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Journal ArticleDOI

The Drivers of Greenwashing

01 Oct 2011-California Management Review (University of California Press Journals)-Vol. 54, Iss: 1, pp 64-87
TL;DR: The authors examines the external (both institutional and market), organizational, and individual drivers of greenwashing and offers recommendations for managers, policymakers, and NGOs to decrease its prevalence, and suggests that greenwashing can have profound negative effects on consumer and investor confidence in green products.
Abstract: More and more firms are engaging in greenwashing, misleading consumers about their environmental performance or the environmental benefits of a product or service. The skyrocketing incidence of greenwashing can have profound negative effects on consumer and investor confidence in green products. Mitigating greenwashing is particularly challenging in a context of limited and uncertain regulation. This article examines the external (both institutional and market), organizational and individual drivers of greenwashing and offers recommendations for managers, policymakers, and NGOs to decrease its prevalence.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors synthesize formerly dispersed fields of research into an analytical framework, signposting a systems of innovation approach for future studies of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.
Abstract: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature suggests CSR initiatives extend beyond meeting the immediate interests of stakeholders of for-profit enterprises, offering the potential to also enhance performance. Growing disillusionment of for-profit business models has drawn attention to social entrepreneurship and social innovation to ease social issues. Adopting a systematic review of relevant research, the article provides collective insights into research linking social innovation with social entrepreneurship, demonstrating growing interest in the area over the last decade. The past 5 years have seen a surge in attention with particular focus on the role of the entrepreneur, networks, systems, institutions, and cross-sectoral partnerships. Based on the findings of the review, the authors synthesize formerly dispersed fields of research into an analytical framework, signposting a “systems of innovation” approach for future studies of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

448 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Greenwash: Greenwash is communication that misleads people into forming overly positive opinions about environmental performance as discussed by the authors. But, greenwash is a form of communication that encourages people to form overly positive beliefs about environmental outcomes.
Abstract: Corporate claims about environmental performance have increased rapidly in recent years, as has the incidence of greenwash, that is, communication that misleads people into forming overly positive ...

399 citations


Cites background from "The Drivers of Greenwashing"

  • ...External/environmental Lax regulatory environment Delmas and Burbano (2011) Weak political pressure Delmas and Montes-Sancho (2010) Threat of regulation Kim and Lyon (2011) Weak pressure from environmental groups Kim and Lyon (2011); Marquis and Toffel (2013) Weak relationships with government agencies Delmas and Montes-Sancho (2010) Weak connection to industry trade groups Delmas and Montes-Sancho (2010) Weak connections to global economic system Marquis and Toffel (2013) Internal/organizational Low visibility Delmas and Montes-Sancho (2010) Large size Kim and Lyon (2011) Being “relatively” green Marquis and Toffel (2013) Growing firms Kim and Lyon (2014) Firms in a service industry Ramus and Montiel (2005)...

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  • ...Delmas and Burbano (2011) offer a broad theoretical interdisciplinary framework that incorporates a wide range of drivers of greenwash, grouping them into three levels: external, organizational, and individual. Here, we focus our review on external and organizational drivers as these have received both theoretical and empirical attention in the extant research. We begin with an emphasis on theoretical approaches before turning to empirical findings. We summarize the drivers of greenwashing in Table 4. External drivers of greenwash include pressures from both nonmarket actors, such as regulators and NGOs, and market actors, such as consumers, investors, and competitors (Delmas & Burbano, 2011). The most important antecedent of greenwash is lax and uncertain government regulation, which creates a low chance of being punished for greenwash. This weak regulatory environment allows firms to manipulate consumer and investor demands for green products, services, and firms. Delmas and Burbano’s (2011) framework also identifies several organization-level drivers of greenwashing including firm incentive structure and ethical climate, effectiveness of intra-firm communication, and organizational inertia....

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  • ...Delmas and Burbano (2011) offer a broad theoretical interdisciplinary framework that incorporates a wide range of drivers of greenwash, grouping them into three levels: external, organizational, and individual....

