The greenwashing trap: how misleading marketing affects consumer green purchasing habits
Abstract
The rising environmental concern has driven organizations to adopt green marketing practices. However, a growing number of organizations have been engaging in greenwashing practices, which mislead customers about their environmental performance. This can have negative consequences for the organization, the industry, and society as a whole. Despite the growing concern about greenwashing, there is limited research on how it affects consumers’ purchasing decisions. To address this gap, we conducted a study to explore the effect of greenwashing perception on green purchase intention in the touristic accommodation industry. Primary data was collected from 693 tourists who visited the Canary Islands, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to verify hypotheses with the help of AMOS 29 software. The findings revealed that greenwashing perception does not directly affect green purchasing intention or impact green trust. However, green trust was found to be a significant predictor of sustainable choices in the touristic accommodation industry. Additionally, the study provided evidence that previous touristic accommodation experience moderates the relationship between green trust and green purchase intention and the relationship between greenwashing perception and green trust. This research has important implications for marketers and adds to the body of knowledge on greenwashing and green purchasing. By incorporating the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) paradigm, this study uncovers new linkages that better help understand the phenomenon of green purchasing among travelers.
Keyword : greenwashing, green purchase, sustainable accommodation, green trust, purchase intention, purchase behavior, environmentally friendly tourism, green marketing
How to Cite
Vilkaitė-Vaitonė, N. (2024). The greenwashing trap: how misleading marketing affects consumer green purchasing habits. Business: Theory and Practice, 25(2), 593–602. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2024.21204
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Guenzi, P., Johnson, M. D., & Castaldo, S. (2009). Comprehensive model of customer trust in two retail stores. Journal of Service Management, 20(3), 290–316. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230910964408
Guerreiro, J., & Pacheco, M. (2021). How green trust, consumer brand engagement and green word-of-mouth mediate purchasing intentions. Sustainability, 13(14), Article 7877. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147877
Guo, R., Tao, L., Li, C. B., & Wang, T. (2017). A path analysis of greenwashing in a trust crisis among Chinese energy companies: The role of brand legitimacy and brand loyalty. Journal of Business Ethics, 140(3), 523–536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2672-7
Hair, J. F., Balin, B. B., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis. Maxwell Macmillan International Editions. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04898-2_395
Isac, N., Javed, A., Radulescu, M., Cismasu, I. D. L., Yousaf, Z., & Serbu, R. S. (2024). Is greenwashing impacting on green brand trust and purchase intentions? Mediating role of environmental knowledge. Environment, Development and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-04352-0
Islam, J. U., Shahid, S., Rasool, A., Rahman, Z., Khan, I., & Rather, R. A. (2020). Impact of website attributes on customer engagement in banking: A solicitation of stimulus-organism-response theory. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 38(6), 1279–1303. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-12-2019-0460
Jin, Y., Li, H., & Lu, J. (2024). How does energy policy uncertainty perception affect corporate greenwashing behaviors? Evidence from China’s energy companies. Energy, 306, Article 132403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2024.132403
Jog, D., & Singhal, D. (2020). Greenwashing understanding among Indian consumers and its impact on their green consumption. Global Business Review, 25(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/0972150920962933
Kabel, D., Elg, M., & Sundin, E. (2021). Factors influencing sustainable purchasing behaviour of remanufactured robotic lawn mowers. Sustainability, 13(4), Article 1954. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041954
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