The spillover effect of greenwashing behaviours: an experimental approach
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of greenwashing behaviour of one brand on purchase intention of green products from other brands. Further, this study tests the mediating role of greenwashing perception of the entire industry and the moderating role of brand attitudes towards other brands in the industry for the above-mentioned relationship. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 377 participants was utilised in three studies. The study analysed the data using SPSS 18.0 to test the research hypotheses. Findings The study suggests that greenwashing behaviour of one brand negatively affects consumers’ purchase intention of the green products from other brands in the industry. It is also indicated that the greenwashing perception of the entire industry partially mediates the relationship between greenwashing behaviour of a brand and purchase intention of green products from other brands. In addition, the study shows that the relationship between greenwashing perception of the entire industry and purchase intention of the green products from other brands is negatively moderated by brand attitudes towards other brands in the industry. Practical implications This study provides useful insights for the managers that firms can learn the way to alleviate greenwashing spillover effect through the brand attitudes to enhance green purchasing behaviour. Originality/value The study is perhaps the first one to study the existence of the spillover effect of brands’…
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When consumers realize that certain green products present misleading information, a reputation for greenwashing is formed, which compels consumers to be more cautious about these products and increases their predisposition to discovering negative information about other brands in the sector.
“When consumers realize that certain green products present misleading information, a reputation for greenwashing is formed, which compels consumers to be more cautious about these products and increases their predisposition to discovering negative information about other brands in the sector (Chen & Chang, 2013a;Nyilasy et al., 2014;Wang et al., 2019).”
From Sustainable clothing: Why conspicuous consumption and greenwashing matter (2023) · cites this paper as Wang et al., 2019
Cites
Delmas, M. A., & Burbano, V. C. (2011) · California Management Review · doi:10.1525/cmr.2011.54.1.64 · Cited by 3,441 · see citing works
The Means and End of Greenwash
Lyon, T. P., & Montgomery, A. W. (2015) · Organization & Environment · doi:10.1177/1086026615575332 · Cited by 1,636 · see citing works
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Can evoking nature in advertising mislead consumers? The power of ‘executional greenwashing'
Parguel, B., Benoit-Moreau, F., & Russell, C. A. (2015) · International Journal of Advertising · doi:10.1080/02650487.2014.996116 · Cited by 364 · see citing works
Research on the Green Purchase Intentions from the Perspective of Product Knowledge
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Sustainable clothing: Why conspicuous consumption and greenwashing matter
Apaolaza, V., Policarpo, M. C., Hartmann, P., Paredes, M. R., & D'Souza, C. (2023) · Business Strategy and the Environment · doi:10.1002/bse.3335 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Green Skepticism: Review and Research Agenda
Sivapalan, A., Jebarajakirthy, C., Saha, R., Mehta, P., Balaji, M. S., & Maseeh, H. I. (2024) · Marketing Intelligence & Planning · doi:10.1108/mip-04-2023-0179 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
- Authors
- Wang, H., Ma, B., & Bai, R.
- Affiliations
- Beijing Institute of Technology (CN)
- Venue
- Marketing Intelligence & Planning
- Publisher
- Emerald
- Published
- 2019-12-16
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 283-295
- ISSN
- 0263-4503 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2994613023
- Cited by
- 116
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5
- FWCI
- 6.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Marketing Intelligence & Planning (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
- Keywords
- greenwashing, spillover effects, purchase intention, green products, brand attitude, green purchasing behaviour, consumer behavior, mediation, moderation
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