Linköping University | Department of Management and Engineering Master Thesis in Business Administration, 30 credits | International Business and Economics Programme Spring 2020 | ISRN-nummer: LIU-IEI-FIL-A--20/03292--SE
The Pitfalls of Communicating the
Implementation of Environmental Regulations
Hilda Lundin
Sara Petersen
Supervisor: Hugo GuyaderLinköping University SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden +46 13-28 10 00, www.liu.se
Acknowledgement
This master thesis was written by two Master of Science students in International Business and Economics at Linköping university, Hilda Lundin and Sara Petersen. The master thesis was written within the master profile of Marketing and Strategy.
We would like to thank our opponents and seminar group for providing us with valuable feedback and constructive criticism. We would further like to express our gratitude to our supervisor Hugo Guyader who have provided us with valuable inputs and great support throughout this journey.
Thank you!
______________________ ______________________ Hilda Lundin Sara Petersen
Abstract
Title: The Pitfalls of Communicating the Implementation of
Environmental Regulations.
Authors: Sara Petersen & Hilda Lundin
Supervisor: Hugo Guyader
Keywords: Communication, Corporate communication, Marketing,
Advertising, Strategy, Green communication, Greenwashing, Transparency, Motive greenwashing, Environmental
regulations, Consumer attitude, Experimental survey
Introduction: In the light of a market that showcases increased hesitation and skepticism over green marketing and environmental communication, is the necessity of a well executed corporate communication greater than ever. What can be seen on the market is corporations that are unintentionally using motive greenwashing as a tool for attracting and persuading consumers to favour the corporations image. Prior research within green marketing has put a large focus on greenwashing in product context and the effects of it on consumer behaviour. In this study greenwashing is examined in a communication context and its effect on different aspects of consumer behaviour and attitude.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present how corporations successfully can communicate the implementation of environmental regulations.
Method: The study is conducted through a quantitative cross sectional methodology with a deductive approach based on an
experimental survey with a 2x2 study design.
Conclusion: The results of the study presents that corporate communication regarding implementation of environmental regulations should be conducted with transparency and a clear motive.
Table of content
1. Introduction ... 1 1.1 Background ... 1 1.2 Problematization ... 3 1.3 Thesis Purpose and Research Questions ... 4 2. Theoretical Framework ... 5 2.1 Literature Review ... 5 2.1.1 Corporate Communication ... 5 2.1.2 Green Marketing ... 6 2.1.3 Greenwashing ... 7 2.1.4 Definition of Transparency ... 10 2.1.5 Communication Channel ... 11 2.2 Hypothesis Development ... 12 2.2.1 Transparency ... 12 2.2.2 Communication Channel ... 12 2.2.3 Message Credibility ... 14 2.2.4 Skepticism ... 14 2.2.5 Trust ... 15 3. Methodology ... 17 3.1 Research Methodology ... 17 3.2 Data-Gathering Method ... 18 3.3 Sampling ... 19 3.4 Survey Design ... 19 3.4.1 Measurements Constructs and Operationalization ... 20 3.4.2 Pilot Study ... 24 3.5 Data Analysis ... 24 3.5.1 Coding and Conversion ... 24 3.5.2 Statistical Analysis ... 25 3.6 Quality Discussion ... 26 3.6.1 Validity and Reliability ... 26 3.6.2 Limitations ... 27 3.6.3 Ethical Reflection ... 28 4. Results ... 29 4.1 The respondents ... 29 4.2 Reliability Check ... 31 4.3 Descriptive Statistics ... 324.4 Regression Analysis ... 33 4.5 Hypotheses Results ... 36 4.5.1 Transparency ... 36 4.4.2 Communication Channel ... 37 4.4.3 Credibility ... 38 4.4.4 Skepticism ... 39 4.4.5 Trust ... 39 4.4.6 The Moderator’s Effect on the Variables ... 40 5. Discussion ... 43 5.1 The Content of Corporate Communication ... 43 5.2 Communication Channel ... 45 6. Conclusion ... 47 6.1 Summary ... 47 6.2 Managerial Implications ... 47 6.3 Limitations and Further Research ... 48 7. List of References ... 51
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1.
Introduction
1.1 Background
Corporate communication is a field which encompasses the internal and external communication of a business or organization. The internal communication refers to the flow of information amongst employees and executives, whereas the external communication regards informing target groups such as consumers, shareholders, the media and the public. The inherent goal of corporate communication is to craft and maintain the image presented by the corporation and to create a consistent corporate identity, this to brand the company as desired. To achieve this, corporations need to take their audience into consideration and ultimately decide the best tool of communication to reach that specific audience (Coviello, 2020).
One fundamental tool for corporations to consider in communication, is the place for communicating, the type of channel. Communication channels can be defined as the technical side of corporate communication as it enables information transfer from the sender to receiver and vice versa. A communication channels encompasses all means for the creation and acceptance of the communicated message. This including the signs, language, codes and technical devices. One specific type of communication channel could be preferred in certain situations, and discharged in other situations (Sanina, Balashov, Rubtcova & Satinskyd, 2017). The usage of electronic communication channels are one of the most prevalent communication tools of corporations. Electronic communication channels encompasses the usage of intranet, emails, internet and social media platforms. The corporate website and social media platforms serves as the most used channels when it comes to external communication and reaching consumers (Parguel, Benoît-Moreau & Larceneux, 2011).
Corporate communication further serves as an important source in communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental initiatives (Argenti & Forman, 2002). During the 1970’s, consumers begun to display increased environmental consideration and possessed an growing environmental awareness. Corporations consequently begun the integration of environmental actions into products and marketing strategies, which ultimately resulted in the term ‘Green
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Marketing’. The definition of green marketing encompasses different variables dependent of the scholars who aims to explain the phenomenon. Banerjee, Gulas and Iyer (1995) provides an explicit definition of green marketing as;
“(1). Explicitly or implicitly addresses the relationship between a product/service and the biophysical environment. (2). Promotes a green lifestyle with or without highlighting a product/service. (3). Presents a corporate image of environmental responsibility. “ (Banerjee et al., 1995, p. 22).
The increased importance of green marketing during this period mainly came from governmental regulations. However, the economic benefits of integrating environmental actions was starting to become apparent. By surpassing the regulatory compliances, corporations was found to create loyal consumer groups which ultimately generated great economic benefit (Grant, 2007). Since then, the importance of green initiatives has grown and where the rules of engagement are evolving. The term ‘Green’ has become a mainstream phenomenon where consumers today are increasingly aware of sustainability-related issues (Ottman, 2011).
