- Item type
- Study and report
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Publication year
- 2023
"The global pandemic has brought attention to the theme of sustainability, raising awareness and hastening actions and investments by businesses and governments in this field. The market for eco-friendly goods and services has grown dramatically in recent years and false or misleading environmental claims have become more and more effective.
The main objective of this thesis is to study how greenwashed ads affect consumers’ behaviour and its effects on green companies in Europe and in particular in Italy.
Research method: The method used is both quantitative (with the statistical analysis of a survey) and qualitative (with an expert interview) and follows a deductive research approach.
The major conclusions I gathered are that greenwashing has a statistically significant negative impact on consumers’ green trust and a bad influence on environmentally friendly companies.
First, try to have a bigger sample with a wider range of people in terms of age and nationality in order to have a wider view. Secondly, create an easier to understand and quicker to read survey in order to collect more truthful answers. Thirdly, insert some litter test in order to have more objective data and avoid having only subjective ones which could be biased. Finally, try to have more interviews instead of basing the research more on surveys. In particular, search for specific profiles rather than more generic ones. For instance, do not focus on environmentally friendly companies, but interview experts that have the job of helping organisations to handle sustainability communication and greenwashing matters."
