Green Astroturfing Unpacked: The Moral Judgment of Direct and Indirect Tactics

Safaa Adil, Gilles Grolleau () and Naoufel Mzoughi ()
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Safaa Adil: ESSCA Research Lab - ESSCA - ESSCA – École supérieure des sciences commerciales d'Angers = ESSCA Business School
Gilles Grolleau: ESSCA - ESSCA – École supérieure des sciences commerciales d'Angers = ESSCA Business School
Naoufel Mzoughi: ECODEVELOPPEMENT - Ecodéveloppement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement

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Abstract: Some companies use deceptive tactics to persuade people that a particular position or recommendation has widespread support and originates from grassroots movements-a phenomenon referred to as astroturfing. We demonstrate that astroturfing exploits basic human heuristics to advance the sponsor's interests, often undermining genuine efforts to address environmental challenges. Moreover, we examine the moral seriousness of green astroturfing in a business-related context and test experimentally whether individuals perceive it differently when it originates directly from the company vs. through an intermediary. We find that moral judgment and recommended punishment for green astroturfing are significantly higher when the company outsources it.

Keywords: punishment; public opinion; moral judgment; green astroturfing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05298833v1
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Published in International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, inPress

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05298833

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