With the increased public interest for products and corporations having less environmental impact and with the growth of green marketing, greenwashing actions has become more apparent. Greenwashing is a phenomenon that has gained attention since the 1980’s. By conducting in greenwashing actions, corporations are demonstrating misleading communication about the environmental practises or misleading consumers regarding environmental benefits of a product or a service (Terrachoice, 2010). Greenwashing can further be defined as a misleading disclosure of a corporation’s environmental or social performance in a way that only the positive information is highlighted and distributed. This resulting in the presentation of an inaccurate brand image (Lyon & Maxwell, 2011). The growth in greenwashing actions is mainly due to the desire to market and position products, as well as the corporate image and brand in align with the growing environmentally aware audience (Furlow, 2010; Kahraman & Kazançoğlu, 2018; Gatti et al. 2019). One of the factors behind greenwashing is the lack of transparency surrounding corporations green initiatives. Scholars has suggested that transparency in sustainability reporting will minimize the risk of greenwashing and thus provide increased environmental disclosure. This will make it easier for stakeholders to evaluate corporations environmental performance (Delmas & Burbano, 2011). Transparency can further be seen as a fundamental mean when implementing environmentally
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friendly policies in corporations. It is honest and transparent communication about environmental initiatives that has been linked to the success of green marketing, where telling half-lies in marketing and communication is not more beneficial than telling a complete lie (De Jong et al. 2020).
Besides the growing demands of consumers, are new environmental regulations forcing corporations to go through a transition towards increased environmental awareness. Environmental regulations requires corporations to take new initiatives and has been shown to be a driver of innovation (Ottman, 2011; Shen, Schenglan, Xiaopeng & Zhongju, 2020). However, environmental regulations further has the risk of creating a specific type of greenwashing. De Jong et al. (2020) uses ‘motive greenwashing’ for addressing corporations practising greenwashing in communication by claiming to take environmentally sustainable initiatives on their own, whereas they are actually following legal obligations. This phenomenon is further mentioned in Terrachoice´s (2010) ‘seven sins of greenwashing’, where it is defined as the ‘sin of irrelevance’.
1.2 Problematization
Stakeholders has become increasingly sceptical regarding potential greenwashing from corporations. Marketers often perceive a threatening environment where the outcomes of green marketing result in more reprisals than rewards. The threat of backlash has become a growing concern in the progress of initiating green marketing or communicating green initiatives (Lyon & Maxwell, 2005). The increased market skepticism is resulting to corporations that are reluctant to communicate about environmental issues and actions. If the skepticism against environmental claims and initiatives stated in green ads and communication increases, corporation’s effort in developing and communicating green initiatives becomes more or less insignificant (Paco & Reis, 2012).
One of the most stressing implications of being put under backlash, is its effect on the financial performance of corporations. It has been shown that green marketing has a positive correlation to the financial performance of corporations (De Jong et al. 2020; Grant, 2007), where the biggest source of this comes from the environmental reputation a corporation benefits from engagement in green marketing (Leonidou, Katsikeas & Morgan, 2013). However, when examining green marketing in the lens of greenwashing, it has been found that it has non- or negative effect on the
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overall financial performance of corporations. This due to the reputational damage being accused of greenwashing contributes to (De Jong et al. 2020).
One of the key characteristics in any sort of greenwashing, is the lack of transparency in the communicated message. Transparency is seen to have a positive effect on consumers trust and attitude towards the corporation and where current literature points to transparency as the most beneficial way of communicating environmental initiatives (Kang & Hustvedt, 2014). Despite the benefits of transparency, the market shows a growing occurance of greenwashing and where it is more common than being completely transparent in green marketing and corporate communication. Despite motive greenwashing being a relatively new phenomenon in existing literature, its occurrence can be found in various cases of corporate communication. When researching the phenomenon, several Swedish corporationswas seen to be conducting in motive greenwashing by claiming to take their own environmental initiative, whereas they are merely following the law. However, the phenomenon of motive greenwashing is still not as recognized by the public and its consequences still need to be discovered.
1.3 Thesis Purpose and Research Questions
The thesis aims to provide guidelines for corporations regarding the best way of communicating the implementation of environmental regulations. This through obtaining information regarding if transparency can generate exceeding consumer attitude compared to motive greenwashing and if a certain communication channel is better received amongst consumers. This to both include the message itself along with how it is communicated to the consumers. To provide answers for this, the research questions are the following:
● How can corporations successfully communicate the implementation of environmental regulations?
○ What is the impact of motive greenwashing on consumer attitude? ○ How can transparent communication benefit corporations?
○ What is the influence of different communication channels on consumer attitude? ○ How can consumer attitude towards communication be influenced?
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2. Theoretical Framework
The following chapter will contain a literature review and development of the hypothesis for this study. Different areas within communication, green marketing and consumer behaviour will be addressed.
2.1 Literature Review
2.1.1 Corporate Communication
Corporate communication can broadly be defined as;
“The total integrated approach to the communications activity generated by all functional departments of a company, targeted at all stakeholders of the company, and aimed at establishing and maintaining the link between strategic objectives, the corporate identity and the corporate image in line.”
(De Pelsmacker, Geuens & Van Den Bergh, 2013, p. 512)
Corporate communication on organizational level, regards the distribution of information to external parties and are often in the form of positive initiatives or to provide information regarding the corporation. Ways of communicating are for example through publications, emails and the corporate website. The growth in digital communication has further resulted in the increased usage of social media for corporate communication (Coviello, 2020).
Corporate communication is vital for reaching out to stakeholders and in communicating corporate performance. Van Riel and Fombrun (2007) argues that corporate communication is a way of demonstrating initiatives that encompasses social responsibility and good deeds. It is a important and useful tool to meet and regulate branding and consumers’ perception of a brand. A successful corporate communication can thus be translated into consumer’s recognition of a brand which consequently can generate high economic value. Van Riel and Fombrun (2007) further states that the effectiveness of the communication can be measured through the effects on corporation’s brand equity, which presents consumers’ associations with a brand based on the brand awareness and the
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brand image. Corporate communication thus has a certain importance for brand formation and for consumers’ relation with the brand (Van Riel & Fombrun, 2007).
When it comes to corporate communication with regards to environmental performances, it is particularly useful to message the public about changes within the corporation as well as aspirational messages for organizational change (Chaudhri, 2016; Christensen, Morsing, & Thyssen, 2013; Ottman, 2011). In CSR literature, ways of communicating environmental initiatives in corporate communication, has mainly been linked to the use of environmental reporting, code of ethics and websites (Van der Ven, 2008).
