Greenwashing and Bluewashing in Black Friday-Related Sustainable Fashion Marketing on Instagram
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Literature Review
1.1.1. Green Advertising
1.1.2. Greenwashing
- The “Sin of the Hidden Trade-off” is committed by making environmental claims based on a very “narrow set of attributes” while disregarding other relevant aspects.
- The “Sin of No Proof” is committed when brands provide no reliable evidence for their environmental claims.
- The “Sin of Vagueness” is committed when brands use “poorly defined or broad” terminology to imply environmental compatibility, e.g., unregulated buzzwords.
- The “Sin of Irrelevance” is committed when brands make claims that are not relevant for consumers seeking to make green purchase decisions (e.g., highlighting the absence of a harmful substance that is banned by law).
- The “Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils” is committed by making environmental claims about a product that may be true in comparison to a competing product but disregard the negative environmental impact of the product category as a whole.
- The “Sin of Fibbing” is committed whenever claims of environmental benefits are factually untrue or misleading.
- The “Sin of Worshipping False Labels” is committed when brands use “fake labels”, e.g., to imply third-party certification.
1.1.3. Bluewashing
1.1.4. Ethical Consumerism
1.1.5. Home Economicus vs. Homo Sustinens
1.1.6. Green Consumers
1.1.7. Green Ad Skepticism
1.2. Research Focus
2. Part 1: Content Analysis
2.1. Materials and Methods, Part 1
2.2. Results, Part 1
2.3. Discussion Part 1
3. Part 2: Survey Research
3.1. Materials and Methods, Part 2
3.1.1. Procedure and Sample
3.1.2. Measured Constructs
3.1.3. Data Analysis
3.2. Results, Part 2
3.2.1. Participants
3.2.2. Descriptive Statistics
3.2.3. Stepwise Multiple Regression
3.3. Discussion, Part 2
4. Limitations
5. Implications
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Category | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
Cause-related marketing (CRM) [8,64] | Offering to make a small donation to a charity for each purchase | Reforestation project; 10% per order towards charity (e.g., Fashion Revolution) |
Ethical consumerism argument [65,67] | Perpetuating the idea that it is the consumers’ responsibility to make sustainable decisions rather than the brands’ | Persuading customers to choose CRM options over conventional discounts |
Promotional gift [43] | Offering a social or eco-gift with each purchase instead of discounts | Scrap material key chain, products with activist slogans |
Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils [47] | Promoting a product or process that is less socially or environmentally harmful than a comparable one but still has a negative impact | Promoting Black Friday sales of sustainable fashion while condemning fast fashion brands for offering discounts |
Sin of Fibbing [47] | Making misleading or false claims about the environmental or social benefit of a product or process | Claiming that consumers are saving resources when they purchase sustainable products |
Sin of Vagueness [47] | Using buzzwords and unstandardized terminology to imply favorable environmental or social performance | Made with love; planet- and people-friendly fashion |
Rebranding [50] | Changing the name of the sales event to imply improved social or environmental compatibility | Green Friday or Blue Friday instead of Black Friday |
Content creator endorsement [52] | Using credible content creators to advertise a product or brand to enhance the credibility of sustainability claims | Greenfluencer * campaign, social activist endorsement |
Imagery [43] | Using nature-related or charity-related imagery so that consumers associate the brand with the feelings evoked by what is depicted | Images of natural scenery or acts of charity |
Category | Green-Washing | Blue- Washing | Both Green- and Bluewashing | Total per Category |
---|---|---|---|---|
CRM (environmental/social) | 16 | 15 | 1 | 32 |
Rebranding | 17 | 11 | - | 28 |
Imagery (nature/charity) | 13 | 6 | - | 19 |
