The DOI matches its Crossref record; 66 of the 66 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Greenwashing and environmental communication: Effects on stakeholders' perceptions
Open accessAbstract
Since the first Earth Day in the 1970s, corporate environmental performance has increased dramatically, and cases of greenwashing have increased sharply. The term greenwash refers to a variety of different misleading communications that aim to form overly positive beliefs among stakeholders about a company's environmental practices. The growing number of corporate social responsibility claims, whether founded or not, creates difficulties for stakeholders in distinguishing between truly positive business performance and companies that only appear to embrace a model of sustainable development. In this context, through the lens of legitimacy and signalling theory, we intend to understand and assess the different influences that various types of misleading communications about environmental issues have on stakeholders' perceptions of corporate environmental responsibility and greenwashing. Stakeholder responses to an environmental scandal will also be assessed. The hypotheses tested through a four‐for‐two design experiment reveal that different levels of greenwashing have a significantly different influence on stakeholders' perceptions of corporate environmental responsibility and stakeholders' reactions to environmental scandals.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2095101 · Cited by 38,435
Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony
Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/226550 · Cited by 28,308
Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches
Suchman, M. C. (1995) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/258788 · Cited by 19,903
Strategic Responses to Institutional Processes
Oliver, C. (1991) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.1991.4279002 · Cited by 8,950
Signaling Theory: A Review and Assessment
Connelly, B. L., Certo, S. T., Ireland, R. D., & Reutzel, C. R. (2011) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/0149206310388419 · Cited by 6,735
Developing and validating trust measures for e-commerce: an integrative typology
McKnight, D. H., Choudhury, V., & Kacmar, C. (2002) · Information Systems Research · doi:10.1287/isre.13.3.334.81 · Cited by 5,550
Mitchell, R. K., Agle, B. R., & Wood, D. J. (1997) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/259247 · Cited by 5,039
A Social Information Processing Approach to Job Attitudes and Task Design
Salancik, G. R., & Pfeffer, J. (1978) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2392563 · Cited by 4,372
Organizational Legitimacy: Social Values and Organizational Behavior
Dowling, J., & Pfeffer, J. (1975) · The Pacific Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/1388226 · Cited by 3,876
Delmas, M. A., & Burbano, V. C. (2011) · California Management Review · doi:10.1525/cmr.2011.54.1.64 · Cited by 3,441 · cited 4×
“greenwashing is associated with an explicit strategy through which companies advertise, in an untruthful and distorted way, the environmental characteristics of a specific product or service (Delmas and Burbano, 2011; TerraChoice, 2009).”
BackgroundInfluentialFools Rush in? The Institutional Context of Industry Creation
Aldrich, H. E., & Fiol, C. M. (1994) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.1994.9412190214 · Cited by 1,872
Managing Public Impressions: Environmental Disclosures in Annual Reports
Neu, D., Warsame, H., & Pedwell, K. (1998) · Accounting, Organizations and Society · doi:10.1016/s0361-3682(97)00008-1 · Cited by 1,809
From smoke and mirrors to walking the talk: Decoupling in the contemporary world
Bromley, P., & Powell, W. W. (2012) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/19416520.2012.684462 · Cited by 1,656
The Means and End of Greenwash
Lyon, T. P., & Montgomery, A. W. (2015) · Organization & Environment · doi:10.1177/1086026615575332 · Cited by 1,636 · cited 10×
“Lyon and Montgomery (2015) highlight the need for further research aimed at a broader inquiry of the taxonomy of the greenwashing phenomenon.”
BackgroundInfluentialGreenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure under Threat of Audit
Lyon, T. P., & Maxwell, J. W. (2011) · Journal of Economics & Management Strategy · doi:10.1111/j.1530-9134.2010.00282.x · Cited by 1,569
The relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: a research note
Patten, D. M. (2002) · Accounting, Organizations and Society · doi:10.1016/s0361-3682(02)00028-4 · Cited by 1,484
The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Activities on Companies With Bad Reputations
Yoon, Y., Gürhan‐Canli, Z., & Schwarz, N. (2006) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15327663jcp1604_9 · Cited by 1,429 · cited 3×
“In recent studies (Cho et al., 2009; Vries et al., 2015; Yoon et al., 2006), the importance of the antecedents of greenwashing has been analysed, focusing on how and why information provided by firms about the reasons for their activities in environmental measures can affect stakeholders'…”
BackgroundSocial Accountability and Corporate Greenwashing
Laufer, W. S. (2003) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1023/a:1022962719299 · Cited by 1,366
Wagner, T., Lutz, R. J., & Weitz, B. A. (2009) · Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1509/jmkg.73.6.77 · Cited by 1,339 · cited 1×
“To prevent a distortion of the results due to pre-existing corporate or brand perceptions (Aggarwal, 2004; Wagner et al., 2009), we used fictitious companies but realistic typologies of communication to test our hypotheses.”