2.1.2 Green Marketing
Green marketing is a strategy of promoting products or services which are environmentally friendly. The strategy involves stressing the environmental attributes in the communication towards the consumers (Solomon, 2015).As for the term initially addressing products and services, scholars have further developed green marketing to include the presentation of the corporate brand image to be environmentally responsible (Banerjee et al. 1995). These serve as a fodder when it comes to green marketing (Jenkins & Kähler, 2018).
The traditional view of the inherent conflict between environmental quality and economic profit, is being challenged by green initiatives. Corporations can now make profits by “going green” (Jenkins & Kähler, 2018). Financial benefits can be seen within the marketing actions of corporations, where research show a positive correlation between green marketing and the overall financial performance (De Jong et al. 2020; Grant, 2007).
Green marketing further serves an important role in the behaviour of consumers. Consumers today have a growing interest in letting their consumption reflect their standpoints regarding the environment, where two thirds state that their consumption falls in line with their own beliefs and values. It was further concluded that three quarters of consumers globally hold companies environmentally responsible (Warc, 2015). In regards to current literature, it has been shown that consumers are increasingly sceptical and hesitant over green marketing (Finisterra do Paço & Reis, 2012; Carlson, Grove & Kangun, 1993; Lyon & Maxwell, 2005). However, research also conclude that green marketing has a positive effect on consumer behaviour (Grimmer & Woolley, 2014; Hartmann, Apaolaza, & Eisend, 2016; Olsen et al. 2014; Ainsworth, Aditya & Mojisola, 2018).
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This providing to contradicting results in existing research regarding the implications green marketing has on consumer behaviour.
2.1.3 Greenwashing
Greenwashing is a way of communicating misleading information regarding a brand or a product’s environmental and green benefits in order to persuade consumers. Delmas and Burbano (2011) presents underlying factors behind the existence of greenwashing which can be divided into three different levels: external, organizational and individual. The external-level includes the external pressure from regulators, NGOs, consumers, investors and competitors. The organizational-level includes factors like inertia, effectiveness of the intra-firm communication, the ethical climate and the firm's incentive structure. Lastly, the individual-level encompassess optimistic bias, hyperbolic intertemporal discounting and narrow decision framing. The individual-level factors have an effect on the individual decision making, nonetheless in conditions of uncertainty and where informations in limited or imperfect. However, the non-or limited regulations regarding greenwashing is seen as a strong force for its growing occurrence. The existing regulatory context leads to limited punitive consequences where corporations have low incentives to alter organizational tendencies (Delmas & Burbano, 2011).
In the domain of greenwashing, a large number of scholars bases the phenomenon by using Terrachoices (2010) construct of the ‘Seven sins of greenwashing’ (Schmuck et al. 2018; Nyilasy et al. 2013; Kahraman & Kazançoğlu, 2018; Torelli et al. 2019). A comprehensive construct made to illustrate various forms of greenwashing. According to Terrachoice (2010), the seven sins are;
“#1 Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off - Committed by suggesting a product is “green” based on an unreasonably narrow set of attributes without attention to other important environmental issues.
#2 Sin of No Proof - Committed by an environmental claim that cannot be substantiated by easily
accessible supporting information or by a reliable third-party certification.
#3 Sin of Vagueness - Committed by every claim that is so poorly defined or broad that its real
meaning is likely to be misunderstood by the consumer.
#4 Sin of Irrelevance- Committed by making an environmental claim that may be truthful but is
unimportant or unhelpful for consumers seeking environmentally preferable products.
#5 Sin of Lesser of Two Evils- Committed by claims that may be true within the product
category, but that risk distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the category as a whole
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#6 Sin of Fibbing- The least frequent Sin, is committed by making environmental
claims that are simply false.
#7 Sin of Worshipping False Labels- The Sin of Worshiping False Labels is committed by a
product that, through either words or images, gives the impression of third-party endorsement where no such endorsement actually exists; fake labels, in other words.”
(Terrachoice, 2010, p. 10)
Torelli et al. (2019) further provides an explicit explanation of greenwashing practices. Based on the specific goals of the corporations executing greenwashing, as well as the communication procedure of it, four main levels of greenwashing are distinguished; (1). Corporate-level, (2). Strategic-level, (3). Dark-level and (4). Product-level. Greenwashing at corporate-level is emphasizing on misleading environmental communication regarding the corporations image and reputation, which can be seen in aspects relating to the company’s brand. The strategic-level of greenwashing concerns corporations that use misleading environmental communication in public communication. This can for instance be seen in public communication of corporates’ goals, reports and future improvements. The dark-level of greenwashing is in the contexts of corporations which uses greenwashing to cover-up illegal activities. Product-level greenwashing concerns misleading environmental communication of specific aspects related to products in product advertising and product packaging. It was found that consumers do not perceive corporate- and strategic-level of greenwashing as misleading marketing in the same extent as for product- and illegal-level greenwashing. This meaning, consumers are more likely to detect product-greenwashing compared to product-greenwashing in corporate communication. This due to consumers have higher trust towards corporate communication and thus a higher perception of corporate legitimacy (Torelli et al. 2019).
De Jong et al. (2020) further describe two types of greenwashing based on the purpose of the action, with the terms ‘behavioural claim greenwashing’ and ‘motive greenwashing’. The first term is defined as the difference in corporate environmental claims and their actual environmental behavior. An example of this can be corporations that are using misleading claims regarding an environmentally friendly action or a behaviour that does not correspondent to the actual behaviour. It is a difference of what is said and what is done. Motive greenwashing refers to the difference in corporate communication and the actual motive for that environmentally friendly behaviour. In practise, motive greenwashing can be found in cases where corporations communicate a motive which misleads the underlying intention of their environmentally behaviour. This could be
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corporations which are not transparent about following legal obligations in their communication. De Jong et al. (2020) found that corporations practising behavioural claim greenwashing, have a more negative effect on consumer reactions compared to corporations practising motive greenwashing. When examining the effect on consumers, De Jong et al. (2020) looked at the difference between initiating environmentally friendly behaviors themselves and conducting in motive greenwashing. The examination found that it does not exist any significant interaction effect with motive greenwashing, meaning that consumers was not differently affected depending if the environmental initiatives was self initiated or merely following the law.
Besides Terrachoice´s (2018) definition of ‘sin of irrelevance’, De jong et al. (2020) is the only found research that examines greenwashing in which corporations are not transparent about following environmental regulations. However, motive greenwashing are in many ways similar to strategic-level greenwashing (Torelli et al. 2019), since they both encompasses the misleading environmental communication regarding the real intention behind the act. Strategic-level greenwashing is further relevant due to the implementation of environmental regulations often can be seen in the fixed strategy, and thus goals and future improvements of the corporation.
