Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Robert C. Pearce / The present research explored whether consumer reactions to a deceptive environmental
ad differs from consumers’ reactions towards a similar true green ad. The deceptive ad used in
this study violates all FTC regulations for acceptable environmental claims. The practice of
deceptive environmental advertising, known as green washing, is an increasing problem for
consumers and advertisers as environmental products and services are offered at an increasing
rate in the marketplace. Undergraduate college students participated in the experiment testing
four hypotheses. As predicted, consumers were not able to identify a green washed ad as
deceptive. Similarly, a measurement of consumers’ perceived overall ethics associated with the
ad revealed low ethical concerns towards both green washed and true green ads. Attitudes
towards green washing were also measures, and, as hypothesized, consumers have equally
positive attitudes towards green washed and true green ads and brands. Additionally, stronger
levels of environmental concern decreased the consumers’ ability to detect deception in
green washed ads. Implications indicate that consumers cannot perceive differences in
green washed ads and true green ads, and the prevalence of green washing has the potential to
cause serious damage to the credibility of the advertising industry.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:KSU/oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/1462 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Stokes, Staci Ann |
| Publisher | Kansas State University |
| Source Sets | K-State Research Exchange |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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