Can evoking nature in advertising mislead consumers? The power of ‘executional greenwashing'
Parguel, Béatrice; Benoît-Moreau, Florence; Russell, Cristel Antonia (2015), Can evoking nature in advertising mislead consumers? The power of ‘executional greenwashing', International Journal of Advertising, 34, 1, p. 107-134. 10.1080/02650487.2014.996116
Type
Article accepté pour publication ou publiéDate
2015Journal name
International Journal of AdvertisingVolume
34Number
1Publisher
Holt
Pages
107-134
Publication identifier
Metadata
Show full item recordAuthor(s)
Parguel, Béatrice
Dauphine Recherches en Management [DRM]
Benoît-Moreau, Florence
Dauphine Recherches en Management [DRM]
Russell, Cristel Antonia
Abstract (EN)
This paper examines the ‘executional greenwashing’ effect, defined as the use of nature-evoking elements in advertisements to artificially enhance a brand's ecological image. Using classic models of information processing and persuasion, the research tests whether ‘executional greenwashing’ differs as a function of consumer knowledge about environmental issues in the product category and whether environmental performance information can counterbalance the effect by helping consumers form an accurate evaluation of the brand's ecological image. Three experiments with French consumers reveal that evoking nature does mislead consumers in their evaluation of a brand's ecological image, especially if they have low knowledge of environmental issues. Two indicators of environmental performance, based on current international policies, are tested to counteract ‘executional greenwashing’. Whereas a raw figure is not sufficient to help non-expert consumers revise their judgment, accompanying the figure with a traffic-light label eliminates ‘executional greenwashing’ amongst both experts and non-experts. Theoretical and regulatory implications are discussed.Subjects / Keywords
Greenwashing; Advertising execution; Environmental labelling; Environmental policyRelated items
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