MethodTo be different, or to be the same? It’s a question (and theory) of strategic balance
Deephouse, D. L. (1999) · Strategic Management Journal · doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-0266(199902)20:2<147::aid-smj11>3.0.co;2-q · Cited by 1,304
Chen, Y.-S., & Chang, C.-H. (2013) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1360-0 · Cited by 1,281
Walker, K., & Wan, F. (2012) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-011-1122-4 · Cited by 1,198
The Effects of Brand Relationship Norms on Consumer Attitudes and Behavior
Aggarwal, P. (2004) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/383426 · Cited by 1,068
The implications of Organizational Legitimacy for Corporate Social Performance and Disclosure
Lindblom, C. K. (1994) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,042
Lab Experiments Are a Major Source of Knowledge in the Social Sciences
Falk, A., & Heckman, J. J. (2009) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1168244 · Cited by 1,033
Parguel, B., Benoît-Moreau, F., & Larceneux, F. (2011) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-011-0901-2 · Cited by 1,024 · cited 1×
“In recent decades, due to the growing sensitivity of stakeholders to environmental issues, it seems that greenwashing has become a widespread attitude among companies to try to outdo their competitors (Parguel et al., 2011).”
BackgroundWhen Is Honesty the Best Policy? The Effect of Stated Company Intent on Consumer Skepticism
Foreh, M. R., & Grier, S. (2003) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15327663jcp1303_15 · Cited by 1,003 · cited 1×
“People may be suspicious of the truthfulness of companies’ environmental claims and may speculate about the subtle purposes (Forehand and Grier, 2003; Vries et al., 2015; Yoon et al., 2006).”
BackgroundCSR and environmental responsibility: motives and pressures to adopt green management practices
Babiak, K., & Trendafilova, S. (2011) · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · doi:10.1002/csr.229 · Cited by 904
Nyilasy, G., Gangadharbatla, H., & Paladino, A. (2014) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-013-1944-3 · Cited by 815
Seele, P., & Gatti, L. (2017) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.1912 · Cited by 693
A research note on standalone corporate social responsibility reports: Signaling or greenwashing?
Mahoney, L. S., Thorne, L., Cecil, L., & LaGore, W. (2013) · Critical Perspectives on Accounting · doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2012.09.008 · Cited by 665
Testa, F., Boiral, O., & Iraldo, F. (2018) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2960-2 · Cited by 645
How the Market Values Greenwashing? Evidence from China
Du, X. (2015) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2122-y · Cited by 636
When Are Corporate Environmental Policies a Form of Greenwashing?
Ramus, C. A., & Montiel, I. (2005) · Business & Society · doi:10.1177/0007650305278120 · Cited by 618
“More than words”: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal
Siano, A., Vollero, A., Conte, F., & Amabile, S. (2017) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.11.002 · Cited by 599
Berrone, P., Fosfuri, A., & Gelabert, L. (2017) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2816-9 · Cited by 592
Milne, M. J., & Patten, D. M. (2002) · Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal · doi:10.1108/09513570210435889 · Cited by 592
Green marketing, public policy and managerial strategies
Prakash, A. (2002) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.338 · Cited by 481
Cormier, D., & Magnan, M. (2015) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.1829 · Cited by 439
de Vries, G., Terwel, B. W., Ellemers, N., & Daamen, D. D. L. (2015) · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · doi:10.1002/csr.1327 · Cited by 288
Greenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure under Threat of Audit
Lyon, T. P., & Maxwell, J. W. (2006) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.938988 · Cited by 267
Cho, C. H., Patten, D. M., & Roberts, R. W. (2006) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9019-3 · Cited by 261
Guo, R., Tao, L., Li, C. B., & Wang, T. (2017) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2672-7 · Cited by 255
Does it pay to be a greenwasher or a brownwasher?
