Solid Green and Greenwashing: When Is Communication Really Green?

Maria Teresa Cuomo, Gerardino Metallo, Debora Tortora, Alfonso Siano, Agostino Vollero and Philip J. Kitchen

Micro & Macro Marketing, 2015, issue 3, 463-486

Abstract: The aim of the paper is to investigate consumer perceptions involving green communication, analysed with reference to audience efficacy. In particular, the focus of the study is on the object of communication, in terms of responsible corporate processes or products, which are ecosustainable, natural, green and so on. Starting from a critical overview on the topic, an interpretive model of green communication is suggested and an empirical analysis is conducted, using a quali-quantitative approach. In particular, to verify whether the green content of communication encourages consumer purchases, the perceptions of the sample with respect to four print advertisements of companies positioning themselves as «green», are examined. The variables used to evaluate the advertisements are extracted from the Iso standard 14021. Findings suggest that sustainable communication can be redefined, in terms of «response-ability» for the requirements of what still remains nowadays, a niche market.

Keywords: Green Communication; Sustainability; Ethical Consumption; Greenwashing. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.rivisteweb.it/download/article/10.1431/81836 (application/pdf)
https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.1431/81836 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mul:jyf1hn:doi:10.1431/81836:y:2015:i:3:p:463-486

Access Statistics for this article

Micro & Macro Marketing is currently edited by Dario Romano

More articles in Micro & Macro Marketing from Società editrice il Mulino
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().