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  • ...The papers reviewed here overwhelmingly identify corporate actors as the primary perpetrators of greenwash (e.g., Cliath, 2007; Delmas & Burbano, 2011; Fox, 1997; Kim & Lyon, 2011, 2014; Lyon & Maxwell, 2011; Lyon & Montgomery, 2013; Matejek & Gössling, 2014; Ramus & Montiel, 2005; Relaño, 2011;…...

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  • ...2 Delmas and Burbano (2011) offer a clearer definition: “Poor environmental performance and positive communication about environmental performance" (p.65)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of green advertising and a corporation's environmental performance on brand attitudes and purchase intentions were investigated, and the negative effect of a firm's low performance on its brand attitudes becomes stronger when green advertising compared to general corporate advertising and no advertising.
Abstract: The current study investigates the effects of green advertising and a corporation’s environmental performance on brand attitudes and purchase intentions. A 3 × 3 (firm’s environmental performance and its advertising efforts as independent variables) experiment using n = 302 subjects was conducted. Results indicate that the negative effect of a firm’s low performance on brand attitudes becomes stronger in the presence of green advertising compared to general corporate advertising and no advertising. Further, when the firm’s environmental performance is high, both green and general corporate advertising result in more unfavorable brand attitudes than no advertising. The study’s counter-intuitive findings are explained by attribution theory.

345 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review of the literature on green marketing is presented, which analyzes the dominant definitions of green marketing and their evolution over time, the different steps to build a green marketing strategy, and the characteristics of Green Marketing Mix elements.

323 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the circumstances under which firms are less likely to engage in such selective disclosure, focusing on organizational and institutional factors that intensify scrutiny and expectations of transparency and that foster civil society mobilization.
Abstract: Under increased pressure to report environmental impacts, some firms selectively disclose relatively benign impacts, creating an impression of transparency while masking their true performance. We theorize circumstances under which firms are less likely to engage in such selective disclosure, focusing on organizational and institutional factors that intensify scrutiny and expectations of transparency and that foster civil society mobilization. We test our hypotheses using a novel panel data set of 4,750 public companies across many industries that are headquartered in 45 countries during 2004–2007. Results show that firms that are more environmentally damaging, particularly those in countries where they are more exposed to scrutiny and global norms, are less likely to engage in selective disclosure. We discuss contributions to research on institutional theory, strategic management, and information disclosure.

299 citations

References
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Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them, and describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative.
Abstract: What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

32,981 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Research suggesting that certain illusions may be adaptive for mental health and well-being is reviewed, examining evidence that a set of interrelated positive illusions—namely, unrealistically positive self-evaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control or mastery, and unrealistic optimism—can serve a wide variety of cognitive, affective, and social functions.
Abstract: Many prominent theorists have argued that accurate perceptions of the self, the world, and the future are essential for mental health. Yet considerable research evidence suggests that overly positive selfevaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control or mastery, and unrealistic optimism are characteristic of normal human thought. Moreover, these illusions appear to promote other criteria of mental health, including the ability to care about others, the ability to be happy or contented, and the ability to engage in productive and creative work. These strategies may succeed, in large part, because both the social world and cognitive-processing mechanisms impose niters on incoming information that distort it in a positive direction; negative information may be isolated and represented in as unthreatening a manner as possible. These positive illusions may be especially useful when an individual receives negative feedback or is otherwise threatened and may be especially adaptive under these circumstances. Decades of psychological wisdom have established contact with reality as a hallmark of mental health. In this view, the well-adjusted person is thought to engage in accurate reality testing, whereas the individual whose vision is clouded by illusion is regarded as vulnerable to, if not already a victim of, mental illness. Despite its plausibility, this viewpoint is increasingly difficult to maintain (cf. Lazarus, 1983). A substantial amount of research testifies to the prevalence of illusion in normal human cognition (see Fiske& Taylor, 1984;Greenwald, 1980; Nisbett & Ross, 1980; Sackeim, 1983; Taylor, 1983). Moreover, these illusions often involve central aspects of the self and the environment and, therefore, cannot be dismissed as inconsequential. In this article, we review research suggesting that certain illusions may be adaptive for mental health and well-being. In particular, we examine evidence that a set of interrelated positive illusions—namely, unrealistically positive self-evaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control or mastery, and unrealistic optimism—can serve a wide variety of cognitive, affective, and social functions. We also attempt to resolve the following para

