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The purpose of this paper is to synthesize insights from the emerging work in accounting on greenwashing and sustainability assurance and propose an agenda for future research in this area.

This article offers an original analysis of papers published on greenwashing and sustainability assurance research in the field of accounting. It adopts a systematic literature review and a narrative approach to analyse the dominant themes and key findings in this new and rapidly evolving field. From this overview, specific avenues for future research are identified.

In the past few years there has been a substantial spike in concern relating to greenwashing among academics, practitioners, regulators and society. This growing concern has only partly been reflected in the research literature. To date, research has primarily focused on: (1) the characteristics of firms adopting sustainability assurance, (2) the challenges facing sustainability auditors, (3) the development of appropriate assurance standards and regulations, and (4) capital market responses to greenwashing and sustainability auditing/assurance. Three key future research issues with respect to greenwashing are identified: (1) the future of standard-setter attempts to regulate greenwashing, (2) professional jockeying in sustainability reporting assurance, and (3) capital market opportunities and challenges relating to greenwashing and assurance.

Despite the profound economic and reputational impact of greenwashing and the rapid development of sustainability assurance services, research in accounting remains fragmented and emergent. This review identifies avenues offering considerable scope for inter-disciplinarity and bridging the divide between academia and practice.

There is emerging evidence in the accounting literature that investors react negatively to corporate greenwashing. But does that hold for all investors, or do different types of investors react differently? This paper aims to study retail investors’ responses to media reports on corporate greenwashing and how these responses depend upon the investors’ social value orientation. The authors argue that media reporting on corporate greenwashing negatively affects the rationale for allocating funds to firms engaging in greenwashing. The authors also expect this reaction to be stronger for prosocial investors compared to proself investors.

The authors conduct an online experiment with 229 participants representing retail investors in the German-speaking countries.

The results show that retail investors who received media reports on deceptive disclosure invest more funds in the company that does not engage in greenwashing (and less in the firm that engages in greenwashing) than investors who did not receive these reports. The authors’ results provide novel evidence that this effect primarily holds for investors with a prosocial value orientation. Finally, the authors’ data show that lower trust in the firm that engages in greenwashing partially mediates the effect of media reports on investor choices.

The authors provide unique evidence how different types of investors react to media reports on greenwashing. The authors find that moral motives, rather than risk-return considerations, drive investor responses to greenwashing. Overall, these findings support the important function of the media as an intermediary in stock market participation and highlight the pivotal role of individual traits in investors’ responses to greenwashing.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nuances of the consequences of greenwashing in the consumer and financial markets. Greenwashing is discussed frequently but in very abstract terms. Hence, a closer examination of the palpable consequences elucidates the ripple effects of this widespread phenomenon.

Focal points are the concept of green marketing, the stigmatization of corporations in the media and the regulatory consequences of greenwashing behaviour across consumer and financial markets. The two markets are paralleled in order to trace the novelties as well as the points of commonality in greenwashing.

The current consequences are an insufficient deterrence in both markets. The regulatory trend in both markets is leaning towards more stringent and punitive measures, which will likely affect the efficacy of the deterrence factor.

The influence on consumer perception is identified both as a motivating factor for greenwashing and as one of the most immediate elements which is negatively influenced by its exposition. In addition to the fact that greenwashing practices are common across the two markets, this paper identifies that a systemic deterioration of investor trusts significantly compromises the potential of sustainable finance and impacts investment in the financial market, mirrored in the negative consequences on consumer reactions to greenwashed products.

This study aims to examine the negative effects of excessive product packaging (EPP), greenwashing and green confusion on green brand equity (GBE). Furthermore, the moderating role of brand credibility in mitigating the negative effects of green marketing was investigated.

A within-subject experiment was conducted to evaluate excessive versus minimal product packaging to test the proposed hypotheses. Data analysis was performed with SmartPLS 3.3.3, which analyzed data from 206 consumers.

The results showed that EPP positively predicts greenwashing and green confusion. However, greenwashing has a negative impact on GBE. Brand credibility was also discovered to moderate the negative relationship between greenwashing and GBE, thereby reducing the negative effect of greenwashing.

The findings imply that marketing managers should understand the consumers’ concerns for the environment, making product and brand strategies that promote environmental protection and sustainability.

This study contributes to the green marketing literature by empirically validating the positive impacts of EPP on greenwashing and green confusion, as well as the negative influence of greenwashing on GBE. Furthermore, it reveals how brand credibility can reduce the harmful effects of greenwashing on GBE.

Examinamos los efectos negativos del embalaje excesivo de los productos, el “greenwashing” y la confusión verde sobre el valor de la marca verde. Además, se investigó el papel moderador de la credibilidad de la marca para mitigar los efectos negativos del marketing ecológico.

