to bank loan announcements.

Using the establishment of environment court in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper adopt the difference-in-differences approach based on listed firms during 2003–2013 to explore the impact of environment court on corporate governance.

This paper find that the environment court would weaken the cumulative abnormal return of loan announcements. Then, this paper confirm that the potential reason is that environment court worsens the interest conflict between majority and minority shareholders. Further, cross-sectional analysis suggests that bank’s supervision, market competition and analyst coverage can alleviate the impact of environment court on corporate governance.

Environment courts intensify firms’ internal interest disputes, thus causing the decrease of corporate governance, which can be observed through the effect of bank loan announcements.

This paper provide reference for environmental policy formulation and implementation, firms’ decision-makings and improving the banking regulatory system.

This paper makes a contribution to the studies about the impact of environment court on firms’ decision-making and investors’ reaction, the impact of external factors on corporate governance and bank loan announcements effect.

In this chapter, the most important regulatory measures required for rural marketing and sales have been identified – why protection of consumers' interests should be maintained; why rural development is important; the role of Code of Conduct, particularly on Advertising and Marketing Communication Practice 2011, and the role of Codes, in general, but in particular, International Code of Advertising Practice 1986, the Code of Marketing Practice, the International Code of Sales Promotion 1987, etc. have received attention.

Based on social and moral identification theories, this investigation aims to analyse how corporate greenwashing impacts employees' organizational citizenship behaviours for the environment (OCBEs), both directly and through job satisfaction and affective commitment.

Data collected from a questionnaire administered to 398 Portuguese employees who recognized greenwashing practices in their employer firms was analysed using structural equation modelling techniques through AMOS.

The results show that greenwashing has destructive effects on job satisfaction, affective commitment and OCBEs. This means that in the presence of greenwashing, the work environment is impacted to such an extent that employees are less eager to give their best: their voluntary actions aimed at environmental improvement fade. Thus, greenwashing adversely affects OCBEs, both directly and through job satisfaction and affective commitment.

This study advances the human resources management literature by providing an improved insight into the harmful consequences of greenwashing on employees' emotions and, consequently, their voluntary engagement in environmental extra-role activities that are not directly related to their contractual duties.

The purpose of this study is to assist brand and product managers in selecting appropriate ingredient names for environmentally friendly products. It investigates the effects of unfamiliar ingredients on consumers’ evaluations of environmental friendliness and their purchase intentions, based on the cue consistency theory.

Five experimental studies (n = 968) were conducted to achieve the research objectives. Study 1 found that consumers tended to avoid choosing unfamiliar ingredients. Study 2 examined the impact of ingredient familiarity on consumers’ perceived greenness. Study 3 investigated the mediating role of perceived naturalness. Studies 4 and 5, respectively, explored the moderating effects of emphasizing the importance of technology in environmental conservation and product category.

The findings indicate that when environmentally friendly products are labeled with unfamiliar ingredients (vs. familiar), consumers’ perceived greenness and purchase intentions decrease. This effect is mediated by perceived naturalness. Moreover, the negative impact of unfamiliar ingredients is mitigated by emphasizing the importance of technology and the high-tech product category.

This paper reveals the unique role of unfamiliar ingredients in shaping consumer attitudes toward environmentally friendly products. Based on cue consistency theory, it uncovers how unfamiliar ingredients influence the perceived greenness of environmentally friendly products through perceived naturalness. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates the impact of emphasizing the importance of technology (emphasis vs. control) and product category (high-tech vs. low-tech) on consumer attitudes and behaviors toward environmentally friendly products.

COVID-19 has rendered many firms' business models, strategies and performance vulnerable, including entrepreneurial financials. Some managed to survive, while others drowned in the epidemic swamp. This study offers an exceptional model to fill the gap.

Employing a rigorous qualitative design, the study utilizes a novel framework that integrates institutional theory (IT) and corporate entrepreneurial strategy (CES). Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and thematic analysis identified key themes: external environment, institutional environment and organizational response, CES and performance and survival.

The study reveals the dual nature of the external and institutional environment, acting as both facilitators and barriers for entrepreneurial financial firms (EFFs). It highlights the robust CES exhibited by these firms during the pandemic, demonstrating their adept balancing and integration of different CES components in their organizational response. The EFFs employ a mix of financial and nonfinancial indicators for performance assessment, yielding varied outcomes based on contextual factors.

EFFs and stakeholders are guided to adapt their business models, balance institutional pressures, implement CES and evaluate performance. It advocates collaboration within the entrepreneurial finance ecosystem and leveraging opportunities emerging from the pandemic, including new market segments, technologies, innovations and regulatory changes.

This topic is underexplored in many emerging economies. Fresh perspectives and rigor frameworks are developed on how EFFs navigate and capitalize on the pandemic under uncertainties.