Table 1. Literature review
Authors Subject Components examined Method Theory
De Jong, Huluba &
Beldad (2020) False and vague greenwashing in the form of behavioural claim greenwashing & motive greenwashing.
Consumer reaction. Survey. -
Nyilas,
Gangadharbatla & Paladino (2014)
Green advertising & CSR. Brand attitudes & purchase intentions.
Survey Attribution theory. Torelli, Balluchi &
Lazzini (2019) 4 levels of greenwashing; product, corporate, strategic and illegal.
Stakeholder perceptions. Survey. Signal theory and legitimacy. Schmuck, Matthes
& Naderer (2018) Vague & false greenwashing with the use of nature evoking pictures in green advertising.
Consumer perception and attitude to ad and towards the brand. Survey. Affect-reason- involvement . Kahraman & Kazancoglu (2018)
Natural claimed products. Perceived
greenwashing, perceived green image, price perception, environmental concern,
green trust, skepticism, perceived risk, and purchase intention.
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Shabbir Husain & Varshney (2019)
Green communication (credibility) and corporate performance.
Brand attitude. Survey. -
Krafft & Saito (2014)
Bachelor thesis. Greenwashing ads.
Consumers’ perceived deception, attitude towards an ad and purchase
intentions
Experimen tal survey.
-
Kraev (2015) Bachelor thesis. Greenwashing
and Green marketing The familiarity and ability to distinguish green marketing and greenwashing.
Survey. -
The table encompasses a literature review of the research within the subject of greenwashing and the findings regarding greenwashings effect on consumer behaviour. As seen, it exist a large variety of research regarding the effect greenwashing has on consumer behaviour. However, as the table entails, some research show contradicting results regarding the effects greenwashing has on consumer behaviour, in particular, on perceived greenwashing and its effect on consumer attitude.
2.1.4 Definition of Transparency
Transparency can be defined as the disclosure of information to another party and limited to the interaction between firms and consumers. Transparency is the voluntary and intentional sharing of information, where the level of transparency is a perception from the receiver. Here, availability and disclosure is of importance and key characteristics. Transparency further encompasses objectivity in its communications. However, transparency is not solely focused on providing over-simplified information to the consumers. It is about providing information that gives consumer the possibility of making informed decisions (Foscht, Lin & Eisingerich, 2018).
Balkin (1999) further states three explicit types of transparency which cooperate, but are analytically distinct: informational, participatory and accountability. These are seen as fundamental parts in building and maintaining trust with corporate stakeholders. However, the three qualities of transparency can be given a more comprehensive explanation. Firstly, information distributed by the corporation need to be truthful, substantial and useful. Secondly, stakeholders should participate in the identification of the needed information from the corporation. And lastly, corporations needs to distribute objective and balanced reporting regarding the policies and activities which are holding the organization accountable (Balkin, 1999).
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Rawls (2010) further provides a definition of transparency which compiles the three elements of transparency; substantial information, accountability and participation. Transparency can thus be defined as;
‘‘Transparency is the deliberate attempt to make available all legally releasable information—whether positive or negative in nature—in a manner that is accurate, timely, balanced, and unequivocal, for the purpose of enhancing the reasoning ability of publics and holding organizations accountable for their actions, policies, and practices.’’ (Rawlin, 2009, p.75)
2.1.5 Communication Channel
Social media is the collected word for platforms, online applications and media which aim to engage the consumer through interactions, cooperation and content sharing (Sun & Wang, 2019). The growth of social media has lead to platforms which distributes thousands of commercials daily (Lou & Yuan, 2019). It has become one of the most powerful marketing tools due to social media being interwoven into consumers’ everyday lives (Sun & Wang, 2019), giving corporations the ability of integrating with thousands of consumers at the same time. Social media further provide corporations with the ability of more efficiently profile and target segmentations with higher cost efficiency. The marketing strategy can thus personalize messages and reach specific segments which mass media can not (Mercadal, 2019). Social media marketing has consequently changed traditional ways of communicating between consumers and marketers (Sun & Wang, 2019). When it comes to communicating CSR initiatives, social media is seen as a riskier option and has thus remained less common. This in despite of the growing importance of social media marketing. Therefore, when it comes to communicating CSR initiatives, corporate websites are most prominent due to corporate websites providing a foundation for higher argumentation and the opportunity of interactivity. Websites allow corporations to target the best clients and thus have the possibility of influencing the attitudes and perceptions of the corporate brand (Parguel, Benoît-Moreau & Larceneux, 2011). This meaning, that corporate websites are used to manage the brand image and reputation. Research regarding the linkage between corporate website usage and corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication, states that websites has become a useful tool for communicating with stakeholders. Corporate websites are beneficial in managing the
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impressions of stakeholders regarding the organization, thus making it a potent channel of communication (Boateng & Abdul-Hamid, 2017).
2.2 Hypothesis Development
2.2.1 Transparency
Transparency serves as an important influential factor on consumer behaviour. Research concludes that transparency may lead to a consumption behavior that reflects a growing willingness to be responsible and sustainable (Foscht et al. 2018). Transparency further has a positive effect on consumer attitude when it is perceived as high. It serves a fundamental part in building trust (Kang & Hustvedt, 2014; Rawlins, 2009) and in increasing the perception of credibility (Rawlins, 2009). This due to consumers may see transparency as a reflection of corporations good intentions and goodwill. Corporations that provide accessible and objective information provides an image of being aligned with the needs and wishes of its consumers, which results in consumers seeing corporations as honest, credible and trustworthy. This leading to consumers having less of a need to search and process additional information and therefore may possess a shorter decision-making process (Foscht et al. 2018).
Despite the positive outcomes of transparency concluded in prior research, the strategy of being completely transparent is lacking in today's environmental communication. This can nonetheless be seen in the increased usage of motive greenwashing. The aim is to provide information regarding if transparency in communicating the implementation of environmental regulations, have a positive effect on consumer attitude and thus a useful way of communicating environmental initiatives.
H1: High level of transparency leads to increased consumer attitude towards the corporate communication.
