Consumer Awareness of Greenwashing
Penttinen, Emma (2022)
2022
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202205128906
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202205128906
Tiivistelmä
Marketing products as green and sustainable is a new trend that can be seen everywhere. This trend has followed an act of marketing products as green or making them seem greener even if the products do not have these attributes. Greenwashing is an action where false impressions and misleading information are used to create a picture of a green product (Kenton, 2021.) In greenwashing a conflict between a marketing message and true attributes of the product can be detected (Harmaala & Jallinoja, 2012.)
The purpose of this research was to examine the phenomenon of greenwashing. The hypotheses included assumptions the awareness of greenwashing and TerraChoice’s seven sins of greenwashing. In addition to this it inspected the perceived results the research had on the participants.
The research was implemented with an online questionnaire administered by Webropol. There were two research groups which were both examined by a group-specific questionnaire. One of the questionnaires was in English and one in Finnish. Questionnaire groups included a student group that consisted mainly of Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences international business students and Facebook group named Vegaaniliitto. In the research the members of Vegaaniliitto were thought to be experts on the matter since the group shared green values and the students were seen as novices.
Research’s first two hypotheses were noted to be true and the third one as partially true. The awareness of greenwashing was noted to be higher in the Vegaaniliitto group. The results showed that 80,0% of the participants in this group knew the term of greenwashing and 68,0% had reported greenwashing experiences. The corresponding percentages in the student group were 50,9% and 27,3%. When questioned of the knowledge on the TerraChoice’s seven sins the results of both groups were similar. Answer no was selected by 81,8% of the student and 86,0% of the Vegaaniliitto members. In most cases the questionnaire had affected or had partly affected the participants knowledge of greenwashing. Of the students 29,1% answered yes and 29,1% partly to the effects of the study. Of Vegaaniliitto members 30,0% answered yes and 30,0% partly when asked the same question.
The study showed that knowledge of the term greenwashing is high. The fact that people know the term did not signify that they fully understood the phenomenon since participants were not able to set the term in a real-life situation. This was a phenomenon that was especially available to be seen in the answers of the student group. The research in addition highlighted that most people do not have knowledge of TerraChoice’s seven sins. The lack of awareness even among expert group was notable. The research was able to help most of research participants to understand the phenomenon of greenwashing better.
The purpose of this research was to examine the phenomenon of greenwashing. The hypotheses included assumptions the awareness of greenwashing and TerraChoice’s seven sins of greenwashing. In addition to this it inspected the perceived results the research had on the participants.
The research was implemented with an online questionnaire administered by Webropol. There were two research groups which were both examined by a group-specific questionnaire. One of the questionnaires was in English and one in Finnish. Questionnaire groups included a student group that consisted mainly of Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences international business students and Facebook group named Vegaaniliitto. In the research the members of Vegaaniliitto were thought to be experts on the matter since the group shared green values and the students were seen as novices.
Research’s first two hypotheses were noted to be true and the third one as partially true. The awareness of greenwashing was noted to be higher in the Vegaaniliitto group. The results showed that 80,0% of the participants in this group knew the term of greenwashing and 68,0% had reported greenwashing experiences. The corresponding percentages in the student group were 50,9% and 27,3%. When questioned of the knowledge on the TerraChoice’s seven sins the results of both groups were similar. Answer no was selected by 81,8% of the student and 86,0% of the Vegaaniliitto members. In most cases the questionnaire had affected or had partly affected the participants knowledge of greenwashing. Of the students 29,1% answered yes and 29,1% partly to the effects of the study. Of Vegaaniliitto members 30,0% answered yes and 30,0% partly when asked the same question.
The study showed that knowledge of the term greenwashing is high. The fact that people know the term did not signify that they fully understood the phenomenon since participants were not able to set the term in a real-life situation. This was a phenomenon that was especially available to be seen in the answers of the student group. The research in addition highlighted that most people do not have knowledge of TerraChoice’s seven sins. The lack of awareness even among expert group was notable. The research was able to help most of research participants to understand the phenomenon of greenwashing better.