Sustainable flying? The effects of greenwashed claims in airline advertising on perceived greenwashing, brand outcomes, and attitudes toward flying

Autor(en)
Ariadne Neureiter, Melanie Hirsch, Jörg Matthes, Brigitte Naderer
Abstrakt

To respond to consumers’ rising concerns about environmental topics, airlines increasingly use green advertising. However, due to the environmental impact of flying, many green advertisements by airlines can be considered as “greenwashing” practices. In an experimental study with a quota-based sample (N = 329), we investigated the effects of two types of greenwashed advertisements for airlines: concrete compensation and abstract compensation (compared to a control condition). Following the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), we also explored the moderating role of environmental knowledge in the ability of consumers to perceive greenwashing in airline advertising. Results indicated that concrete compensation claims did not increase greenwashing perceptions compared to the control condition. However, abstract compensation claims did, which, via perceived greenwashing, were negatively associated with brand outcomes and assessments of flying. Environmental knowledge did not moderate these effects. Implications for research on greenwashing, as well as practical conclusions for environmental communication, are discussed.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft
Externe Organisation(en)
Medizinische Universität Wien
Journal
Environmental Communication
Band
18
Seiten
873 – 890
Anzahl der Seiten
18
ISSN
1752-4032
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2024.2327060
Publikationsdatum
03-2024
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
508007 Kommunikationswissenschaft
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Environmental Science (miscellaneous), Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/3bec3973-f69d-4409-95e9-cf98349c7907