2.2.2 Communication Channel
Social media constitute a valuable role in shaping the attitude of consumers regarding the purchase of green products. Marketing on social media have a positive effect on the intentions of consumers to engage in pro-environmental behaviour. It has further been concluded that more than 80% of
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consumers can detect green communication on social media, but where only half of the consumers consider the communication as credible (Sun & Wang, 2019). However, the easiness of searching and distributing information on social media are leading to consumers that are increasingly aware of companies’ misconduct. If a consumers detect that a corporation is engaging in greenwashing, is the information easily distributed amongst others. This leading to a number of consumers showcasing increased scepticism and a lower purchasing intention (Zhang, Li, Cao & Huang, 2018). The usage of marketing communication, like social media, further has a strong commercial dimension, which has been linked to increased scepticism of consumers (Van de Ven, 2008). Corporate websites serves as an important source in creating trust from consumers. Research concluded that the more attention the consumers lay on the information on the website, the likelihood of perceiving the corporation as socially responsible increases. This consequently increasing the trust levels amongst the consumers (Hong & Rim, 2010). However, when it comes to communicating environmental initiatives, corporate websites are seen to have a greater positive effect on consumers. Still, communicating environmental initiatives on corporate websites generates the risk of too strongly connect the initiatives with the business goals. This has shown to weaken the positive effects environmental initiatives has on the attitude of consumers (Van de Ven, 2008).
To our knowledge, it does not exist any research explicitly comparing the effect communicating environmental initiatives through social media compared to corporate websites has on the consumers attitude, especially in regards to greenwashing. It is of importance to evaluate if consumers are affected differently depending on how corporation communicate the implementation of environmental regulations. The results will provide corporations with useful information regarding if certain communication channels are more beneficial than others, and thus minimize the risk of backlash on the communicated message.
H2: Communicating through corporate websites leads to increased consumer attitude towards the corporate communication.
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2.2.3 Message Credibility
One way of measuring the effectiveness of corporations environmental communication, is through the credibility of the messages (Mackenzie & Lutz, 1989). Credibility in communication in general can be considered as the extent to which consumers perceives expressed claims to be truthful and believable. Consumers tends to attribute brands positively when communication is perceived as trustworthy (Mackenzie & Lutz, 1989).
Shabbir Husain & Varshney (2019) exhibits message credibility as a determining factor for consumer attitude towards brand. The higher the perceived credibility of corporations green messages, the higher is consumer attitude towards the brand (Shabbir Husain & Varshney, 2019; Özsoy & Aviclar, 2016). According to Findley Musgrove, Choi and Cox (2018), corporate communication used to favour the corporation’s environmental position are perceived as less credible among consumers and thus determines consumer attribution of brand negatively. We find it of importance to examine these variables in relations to the levels of transparency and the chosen communication channels. This to outline if a certain level of transparency or communication channel are increasing the perceived credibility.
H3: High levels of credibility has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards the corporate communication.
2.2.4 Skepticism
Due to an increase in corporations CSR communication, prior research has found consumer scepticism towards corporations communicated environmental initiatives increasing simultaneously (Shabbir Husain & Varshney, 2018; Paco & Reis, 2012). Skepticism towards green ads and communication refers to consumers tendency of disbelieving the environmental claims made in advertising (Mohr, Eroglu & Scholder Ellen, 1998). Özsoy and Avcilar (2016) explains skepticism further as the emotion a consumer experiences when being doubtful about the truthfulness of a communicated message.
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It has been found that consumers becomes more skeptical when perceiving discrepant corporate green communication and this tends to lower corporate brand evaluations (Forehand & Grier, 2003). When being exposed to green claims in corporate communication, consumers seeks for the underlying motive of the message which is essential in consumers evaluation of brand (Nyalysil et al. 2014). As promotions of green advertising and environmental communication increases, providing information and source identification is important in order to diminish consumer scepticism and thus enhance consumer positive attribution of corporations. Not only does skepticism decrease green purchasing behaviour and purchasing intention, it further has a negative impact on attitude towards ad as well as brand (Albayrak, Caber, Moutinho & Herstein, 2011; Mostafa, 2006; Cho, 2013; Matthes & Wonneberger, 2014). It is therefore of importance to further examine how skepticism towards corporate communication regarding environmental initiatives affects brand attitude in a lens of different levels of transparency and communication channel. We therefore hypothesize:
H4: High levels of skepticism has a negative effect on consumer attitude towards the corporate communication.
2.2.5 Trust
Trust can be defined as the confidence in the reliability and integrity of the communicating party or message (Kang & Hustvedt, 2014). It is the willingness and intention to act. Trust further encompasses consumers belief that corporations will have their best interest in mind and keep firm promises. Trust in a business context can be seen as an antecedent of a collaborative and stable relationship. Researchers has established that trust is a fundamental mean of maintaining and building a long-term relationship (Kang & Hustvedt, 2014). Moreover, Doney and Cannon (1997) states that one party must be able to continuously meet its obligations to their customers. Consumers should not only be able to detect or forsee the mere positive, but also have a belief that these positive actions or outcome will continue in the future as well (Akbar & Parvez, 2009). Being considered a trustworthy corporation is of utmost importance. Trust has been linked to several positive outcomes like creating corporate loyalty, customer retention, purchase intention, product choices, willingness to act and the overall market performance. To cultivate trust, corporations need to efficiently communicate with its consumer regarding environmental
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initiatives. Successfully communicating environmental initiatives needs to encompass credibility, transparency and honesty (Kang & Hustvedt, 2014).
Trust implies that expectations is conformed by the actual perception. It has been shown that it is particular important when corporations are practising green marketing and greenwashing (Chen, 2010). Chen (2010)outlines the importance of enhancing consumer trust for corporations that are turning green, as it enhances consumers attitude towards the green brand and thus has positive effects on brand equity. However, green marketing needs to be enclosed with credibility and trustworthy communication in order to enhance consumer trust in green brands. It has been shown that if green marketing is perceived as confusing and unreliable, consumer trust towards the product as well as brand, will decrease (Chen & Chang, 2013). Therefore, consumer trust in corporations communicated environmental message will be examined and its effects on attitude in following hypothesis:
H5: High levels of trust has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards the corporate communication.
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3. Methodology
The chapter will present information related to the thesis’ research methodology as well as data-gathering methods. Further on, survey design, data analysis, quality discussion and limitations will be addressed.
3.1 Research Methodology
The motive of this study was to gain understanding of how consumers’ attitude is affected by different types of environmental messages and communication channels. This was conducted through a quantitative method, as this study aims to measure and quantify the effect several variables has on a larger amount of individuals. With a quantitative method, it enabled us to test the significance of the variables examined, which is of certain interest in this study (Bryman & Bell, 2011). A number of prior studies examining the effects green marketing and greenwashing has on consumer attitude, has been based on quantitative research methods. This demonstrating that a quantitative research method was suitable for the aim of this thesis as well.