Se llevó a cabo un experimento intra-sujeto para evaluar el embalaje excesivo de los productos frente al mínimo envase posible, con el fin de comprobar las hipótesis propuestas. El análisis de los datos se realizó con SmartPLS 3.3.3, con una muestra de 206 consumidores.

Los resultados mostraron que el embalaje excesivo de los productos predice positivamente el greenwashing y la confusión ecológica. Sin embargo, el greenwashing tiene un impacto negativo en el valor de la marca verde. También se descubrió que la credibilidad de la marca modera la relación negativa entre el greenwashing y el valor de la marca verde, reduciendo así el efecto negativo del greenwashing.

Las conclusiones implican que los directores de marketing deben comprender las preocupaciones de los consumidores por el medio ambiente, elaborando estrategias de producto y de marca que promuevan la protección del medio ambiente y la sostenibilidad.

Este estudio contribuye a la bibliografía sobre el marketing ecológico al validar empíricamente los efectos positivos del embalaje excesivo de los productos sobre el greenwashing y la confusión ecológica, así como la influencia negativa del greenwashing sobre el valor de la marca ecológica. Además, revela cómo la credibilidad de la marca puede reducir los efectos perjudiciales del greenwashing sobre el valor de la marca verde.

我们研究了产品过度包装、洗绿和绿色混淆对绿色品牌资产的负面影响。此外, 我们还研究了品牌信誉在减轻绿色营销负面影响中的调节作用。

我们进行了一项受试者内实验, 以评估产品过度包装和最小包装, 从而检验所提出的假设。用SmartPLS 3.3.3进行数据分析, 该软件分析了206来自名消费者的数据。

结果显示, 过度的产品包装正向预测了洗绿和绿色混淆。然而, 洗绿对绿色品牌资产有负面的影响。品牌信誉也被发现可以调节洗绿和绿色品牌资产之间的负面关系, 从而减少洗绿的负面影响。

研究结果表明, 营销经理应该了解消费者对环境的关注, 制定促进环境保护和可持续发展的的产品和品牌战略。

本研究通过实证验证产品过度包装对洗绿和绿色混淆的积极影响, 以及洗绿对绿色品牌资产的负面影响, 为绿色营销文献做出了贡献。此外, 它还揭示了品牌信誉如何减少洗绿对绿色品牌资产的有害影响。

绿色营销, 洗绿, 绿色混淆, 品牌资产, 品牌信誉, 以及产品过度包装

文章类型： 研究型论文

Some wrong methods have emerged in the form of greenwashing while on the way to becoming a green and sustainable brand or business. Recently, it has been questioned whether businesses or brands act by their green image. This study aims to determine whether greenwashing practices represent a slow transition to sustainability or a rapid escape.

This study used secondary data sources and reviewed collected secondary sources. It was a qualitative study due to its methodology. The findings were mostly based on the author’s assumptions through review results.

As a result of the review of the literature and current sources, it was determined that there are two sides of greenwashing: a dark side and a white side. The dark side of greenwashing represented a rapid escape from sustainability and the white side of greenwashing represented a slow transition to sustainability. Positive and negative elements were summarized in the study and the study gave an original model showing two sides of greenwashing.

This study provides a viewpoint on greenwashing. This study is limited with its review results and used secondary data. Different approaches or different studies can explore different results for the related literature.

The purpose of this study is not to justify companies or brands employing greenwashing. However, for a sustainable future, the contribution of manufacturers, businesses and brands as the supply side has a vital value. Therefore, it is recommended to criticize greenwashing by encouraging brands and companies that are trying to take more positive steps in the transition to sustainability.

Policymakers and individuals can improve the dark side of greenwashing. The biggest motive for sustainable production is the demand for green consumers. Accordingly, firms and brands will be sustainable and green in the long term in a good way as consumers and policymakers guide them in a good way.

This study gives an alternative view of greenwashing by comparing the dark side with the white side. The literature mostly expressed that greenwashing had bad implications but this study tried to find the good sides of greenwashing.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence that the occurrence of greenwashing has on the consumer perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

This paper observed the market indication that a consistent undermining of authentic commitment to CSR taints consumer perception. Investigating how the motivations behind greenwashing contribute to the presentation of CSR was the first means of examining the market forces. Consumer orientation was used as a guiding principle to consider the short- and long-term perspective of a greenwasher.

Individual instances of greenwashing contribute to a collective deterioration of marketplace trust in the promises of CSR. The negative influence on CSR is not isolated to the greenwashing perpetrator but casts a wider effect. The consequences of greenwashing are not isolated but widely dispersed.

Whilst much of the literature focuses on the stigmatisation of individual firms, it is crucial to note how marketplace trust is eroded. In addition, the perception of CSR-related regulations is for example influenced but rarely recognised as a consequence of greenwashing behaviour.

