Green lies and their effect on intention to invest

Lucia Gatti, Marta Pizzetti and Peter Seele

Journal of Business Research, 2021, vol. 127, issue C, 228-240

Abstract: The article explores the consequences of greenwashing deceptions on intention to invest. It analyses whether the presence of a greenwashing lie to stakeholders is detrimental to intention to invest. When a company greenwashes, it deliberately deceives stakeholders about its environmental commitment. Our results suggest that greenwashing has a greater negative impact on intention to invest than a corporate misbehaviour unrelated to a deceptive communication. In order to understand how different forms of greenwashing may affect intention to invest, we develop a typology of greenwashing deceptions, based on the variety of greenwashing cases that have emerged recently. The results show that individuals are less inclined to invest in a company that falsifies its claims (falsification) and which engages in manipulative business practices (deceptive manipulation), as compared to a company that instrumentally selects which information to disclose (information selection) or tries to obscure misbehaviours through publicizing its good business practices (attention diversion).

Keywords: Greenwashing; CSR; Intention to invest; Corporate deception (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:127:y:2021:i:c:p:228-240

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.028

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