Greenwashing knowledge as a determinant of consumer engagement in greenwashed word of mouth
Małgorzata Budzanowska-Drzewiecka – Anita Proszowska
Abstract
With the growth of green marketing, greenwashing practices have emerged. These practices cause green scepticism among consumers, who may share information on these misleading pro-environmental marketing practices with others. Such informal communication has been called greenwashed word of mouth (WOM). The study extends the understanding of greenwashed WOM by adding the concept of greenwashed electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) opinion-seeking and giving. The role of this phenomenon in shaping green consumer behaviour and its determinants remains unexplored. The article aims to examine consumers’ knowledge of greenwashing as a determinant of their engagement in greenwashed WOM and eWOM. An online survey among 230 adult Poles was conducted. The results showed a low level of greenwashing knowledge among the respondents. The ANOVA tests revealed a significant difference in the greenwashed WOM and greenwashed eWOM opinion giving depending on greenwashing knowledge. The study enriches information about consumers’ behaviour in the situation in which they recognize greenwashing practices.
Keywords
Greenwashing, green WOM, greenwashed WOM, customer green behaviour, green scepticism.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.18267/pr.2023.kre.2490.2
Cite this paper
Budzanowska-Drzewiecka, M., & Proszowska, A. (2023). Greenwashing knowledge as a determinant of consumer engagement in greenwashed word of mouth. In: 23rd International Joint Conference Central and Eastern Europe in the Changing Business Environment: Proceedings. Vydavateľstvo EKONÓM, Bratislava. pp. 25-39. https://doi.org/10.18267/pr.2023.kre.2490.2