The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of greenwashing and sustainable development goal (SDG)-washing processes by comparing ex ante (SDG Compass) and ex post (SDG Compliance) indicators and investigating whether the limitations associated with these indicators encourage companies to engage in washing processes.

The authors use a sample of 1,154 companies included in the S&P Sustainability Yearbook (formerly the RobecoSAM Yearbook). The authors test for the presence of greenwashing by comparing ex ante and ex post indicators for each SDG, whereas to test for SDG-washing, the authors compare the two ex ante and ex post approaches considering the full set of SDGs.

The results show that there is no consistency between the two types of indicators to measure the level of SDG implementation in organisations. This lack of consistency may facilitate both greenwashing and SDG-washing processes, which is due to the design and limitations of these measurement tools.

Companies may choose those indicators that paint their commitment to the SDGs in the best light, but they may also select indicators based on the SDGs they want to report on. These two options would combine greenwashing and SDG-washing.

The shift towards improved standards and regulations for measuring SDG achievement is the result of several social factors such as investor scrutiny, regulatory reform, consumer awareness and increased corporate accountability.

Few previous studies have analysed in detail the interaction between greenwashing and SDG-washing. They focus on the use of ex ante or ex post indicators separately, with samples composed of local companies, and without considering the whole set of SDGs.

Sustainable manufacturing practices are excessively being practised in the industry today. The impact on sustainability is ever more visible to the stakeholders because of faster and more efficient communication due to social media and the internet. This paper aims to study the impact of greenwashing by corporations and the stakeholders’ environmental concerns on consumers’ sustainable purchase behaviour.

The relationships between the impression of “greenwash”, sustainable purchasing behaviour, green word-of-mouth and green brand loyalty were investigated in this quantitative study. Participants who made up a representative sample filled out written surveys. The variables of interest were evaluated using scales that have undergone validation. Structural equation modelling was used in mediation analysis to investigate the mediating impacts of green word-of-mouth and green brand loyalty. The goal of the study was to offer empirical proof of how these factors affected consumers’ choices for sustainable products.

Analysis of the mediating relationship of perceived customer effectiveness in the relationship between environmental concern and sustainable purchase behaviour has been studied.

This study implicates that a company that primarily markets basic green and sustainable products or services must invest in informing people about environmental concerns and that by proper practices, a lot of the harm to the environment can be reduced.

Corporate greenwashing, also called false greening, has received much public attention recently. The unethical practices by the corporations, which previously majorly went unnoticed, have also recently gained a lot of visibility. This paper is one of the early attempts towards establishing the effect of corporate greenwashing on sustainable consumer behaviour.

This study aims to investigate the relationships among monetary cost (stimulus), perceived greenwash fear, attitude and perceived behavioural control (organism-related factors) and green hotel patronage intention (response) using the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model.

A total of 262 valid questionnaires were collected. Data were collected using the purposive sampling method and tested using the partial least squares (PLS) approach.

Monetary cost is positively related to only one organism-related factor which is perceived greenwash fear. All organism-related factors are positively related to response, which is green hotel patronage intention. Attitude mediates the relationship between perceived greenwash fear and green hotel patronage intention, as well as perceived behavioural control and green hotel patronage intention.

A longitudinal study can be performed in the future to observe the actual green hotel patronage behaviour of customers.

Green hoteliers should focus on the development of communication strategies to enhance their corporate reputation. Green hoteliers also need to build trust by showing their green initiatives are genuine, identify consumers who are willing to pay more for green hotels and offer promotions with price incentives such as frequency discounts, coupons and rebates to increase interest and trialability.

Few studies have focused on the use of monetary cost as a stimulus in the S-O-R model to predict green hotel patronage intention. This study also tested the mediating effect of attitude, one of the organism-related factors, in the model.

Drawing upon social exchange theory, this research investigates the interplay of corporate philanthropy, environmental marketing strategy, relationship quality, greenwashing, and customer citizenship behavior in the family-owned hotels of an emerging market.

A field survey questionnaire was used to gather the data from 394 hotel customers by randomly selecting three premium family-owned hotels in Lahore: Faletti’s, Avari, and Holiday Inn. The data was analyzed using the structural regression modeling (SRM) technique with the assistance of AMOS version 24.

The results show that corporate philanthropy and environmental marketing strategy positively influence relationship quality, and relationship quality positively influences customer citizenship behavior. Relationship quality partially mediates the association between corporate philanthropy and customer citizenship behavior, but we found that greenwashing does not have a moderating role.

This research has theoretical implications for marketing scholars and practical implications of family-owned hotels in emerging markets.

The study has contributed contextually by collecting a unique dataset from family-owned hotels in an emerging market. Theoretically, we have conceptualized a model through the Social Exchange Theory by recommending relationship quality as a mediator and greenwashing as a moderator.