Testa, F., Miroshnychenko, I., Barontini, R., & Frey, M. (2018) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.2058 · Cited by 255
Perrini, F., Castaldo, S., Misani, N., & Tencati, A. (2010) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.660 · Cited by 253
How corporate social responsibility information influences stakeholders' intentions
Alniacik, U., Alniacik, E., & Genc, N. (2011) · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · doi:10.1002/csr.245 · Cited by 212
The Intentions with Which the Road is Paved: Attitudes to Liberalism as Determinants of Greenwashing
Roulet, T. J., & Touboul, S. (2014) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2097-8 · Cited by 209
Chan, S. Y. S., & Leung, P. (2006) · Managerial Auditing Journal · doi:10.1108/02686900610661432 · Cited by 201
Intra‐ and intersectoral effects in environmental disclosures: evidence for legitimacy theory?
Campbell, D. (2003) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.375 · Cited by 200
LEGITIMACY AND THE INTERNET: AN EXAMINATION OF CORPORATE WEB PAGE ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURES
Patten, D. M., & Crampton, W. (2004) · Advances in Environmental Accounting & Management · doi:10.1016/s1479-3598(03)02002-8 · Cited by 184
Climate Change and Mandatory Carbon Reporting: Impacts on Business Process and Performance
Tang, S., & Demeritt, D. (2018) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.1985 · Cited by 183
Cho, C. H., Phillips, J. R., Hageman, A. M., & Patten, D. M. (2009) · Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal · doi:10.1108/09513570910980481 · Cited by 179
The Extended Consequence of Greenwashing: Perceived Consumer Skepticism
(2015) · International journal of business and information/International journal of business & information · doi:10.6702/ijbi.2015.10.4.2 · Cited by 150
Brunton, M. A., Eweje, G., & Taşkın, N. (2015) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.1889 · Cited by 146
(2003) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781410607256 · Cited by 109
Dirty Businesses in Italy: A Case-study of Illegal Trafficking in Hazardous Waste
Massari, M., & Monzini, P. (2004) · Global Crime · doi:10.1080/17440570500273416 · Cited by 103
Price Fairness in the Case of Green Products: Enterprises' Policies and Consumers' Perceptions
Dekhili, S., & Achabou, M. A. (2012) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.1763 · Cited by 78
Uncovering the Value of Green Advertising for Environmental Management Practices
Wong, C. W. Y., Lai, K., Shang, K., & Lu, C. (2013) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.1776 · Cited by 74
Turning Point. Are We Doing the Right Thing? Leadership and Prioritisation for Public Benefit
Pearson, J. (2010) · Journal of Corporate Citizenship · doi:10.9774/gleaf.4700.2010.sp.00006 · Cited by 63
Musgrove, C. (. F., Choi, P., & Chris Cox, K. (2018) · Services Marketing Quarterly · doi:10.1080/15332969.2018.1514794 · Cited by 56
Collison, D., Lorraine, N., & Power, D. (2003) · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · doi:10.1002/csr.45 · Cited by 51
Rege, A., & Lavorgna, A. (2016) · European Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1177/1477370816649627 · Cited by 51
Communicating greener strategies: a study of on-pack communication
Prothero, A., Peattie, K., & McDonagh, P. (1997) · Business Strategy and the Environment · Cited by 41
A model for conducting experimental environmental accounting research
Alewine, H. C. (2010) · Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal · doi:10.1108/20408021011089275 · Cited by 40
Besel, R. D., Burke, K., & Christos, V. (2015) · Journal of Risk Research · doi:10.1080/13669877.2015.1017830 · Cited by 27
Wilson, A. M., Robinson, S. G., & Darke, P. R. (2010) · ACR North American Advances · Cited by 8
Cited by
Greenwashing behavior and firm value – From the perspective of board characteristics
Chen, P., & Dagestani, A. A. (2023) · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · doi:10.1002/csr.2488 · Cited by 269
Santos, C., Coelho, A., & Marques, A. (2024) · Management Review Quarterly · doi:10.1007/s11301-023-00337-5 · Cited by 235
Sneideriene, A., & Legenzova, R. (2025) · Research in International Business and Finance · doi:10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102720 · Cited by 150
Cremasco, C., & Boni, L. (2024) · Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment · doi:10.1080/20430795.2022.2124838 · Cited by 88
Boedijanto, F. J. O., & Delina, L. L. (2024) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2024.103638 · Cited by 33
Metadata
- Authors
- Torelli, R., Balluchi, F., & Lazzini, A.
- Venue
- Business Strategy and the Environment
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-08-14
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 407-421
- ISSN
- 0964-4733 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0836
- OpenAlex
- W2968371337
- Cited by
- 577
- References
- 66
- FWCI
- 39.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