The area of green marketing and greenwashing are well researched, where most studies are up to date. However, there are still some aspects that needs to be examined and tested within these areas. This in regards to motive greenwashing, and if transparency and communication channels has an effect on consumer attitude when it comes to communication the implementation of environmental regulations. This study was therefore done with a deductive approach, meaning that the specific motive of this study, as well as the hypothesis created, are based on what is already known in the certain research area as well as the theoretical considerations within it (Bryman & Bell, 2007). The study was implemented with a cross-sectional research design which implies that consumer attitude was assessed during a single point of time. With a cross-sectional research design, the researcher desires for a number of subjects and variation among those that later can be measured (Bryman & Bell, 2007). This can consequently be a basis for discovering connections among the objectives observed. A number of scholars researching green marketing and particularly greenwashing, has used experimental surveys as a research design in order to measure how consumer behaviour is affected. Since greenwashing and green marketing are a particular type of communication, the subject gets more realistic by providing visual and verbal stimulus. In line with
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prior research, the study was conducted with an experimental survey design that enabled to measure the effects of several variables in a more valid way.
3.2 Data-Gathering Method
The primary data gathering method was conducted through a web based survey. Web surveys as a data collection methodology is beneficial, as it enables a data collection from a larger scope with diversified demographics (Homburg, 2016). By distributing the survey online, it provided us with the ability of reaching otherwise inaccessible respondents (Blumberg, Cooper & Schindler, 2014). These aspects are essential, since the aim is to enable an generalization of the finding to a larger population. Thus, diversified demographics and otherwise inaccessible respondents are important to include, to generate finding that are not biased towards one selected group. Web survey was further suitable due to the time frame of the thesis, as it provides higher time efficiency than other methods (Homburg, 2016). To enable a wide sampling of respondents during a short period of time, a web survey was the only suitable approach to gather primary data. The decision to solely provide online distribution was also based with regards to the aim of the study, since the visual effects in the survey are more realistic in an online setting.
It was further decided to solely conduct in a social-media-based survey. This was done due to the easiness of spreading the survey and to receive a wide demographic. However, due to the aim of providing data that reflect Swedish consumers attitude, the survey was solely provided in Swedish. This enabled us with an natural selection of Swedish consumers. It was further decided that the most suitable social media platform to distribute the survey on was Facebook. This due to the wide number of active users, which enabled a larger number of respondents. The survey was distributed on our own private pages, with an appeal of sharing the survey forward. This was done to reach a ‘snowball sampling system’, which enables increased dissemination of the survey (Blumberg et al. 2014).
The survey was carried out by using the online survey program Google forms. Since the study is based on a 2x2 design, the survey consisted of four different scenarios, where the respondents were randomly assigned into one. The function of random assignment was essential to enable an equal participation of each scenario and hinder the respondents to see more than one of the stimuli, since this could affect their attitude and thus provide us with inaccurate data. Google form was further chosen due to its visual functions, as the presentation of the stimuli are essential for the aim of the
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thesis. In these aspects, was Google forms superior to other survey programs like Sunet and Microsoft Forms.
3.3 Sampling
The target population for this study is Swedish consumers. This implies that the sample needed to be broad in order to reflect the target population. A number of prior research within the field of green marketing and in particular greenwashing, are based on samples conducted on university students which reflects a relatively young population with one specific occupation (Nyilasy et al. 2014; Torelli et al. 2019; Krafft & Saito, 2014; Kraev, 2015). It was therefore both of interest and of importance to conduct the study on a broader and more diversified respondent group in terms of age and occupation. This was done to investigate and contribute with new findings.
A broad sample can be reached by distributing the survey online (Homburg, 2016). The methodology for sampling in the study, was partly made by convenience and partly by snowball sampling. Facebook was used as the platform for distributing the survey and enables us to reach a larger number of responses within a limited time frame and financial resources. When distributing the survey on Facebook, people were asked to send the survey forward in order to create a ‘snowball sampling effect’ and thus not solely include people that have a clear connection to us. The survey was shared fifteen times on facebook. The target number of respondents was set to a minimum of fifty individuals in each survey scenario group, which was reached after two weeks. In order to ensure that the number of respondents were equal in each survey scenario, the survey scenarios that received fifty respondent was removed as option. This was done so that only the scenarios that possessed less than fifty respondents were available for answer for the respondents.
3.4 Survey Design
The survey scenarios were based on a fictional brand. This was done in order to avoid bias among the respondents. The fictional brand created was claimed to be a grocery company, as the food sector is more or less general and a part of consumers everyday life. The fictional brand was given the name “ACA” alluding on one of the biggest food chain in Sweden, ICA (Konkurrensverket, 2018). The scenarios was further based on the European Parliament's decision to impose restrictions on disposable plastic articles with a ban on the consumption of single use plastic articles
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by 2021 (European Parliament 2019). A brief description of the brand was provided in the survey introduction, followed by a few background questions such as age, gender and current occupation. No other personal information was required and all respondents were completely anonymous. After the introduction chapter in the survey, all respondents had to choose between four unvalued symbols (the symbols were: !,?,%,&). By choosing one of the symbols the respondents were automatically assigned into one of the four survey scenarios, this providing a randomization technique. Thus, the respondents were exposed to one of the four scenarios where level of transparency and communication channel were manipulated. After being exposed to one of the scenarios, the independent and dependent variables were measured by several questions.
Measuring attitude is complex, as it hardly can be seen nor assessed with only one question. When gathering data about consumer attitude, it is important to breakdown attitude into components, meaning that surveys as a data collection method should be constructed by using many but not identical questions (Quinlan, Babin, Carr, Griffin & Zikmund, 2019). These aspects were taking into consideration when forming the survey questions. The survey is based on 14 structured questions, where likert-scales is provided as respondent options. Likert-scales are useful when assessing consumer behaviour as it embraces a wider range of values which makes it easier for the respondents to fit their response more correctly (Quinlan et al. 2019).
3.4.1 Measurements Constructs and Operationalization
The hypothesis created are based on one dependent variable and three independent variables. Additionally, two moderators are involved which will affect the three independent variables differently and indirectly moderate the dependent variable. Construct scales from prior studies were used for the measurement of the of the independent variables and dependent variables. For measurement of psychological constructs, it is advantageous to use multiple measurements (Quinlan et al. 2019). In following section, the hypotheses are presented and the operationalization of the moderators and the independent variables.
The Moderators
The survey was conducted through a 2x2 study design that included four scenarios with a combination of two different conditions; two levels of transparency and two types of communication channels (Figure 1). The respondents participating in the survey were subjected to
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different scenarios with specific manipulated conditions.
