The power of 'executional greenwashing'. Evidence from the automotive sector

Béatrice Parguel () and Florence Benoît-Moreau ()
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Béatrice Parguel: DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Florence Benoît-Moreau: DRM ERMES - DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: Using classical models of information processing and persuasion, this study examines two interdependent issues regarding 'executional greenwashing'. First, it questions the efficiency of executional elements evoking nature to artificially enhance the brand's ecological image. Second, it studies the potential efficiency of environmental performance labels to help consumers form an accurate evaluation of the brand's ecological image and counterbalance this specific type of greenwashing. An experiment conducted with a representative sample of French consumers reveals the efficiency of greenwashing to mislead consumers in their evaluation of brand ecological image, whatever their degree of environmental expertise. Furthermore, the display of environmental performance labels is not enough to help consumers to revise their judgment, even expert ones. Precisely, environmental performance labels are efficient to guide brands' perceptions but only among expert consumers, and only in neutral advertising setting: they are not sufficient to counterbalance greenwashing. The authors discuss theoretical and regulatory implications.

Keywords: Greenwashing; Advertising execution; Environmental labeling; Environmental policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-05-28
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00948933v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Lalonde Conference, May 2013, France

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