This paper presents a study of 1,338 green advertisements from the leading Chinese\nnewspapers and magazines. The aim of the study is to examine the green adsââ?¬â?¢ distribution\nand greenwashing characteristics and practices in order to provide an overview for policy\nregulators and marketers. The analysis framework adopted the Carlson et al. (1993) matrix\napproach and the six sins of greenwashing from Terra Choice Environmental Marketing\n(2007). The findings revealed that green advertisements have increased by more than 50%\nsince 2004 and Chinese enterprises engaged in green advertising mainly to promote product\nbenefits while foreign enterprises placed strong emphasis on products and green corporate\nimage. From a consumer perspective, the study revealed that almost a third of the green ads\ncontained an element of greenwashing with ââ?¬Å?sin of no proofââ?¬Â being the most prominent.\nAnalysis of variance reveals that Chinese enterprises had committed more greenwashing\nthan foreign-owned enterprises in green advertising.
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