Figure 1. 2x2 Study design
Transparency
The conditions in the four different scenarios in the survey were manipulated according to the level of transparency respectively motive greenwashing, and to specific communication channel. The two communication scenarios that included high level of transparency has been manipulated in accordance to Rawlin’s (2009) three level of transparency which are substantial information, accountability and participation. For the two communication scenarios with motive greenwashing, the message has been manipulated in such way that it does not fulfill the three qualities of transparency (Rawlin, 2009). The condition in the motive greenwashing scenarios are additionally manipulated so that they are in line with the original construct of motive greenwashing by De Jong (2020). The constructs of motive greenwashing encompasses whether the company’s environmental initiatives are voluntary or if it merely complies with current legislations (De Jong, 2020).
Communication Channel
The condition of communication channel in the survey are manipulated to either Facebook or to a corporate website, as the place of corporate communication are expected to moderate the overall outcome of the variables observed. In order to enhance the realism of the messages in each communication channel applied in the survey scenarios, is the design inspired by real example observed that are similar to the cases in this study.
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The Independent Variables
The independent variables observed in this study that affects attitude are based on prior studies within greenwashing and green marketing. The independent variables are skepticism, trust and credibility. In order to enhancing the validity of the measurement in this study, these variables were selected based on prior studies researching communication and advertising. In the field of greenwashing and green marketing, a number of prior research has examined attitude in a manner of purchase behaviour context in which other constructs are measured. However, due to the motive of this study, was skepticism, trust and credibility selected as independent variables. Each of the independent variables were measured on the basis of a five point likert scale, from disagree to agree.
Credibility
The level of credibility is moderated by the different level of transparency and communication channel. The concept of credibility is adopted and modified from the construct ‘Message credibility’ by Mackenzie & Lutz (1989). The construct measures credibility by valuing how convincing, believable and biased claims in advertising are perceived (Mackenzie & Lutz, 1989). The aim was to examine how the level of credibility effects consumer attitude.
Skepticism
The level of skepticism depends on the moderating effects of the different level of transparency and communication channel. The concept of skepticism is adopted and modified from the construct ‘General green ad skepticism’ by Mohr et al. (1998). The construct by Mohr et al. (1998) can indicate how skeptical consumers are towards green advertisement by subjecting respondents to green advertising with any type of form of claim or visual stimuli. The aim was to examine how levels of skepticism effects consumer attitude.
Trust
The level of trust is also moderated by the different level of transparency and channel for corporate communication. The concept of trust is adopted and modified from the construct ‘Trust’ by Chen (2010). The construct for trust covers aspects such as how reliable the respondents perceives the
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advertising. It also measures to which extent the message in advertising holds promises and if it meets the consumer’s expectation. These aspects covered in the construct by Chen (2010) indicates how trustworthy consumer perceive messages in advertising. With this construct, is the effect the level of trust has on consumer attitude examined.
Attitude
The dependent variable in this study is consumer attitude toward corporate communication. As previously mentioned, attitude should be measured by using many but not identical questions (Quinlan et al. 2019). Consumer attitude was measured in such way with three equal questions but with three different respondent scales. The scales for measuring the construct of attitude consisted of five point semantic differential scales adopted from Muehling and Laczinak (1988) where attitude is rated with bad or good; negative or positive; and unfavourable or favourable.
Table 2. Operationalization
Operationalization Origin
Skepticism Mohr et al. (1998)
● I don't believe in the environmental claims I see in advertising ● Since environmental claims are exaggerated, it would be better for consumers if such claims in advertising are eliminated ● Most environmental claims in advertising and communication are intended to mislead rather than inform consumers
● I do not believe that the message in the picture is true
Credibility Mackenzie & Lutz (1989)
● The environmental claims made in the advertisement are convincing
● The environmental claims made in the advertisement are believable
● The environmental claims made in the advertisement are unbiased
Trust Chen (2010)
● I think the message in the picture is reliable
● The claim in the message holds promises and commitments to the environment
● The environmental claim in the message meets my environmental expectations
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Attitude Muehling & Laczinak (1988)
● Bad/good
● Negative/positive ● Favorable/unfavorable
3.4.2 Pilot Study
The data-gathering phase was initiated by a pilot testing. This was done to discover weaknesses within the survey design and eliminate any confusion which could occur. A pilot testing is always important in order to increase the validity and reliability of the study (Blumberg et al. 2014). The size of the pilot group was determined to 10 subjects, with varying age and occupation. The decision to not solely have a pilot group of fellow students was due to the purpose of the paper, since we aim to include a wide sampling group and thus in the need of feedback from diversified subjects. The size of the pilot group was further based on the overall respondents we aimed at reaching, with the goal of receiving a minimum of 200 answers. To collect a larger number of subject could lead to exhausting the supply of respondents and the possibility of sensitizing them to the aim of the study (Blumberg et al. 2014).
3.5 Data Analysis
3.5.1 Coding and Conversion
Coding addresses the assignment of numbers or other symbols to answers, which enables an statistical analysis (Blumberg et al. 2014). For the collected data, the majority of the coding was automatically executed through the survey program Google Forms and transferred into a Excel sheet. However, there was a need to recode some of the data collected. The categorical variables, gender and occupation, was changed to numerical in the form of dummy variables. Gender was assigned values of 0, 1 and 2 (Female, Male or Other) and Occupation values of 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Student, Working, Job-seeking, Senior citizen and Other). Moreover, the questions 1-3 in the survey was in the need of a reversed coding. These questions was ‘negatively loaded’, which resulted to the need to reverse them to enable accurate data regarding how these questions have an impact on consumer attitude.
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3.5.2 Statistical Analysis
All data gathered, was analysed through the statistical software programme Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). A reliability check was made before analysing the relationships among the variables in order to enhance the reliability of the measurement scales (Pallant, 2005). With a SPSS factor analysis, it was possible to determine the reliability of each measurement scale belonging to a construct with the indicator Cronbach’s alpha. It further show how reliability can be increased or decreased if any particular scale is removed out of the construct.
In order to demonstrate information regarding the respondents and their response to the variables examined, tables and figures with descriptive statistics are presented. The descriptive statistics presents data consisting of means, the average value for each scenario in the survey. The descriptives statistics gives a clear overlook over the respondents and also indicates the direction over the results.
A linear regression analysis was made in order to examine the effect the three independent variables has on attitude. A linear regression analysis determines the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable and the significance level for the relationships. It indicates the prediction of the independent variables on the dependent variables and enables to determine the effects of the hypotheses formulated.
