Can evoking nature in advertising mislead consumers? The power of ‘executional greenwashing'

In the citing paper

“However, images of pleasant natural scenery can also be misused in green advertising to induce false perceptions of a brand's greenness without referring to the actual environmental features of advertised products in what is known as executional greenwashing (Parguel, Benoit-Moreau, and Russell 2015, p. 108).”

In the citing paper

“Recent research indicates that the mere presence of a nature-evoking picture in advertising positively affects consumers' perceptions of the advertised brand's ecological image, which in turn prompts more favorable attitudes toward the brand than attitudes prompted by the same advertising without imagery of nature (Parguel, Benoit-Moreau, and Russell 2015).”

In the citing paper

“Another important indicator of consumers' environmental involvement is their objective knowledge about environmental issues (Ellen 1994; Mohr, Ero glu, and Ellen 1998; Parguel, Benoit-Moreau, and Russell 2015).”

In the citing paper

“Thus, whereas previous research investigated only the primary effects of deceptive advertising on attitudes toward brands (e.g., Newell, Goldsmith, and Banzhaf 1998; Parguel, Benoit-Moreau, and Russell 2015), our findings clarify how attitudes toward ads and brands are formed in response to exposure to deceptive ads.”

In the citing paper

“One exception is a study by Parguel, Benoit-Moreau, and Russell (2015), the results of which indicate that the mere presence of a natureevoking image enhanced a brand's ecological image among consumers.”

In the citing paper

“This finding stresses an additional mechanism not investigated in our study, which might be perceived greenwashing by the use of imagery (see Parguel, Benoit-Moreau, and Russell 2015).”

In the citing paper

“evidence also proposed that consumers with higher expertise in environmental matters are not fully resistant to greenwashing in advertisements [12].”