Spotrebitelia v prostredí zeleného marketingu a greenwashingu
Consumers in the environment of green marketing and greenwashing
Ekonomika a spoločnosť, Volume 25, Number 1/2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24040/eas.2024.25.1.5-19
Odporúčaná forma citácie článku:
Seberíni, A., Izáková, K. & Hronec, M. (2024). Spotrebitelia v prostredí zeleného marketingu a greenwashingu. Ekonomika a spoločnosť, 25 (1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.24040/eas.2024.25.1.5-19
Recommended form for quotation of the article:
Seberíni, A., Izáková, K. & Hronec, M. (2024). Consumers in the environment of green marketing and greenwashing. Journal of Economics and Social Research, 25 (1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.24040/eas.2024.25.1.5-19
ABSTRACT
A significant problem that is emerging in the discursive practices of green marketing is the rise of greenwashing; companies providing irrelevant, overstated or false information about a product’s sustainable attributes. This raises a number of issues that have not yet been rigorously investigated. This study uses focus group discussions to provide one of the first assessments of the impact of greenwashing on consumers. Three semi-structured focus group interviews 14 participants aged 20-45 using reflective thematic analysis. The aim of the study is to gain first insights into how consumers perceive different green marketing strategies. Findings from the focus group discussions suggest that message source, green brands, brand perception and brand familiarity have a strong influence on perceived message credibility. The impact of disclosure of greenwashing strategies on purchase behaviour is influenced by several factors, but even in cases where it does not directly lead to a change in purchase behaviour, consumers believed that greenwashing information was important to their overall decision-making process. The observed deterioration in consumer trust in product brands in response to greenwashing undermines the potential of green marketing and contributes to reputational damage for manufacturers. More importantly from a practical perspective, this study shows evidence of the impact of greenwashing on credibility and opens ways for further research.
Key words: Greenwashing. Green marketing. Consumer. Slovakia.