The study has a 2x2 design consisting of two types of moderators, level of transparency and communication channel. To test the effect the moderators has on attitude, an independent t-test was made as it compares the means between two groups and shows the statistical significance of the comparison. Before testing the significance between the two groups with an independent t-test, the datasets has to fulfil one assumption, that is equal distribution (Pallant, 2005). In order to do so, a Levene's test was run on each subset of data before the independent t-test was carried out. A value above 0,050 in a Levene's test implies that the data subsets is fulfilling the assumption of equal distribution. The independent t-test was run on the two moderators, in which the scenario of transparency versus motive greenwashing was first compared and then communication channel; scenario of website versus social media. Additional independent t-test were run comparing each four scenario to one and other.
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As the independent t-test tests one group to another, an additional test was made in order to test the overall differences among the data sets simultaneously. This was made with an analysis of variance test (ANOVA) which compared the variance between different groups (Pallant, 2005). The ANOVA test was run on the four scenarios and all variables, showing how both the independent as well as the dependent variables varies when being subjected to a combination of the fours moderators in the scenarios.
3.6 Quality Discussion
3.6.1 Validity and Reliability
Reliability and validity are seen as fundamental parts in obtaining high quality throughout the study (Quinlan et al. 2019). Reliability regards the consistency of measures, where the measure is reliable to the degree that it provides consistent results. Validity regards the extent to which a test measures what it is meant to measure. Reliability and validity are related, where validity assumes reliability. This meaning, that the study must be reliable in order to be valid (Blumberg et al. 2014).
Validity can be divided into external validity and internal validity. External validity refers to the ability of generalizing data across persons, settings and time. One problem which occurred was interaction of selection, which regards the selected subjects. The risk lies with that the selected subjects may not be the same population as wished for, thus providing us with data that are not generalizable to a larger population (Blumberg et al. 2014). This was increased due to the experimental survey having a self-selection design, which did not give us the control of selecting specific subjects. It further has a possibility of affecting the reliability of the study, this especially regarding the representative reliability. There is a risk that the instrument will not produce the same results when applied to different subgroups in society.
Internal validity on the other hand, regards the ability of the research method to measure what it is purported to measure. Validity in this context refers to the extent differences within the measures are reflecting the true differences among the participants in the study (Blumberg et al. 2014). As for random assignment having the risk of lowering the external validity, it provides increased internal validity due to minimising the risk of systematic biases. This was done through the random assignments of both participants and which scenario they got exposed to. Internal validity was further increases through anchoring the survey questions with prior research. This was done to
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enable a scientific basis for that the questions asked about our independent variables, credibility, trust and scepticism, have an impact on our dependent variable attitude. Through this approach, we received high content validity. The latter further increased the reliability of the study. Due to the scientific anchoring of the survey questions, it enables internal consistency of the constructs measured. The questions was further tested and proven based on the Cronbach’s alpha, to ensure the internal reliability of measurement scales.
3.6.2 Limitations
The decision to conduct in a social-media-based survey with distribution through Facebook, came with limitations. The distribution method was based on the single specification of the target audience, which was Swedish consumers. This resulted in the need of collecting a large sample size in a limited amount of time. However, as the aim of the paper is to generalize findings, the data collected needs to reflect a sample with varying demographics. When analysing the data, it was found that a large number of respondents belonged to a specific age group. This most likely as a result of the age of the people forwarding the survey, since the majority were 30 or younger. To have a larger number of respondents within one age range, can contribute to findings that may biased towards that specific audience and a behaviour linked to their generational belonging. Further limitations was found within the sample size. Due to that the collected data needs to reflect a larger population, the number of respondents have to be significant enough to be generalizable. However, despite a large effect on ‘snowball sampling’, we found it hard reaching out over 200 respondents. To collect 200 responses meant that the scenario had 50 respondents each. This amount has the risk of being too few, and thus not being able to represent dispersion or variance in the population (Blumberg et al. 2014). The small sample size could further contribute to the lack of significance when analyzing the data. If the sample size was larger in each scenario, the significance could increase.
As for the design of the survey, there is a limitation within the chosen amount of levels in the likert scale. The strength of consumer attitude is reflected in the assigned score, where the scores are used for an overall attitude measure (Blumberg et al. 2014). Having a 7 point likert scale would allow more variations compared to a 5 point likert scale which has fewer ‘neutral values’. This could in turn result in respondents having to take a stand regarding the scenarios. Thus, a 7 point likert scale should be prefered compared to the 5 point likert scale to avoid measuring errors.
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One further limitation within the survey design, lies with the selection of the questions for measuring consumer skepticism. The questions by Mohr et al. (1998) are more general in their formation, meaning they are measuring the overall consumer skepticism and where only one out of the four questions measure skepticism towards the stimulus material. We found it interesting to include the overall skepticism of consumers, to link to previous research regarding the increased skepticism consumer expresses towards green marketing and environmental communication. However, this decision lead to a weak connection between skepticism and attitude, and where the skepticism towards the communicated message was not sufficiently measured.
3.6.3 Ethical Reflection
The study was implemented in accordance to the ethical requirements by the Swedish Research Council (2017). These requirements considers the information requirement, the consent requirement, the confidentiality requirement and the use requirement. All respondents participating in the study were voluntary. The respondents were further informed about the purpose of the study before participating in the survey and how their replies were to be used. No other personal information apart from age, gender and current occupation was gathered in the survey, which met the confidentiality requirement as the respondents can not be identified by the information collected.
Although greenwashing can be seen as unethical and deceptive, it is a present phenomenon mainly used as a persuading tool in green marketing communication. This study aims to describe and measure the effects of motive greenwashing as a phenomenon in corporate communication. Regardless of the outcomes of the study, we will not a stand for/againstgreenwashing.
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4. Results
This chapter contains the results and statistical analysis of the collected empirical data. The data consist of 50 respondents in each four scenario groups, making it 200 respondents in total.
4.1 The respondents
The following figures illustrates the background questions and information regarding the respondents. The answer is grouped by the respondents chosen scenario and where each group contains 50 respondents.
Gender
The gender distribution within each scenario differ slightly. What can be seen is that Woman are overrepresented in two scenarios, whereas Men are slightly overrepresented in one. The difference between each scenario could contribute to difficulties when comparing each scenario. However, this is reliant upon that gender plays a role in the effects on the independent and dependent variables. When analyzing the data as a whole, the percentage difference between the two genders are 8%. This leading to the conclusion that the collected data as a whole is generalizable.