Sin of Fibbing | 6 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils | 8 | - | 2 | 10 |
Content creator endorsement | 5 | - | - | 5 |
Gift (eco-/social) | 3 | 1 | - | 4 |
Sin of Vagueness | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
Ethical consumerism | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Total per sustainability focus | 70 | 39 | 6 | =115 |
Construct | Items | Example Item |
---|---|---|
Sustainability consciousness [92,94,95] | 7 | “The condition of the environment affects the quality of my life.” |
Purchase behavior and attitude [13,92,96] | 5 | “When I have a choice between two equal products, I purchase the one less harmful to other people and the environment.” |
Fashion consciousness [94] | 3 | Conventional fashion brands often do not care about the environment. |
Fashion purchase behavior and attitude [94] | 6 | I am willing to switch to other brands if they produce clothing under ethical and environmentally friendly conditions. |
Ad skepticism [13,97,98] | 10 | “Consumers would be better off” without advertising. |
Black Friday attitude | 5 | Black Friday deals encourage unnecessary consumption. |
Brand evaluation [13,75,99] | 9 | Unconvincing/convincing. |
Sustainability evaluation [94] | 6 | Profit-oriented/charitable. |
Sustainability skepticism [98] | 6 | This ad uses graphic elements to deceive consumers regarding the environmental impact of the product. |
Variable | M | SD | α | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sustainability consciousness | 4.97 | 0.51 | 0.76 | |||||||||||
2 | Ad skepticism | 4.21 | 0.52 | 0.69 | 0.19 * | ||||||||||
3 | Purchase behavior | 5.05 | 0.66 | 0.77 | 0.65 ** | 0.16 * | |||||||||
4 | Fashion sustainability consciousness | 5.29 | 0.68 | 0.78 | 0.38 ** | 0.37 ** | 0.29 ** | ||||||||
5 | Fashion purchase behavior | 4.80 | 0.87 | 0.90 | 0.58 ** | 0.14 | 0.72 ** | 0.29 ** | |||||||
6 | Attitude towards Black Friday | 4.58 | 0.79 | 0.75 | 0.31 ** | 0.13 | 0.29 ** | 0.19 * | 0.29 ** | ||||||
7 | Brand evaluation | 3.23 | 0.69 | 0.96 | −0.05 | 0.19 * | −0.10 | 0.07 | −0.06 | 0.24 ** | |||||
8 | Sustainability evaluation | 3.26 | 0.72 | 0.94 | −0.02 | 0.21 ** | −0.09 | 0.05 | −0.01 | 0.24 ** | 0.89 ** | ||||
9 | Education | 3.56 | 0.69 | 0.08 | −0.06 | 0.12 | −0.05 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.08 | 0.09 | ||||
10 | Income | 1.63 | 0.81 | −0.08 | 0.03 | 0.01 | −0.29 ** | 0.07 | 0.09 | −0.08 | −0.07 | 0.09 | |||
11 | Gender | 1.85 | 0.38 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.22 ** | 0.07 | 0.14 | −0.03 | −0.18 * | −0.14 | −0.10 | −0.11 | ||
12 | Sustainability skepticism | 3.77 | 0.68 | 0.93 | 0.03 | 0.21 * | 0.04 | 0.14 | 0.08 | 0.20 * | 0.71 ** | 0.70 ** | −0.05 | −0.13 | −0.04 |
Variable | Regression Coefficient | R2 | Beta Coefficient | T | F | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attitude towards Black Friday | 0.24 | 0.06 | 0.28 | 3.38 | 8.77 | 0.00 |
Purchase behavior | −0.23 | 0.09 | −0.22 | −2.63 | 7.15 | 0.01 |
Ad skepticism | 0.25 | 0.13 | 0.19 | 2.40 | 6.83 | 0.02 |
Variable | Regression Coefficient | R2 | Beta Coefficient | T | F | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attitude towards Black Friday | 0.24 | 0.06 | 0.27 | 3.26 | 8.68 | 0.00 |
Ad skepticism | 0.29 | 0.09 | 0.21 | 2.66 | 7.19 | 0.02 |
Purchase behavior | −0.22 | 0.13 | −0.20 | −2.40 | 6.87 | 0.02 |
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Sailer, A.; Wilfing, H.; Straus, E. Greenwashing and Bluewashing in Black Friday-Related Sustainable Fashion Marketing on Instagram. Sustainability 2022, 14, 1494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031494
Sailer A, Wilfing H, Straus E. Greenwashing and Bluewashing in Black Friday-Related Sustainable Fashion Marketing on Instagram. Sustainability. 2022; 14(3):1494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031494
Chicago/Turabian StyleSailer, Astrid, Harald Wilfing, and Eva Straus. 2022. "Greenwashing and Bluewashing in Black Friday-Related Sustainable Fashion Marketing on Instagram" Sustainability 14, no. 3: 1494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031494