When consumers learn to spot deception in advertising: testing a literacy intervention to combat greenwashing

Greenwashing is a major advertising issue that has negative implications for consumers, the green product market, and the environment. Consumers cannot distinguish between acceptable and deceptive environmental claims, a belief that the findings of this research confirms. This underscores the need t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of advertising Vol. 39; no. 7; pp. 1115 - 1149
Main Authors Fernandes, Juliana, Segev, Sigal, Leopold, Joy K.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 02.10.2020
Subjects
advertising literacy
deception
FTC
Green advertising
persuasive knowledge model
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Summary:Greenwashing is a major advertising issue that has negative implications for consumers, the green product market, and the environment. Consumers cannot distinguish between acceptable and deceptive environmental claims, a belief that the findings of this research confirms. This underscores the need to educate consumers about environmental claims. Findings from five studies demonstrate that a literacy intervention combining textual and visual elements that distinguish acceptable from deceptive green claims helps consumers spot deception. In turn, consumers use this knowledge when responding to product messages. Implications for theory, policy makers, advertisers, and consumers are discussed.
ISSN:0265-0487
1759-3948
DOI:10.1080/02650487.2020.1765656