7,519 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze the internal stickiness of knowledge transfer and test the resulting model using canonical correlation analysis of a data set consisting of 271 observations of 122 best-practice transfers in eight companies.
Abstract: The ability to transfer best practices internally is critical to a firtn's ability to build competitive advantage through the appropriation of rents from scarce internal knowledge. Just as a firm's distinctive competencies tnight be dificult for other firms to imitate, its best prczctices could be dfficult to imitate internnlly. Yet, little systematic attention has been pcrid to such internal stickiness. The author analyzes itlterrzal stickiness of knowledge transfer crnd tests the resulting model using canonical correlation analysis of a data set consisting of 271 observations of 122 best-practice transfers in eight companies. Contrary to corzverztiorzrzl wisdom that blames primarily motivational factors, the study findings show the major barriers to internal knowledge transfer to be knowledge-related factors such as the recipient's lack oj absorptive capacity, causal anzbiguity, and an arciuous relationship between the source and the recipient. The identification and transfer of best practices cally are hindered less by confidentiality and legal is emerging as one of the most important and obstacles than external transfers, they could be widespread practical management issues of the faster and initially less complicated, all other latter half of the 1990s. Armed with meaningful, things being equal. For those reasons, in an era detailed performance data, firms that use fact- when continuous organizational learning and based management methods such as TQM, bench- relentless performance improvement are needed to marking, and process reengineering can regularly remain competitive, companies must increasingly compare the performance of their units along resort to the internal transfer of capabilitie~.~ operational dimensions. Sparse but unequivocal Yet, experience shows that transferring capaevidence suggests that such comparisons often bilities within a firm is far from easy. General reveal surprising performance differences between Motors had great difficulty in transferring manuunits, indicating a need to improve knowledge facturing practices between divisions (Kerwin and utilization within the firm (e.g., Chew, Bresnahan, Woodruff, 1992: 74) and IBM had limited suc

6,805 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider structural inertia in organizational populations as an outcome of an ecological-evolutionary process and define structural inertia as a correspondence between a class of organizations and their environments.
Abstract: Considers structural inertia in organizational populations as an outcome of an ecological-evolutionary process. Structural inertia is considered to be a consequence of selection as opposed to a precondition. The focus of this analysis is on the timing of organizational change. Structural inertia is defined to be a correspondence between a class of organizations and their environments. Reliably producing collective action and accounting rationally for their activities are identified as important organizational competencies. This reliability and accountability are achieved when the organization has the capacity to reproduce structure with high fidelity. Organizations are composed of various hierarchical layers that vary in their ability to respond and change. Organizational goals, forms of authority, core technology, and marketing strategy are the four organizational properties used to classify organizations in the proposed theory. Older organizations are found to have more inertia than younger ones. The effect of size on inertia is more difficult to determine. The variance in inertia with respect to the complexity of organizational arrangements is also explored. (SRD)

6,425 citations


"The Drivers of Greenwashing" refers background in this paper

  • ...Organizational inertia is more likely to be prevalent in larger, older firms than in smaller, newer firms.(41) Thus, organizational inertia could explain a lag naturally occurring between a manager’s declaration of green intent and implementation of this intent, or between a CEO’s declaration of commitment to greening the company and the rest of the company’s alteration of structure and processes to truly green the company....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors combine the concept of weak ties from social network research and the notion of complex knowledge to explain the role of weak links in sharing knowledge across organization subunits.
Abstract: This paper combines the concept of weak ties from social network research and the notion of complex knowledge to explain the role of weak ties in sharing knowledge across organization subunits in a...

5,947 citations


"The Drivers of Greenwashing" refers background in this paper

  • ...In the product innovation literature focused on knowledge dissemination, it is argued that close and frequent interaction between R&D and other functions leads to project effectiveness.(45) Applying this concept to the context of greenwashing, we can hypothesize that a lack of frequent and close interactions between intra-firm divisions such as marketing and product development can act as an important driver of greenwashing....

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Trending Questions (1)
Do Indian Firms Engage in Greenwashing? Evidence from Indian Firms.?

The provided paper does not mention anything about Indian firms engaging in greenwashing.