Green Washing and Its Effects on Consumer Perspectives
The term green washing denotes the use of false or misleading information concerning green marketing by companies to compel consumers to buy their products on the perception that the company is environmentally friendly. It involves the misleading use of green marketing to endorse a false perception that the company products or policies are environmentally friendly.
Green washing has been growing in the recent years mainly due to the increasing demand for green products. Due to increasing concerns about global warming, consumers are increasingly demanding for economically responsible products (Hart, 1997). Companies that seek to survive have no option but to either provide these products or to fake them.
Another reason why green washing is growing is due to the fact that the sales of green oriented products have increased. A study carried out in the United States showed that in 2007, 328 products labelled “environmentally friendly” were launched by major manufacturers. This was a significant increase as in 2002 only 5 products were labelled the same (Bansal & Roth, 2000). The rise of green products in the market has forced companies to undertake green washing in order to compete effectively.
Another reason why green washing is growing is that the communication of environmental messages is still not controlled by any industrial wide standards. Companies are free to disseminate information about their environmental policies without any restrictions hence they can provide misleading information at will.
The final reason why green washing is common is that government action and regulation is still pending. An analysis by HSBC on passed and pending economic stimulus packages of 15 countries reported that over US $3 trillion is intended to stimulate economies for the next ten years (Bazzillier & Vauday, 2009). A large percentage of this money will support environmental objectives. This situation has resulted in the increase of lobbying
Green washing has been growing in the recent years mainly due to the increasing demand for green products. Due to increasing concerns about global warming, consumers are increasingly demanding for economically responsible products (Hart, 1997). Companies that seek to survive have no option but to either provide these products or to fake them.
Another reason why green washing is growing is due to the fact that the sales of green oriented products have increased. A study carried out in the United States showed that in 2007, 328 products labelled “environmentally friendly” were launched by major manufacturers. This was a significant increase as in 2002 only 5 products were labelled the same (Bansal & Roth, 2000). The rise of green products in the market has forced companies to undertake green washing in order to compete effectively.
Another reason why green washing is growing is that the communication of environmental messages is still not controlled by any industrial wide standards. Companies are free to disseminate information about their environmental policies without any restrictions hence they can provide misleading information at will.
The final reason why green washing is common is that government action and regulation is still pending. An analysis by HSBC on passed and pending economic stimulus packages of 15 countries reported that over US $3 trillion is intended to stimulate economies for the next ten years (Bazzillier & Vauday, 2009). A large percentage of this money will support environmental objectives. This situation has resulted in the increase of lobbying
References: Bansal, P., & Roth, K., 2000. Why companies go green: A model of ecological responsiveness. Bazillier, R., & Vauday, J., 2009 Crane, A., 2000 Cone (2009) Grande, C., 2007 Hutchins, D., & Young, W., 2005, It’s not easy being green Igalens, J., and Gond, J., 2005. Measuring Corporate Social Performance in France: A Critical and Empirical Analysis of ARESE Data. Journal of Business Ethics, 56(2), 131–148. Korhonen, J., 2003 Thogersen, J., 2002 Zaman, A., Miliutenko, S., & Nagapetan, V., 2010