Greenwashing Under Competition

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2025.0420

References

  • Adidas (2025a) Sustainability—Human rights. Accessed April 28, 2026, https://www.adidas-group.com/en/sustainability/people/human-rights.Google Scholar
  • Adidas (2025b) Sustainability—Nature. Accessed April 28, 2026, https://www.adidas-group.com/en/sustainability/planet/nature.Google Scholar
  • Andreoni J (1989) Giving with impure altruism: Applications to charity and Ricardian equivalence. J. Political Econom. 97(6):1447–1458.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Bounds G (2010) Misleading claims on ‘green’ labeling. Wall Street J. (October 26), https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303467004575574521710082414.Google Scholar
  • Brown TJ, Dacin PA (1997) The company and the product: Corporate associations and consumer product responses. J. Marketing 61(1):68–84.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Buell RW, Kalkanci B (2021) How transparency into internal and external responsibility initiatives influences consumer choice. Management Sci. 67(2):932–950.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Chen L, Lee HL (2017) Sourcing under supplier responsibility risk: The effects of certification, audit, and contingency payment. Management Sci. 63(9):2795–2812.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Chen J, Qi A, Dawande M (2020) Supplier centrality and auditing priority in socially responsible supply chains. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 22(6):1199–1214.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Cho SH, Fang X, Tayur S (2015) Combating strategic counterfeiters in licit and illicit supply chains. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 17(3):273–289.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Cho SH, Fang X, Tayur S, Xu Y (2019) Combating child labor: Incentives and information disclosure in global supply chains. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 21(3):692–711.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Du X (2015) How the market values greenwashing? Evidence from China. J. Bus. Ethics 128(3):547–574.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • EBSCO (2023) 2013 Rana Plaza collapse. Accessed December 17, 2025, https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/2013-rana-plaza-collapse.Google Scholar
  • Flammer C (2015) Does corporate social responsibility lead to superior financial performance? A regression discontinuity approach. Management Sci. 61(11):2549–2568.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Fudenberg D, Tirole J (1991) Game Theory (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA).Google Scholar
  • Gao F (2025) Competing with knockoffs: The role of intellectual property sharing and advertising. Preprint, submitted February 8, https://ssrn.com/abstract=4959750.Google Scholar
  • Gillan SL, Koch A, Starks LT (2021) Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance. J. Corporate Finance 66:101889.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Grossman GM, Shapiro C (1984) Informative advertising with differentiated products. Rev. Econom. Stud. 51(1):63–81.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Gu Z, Xie Y (2013) Facilitating fit revelation in the competitive market. Management Sci. 59(5):1196–1212.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Guo L, Zhao Y (2009) Voluntary quality disclosure and market interaction. Marketing Sci. 28(3):488–501.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Guo R, Zhang W, Wang T, Li CB, Tao L (2018) Timely or considered? Brand trust repair strategies and mechanism after greenwashing in China—From a legitimacy perspective. Indust. Marketing Management 72:127–137.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Hartmann P, Eisend M, Apaolaza V, D’Souza C (2017) Warm glow vs. altruistic values: How important is intrinsic emotional reward in proenvironmental behavior? J. Environ. Psych. 52:43–55.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Hertzendorf MN, Overgaard PB (2001) Price competition and advertising signals: Signaling by competing senders. J. Econom. Management Strategy 10(4):621–662.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Hou M (2019) Shanghai Zhenhua and other companies’ social responsibility report “false disclosure.” Accessed August 25, 2024, https://www.infzm.com/contents/157787.Google Scholar
  • Huang L, Song JS, Swinney R (2022) Managing social responsibility in multitier supply chains. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 24(6):2843–2862.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Jahdi KS, Acikdilli G (2009) Marketing communications and corporate social responsibility (CSR): Marriage of convenience or shotgun wedding? J. Bus. Ethics 88(1):103–113.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Jiang B, Ni J, Srinivasan K (2014) Signaling through pricing by service providers with social preferences. Marketing Sci. 33(5):641–654.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Kalkanci B, Rahmani M, Toktay LB (2019) The role of inclusive innovation in promoting social sustainability. Production Oper. Management 28(12):2960–2982.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Kim EH, Lyon TP (2015) Greenwash vs. brownwash: Exaggeration and undue modesty in corporate sustainability disclosure. Organ. Sci. 26(3):705–723.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Kitzmueller M, Shimshack J (2012) Economic perspectives on corporate social responsibility. J. Econom. Literature 50(1):51–84.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Kraft T, Valdés L, Zheng Y (2018) Supply chain visibility and social responsibility: Investigating consumers’ behaviors and motives. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 20(4):617–636.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Kraft T, Valdés L, Zheng Y (2020) Motivating supplier social responsibility under incomplete visibility. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 22(6):1268–1286.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Kuksov D, Liao C (2018) When showrooming increases retailer profit. J. Marketing Res. 55(4):459–473.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Kuksov D, Liao C (2019) Opinion leaders and product variety. Marketing Sci. 38(5):812–834.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Lee HH, Li C (2018) Supplier quality management: Investment, inspection, and incentives. Production Oper. Management 27(2):304–322.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Lee HCB, Cruz JM, Shankar R (2018) Corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in supply chain competition: Should greenwashing be regulated? Decision Sci. 49(6):1088–1115.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Letizia P, Hendrikse G (2016) Supply chain structure incentives for corporate social responsibility: An incomplete contracting analysis. Production Oper. Management 25(11):1919–1941.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Lichtenstein DR, Drumwright ME, Braig BM (2004) The effect of corporate social responsibility on customer donations to corporate-supported nonprofits. J. Marketing 68(4):16–32.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Lyon TP, Maxwell JW (2011) Greenwash: Corporate environmental disclosure under threat of audit. J. Econom. Management Strategy 20(1):3–41.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Mailath GJ, Okuno-Fujiwara M, Postlewaite A (1993) Belief-based refinements in signalling games. J. Econom. Theory 60(2):241–276.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Natural Resources Defense Council (2023) What is greenwashing? Accessed December 26, 2024, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-greenwashing.Google Scholar
  • Orsdemir A, Hu B, Deshpande V (2019) Ensuring corporate social and environmental responsibility through vertical integration and horizontal sourcing. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 21(2):417–434.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Parguel B, Benoit-Moreau F, Russell CA (2015) Can evoking nature in advertising mislead consumers? The power of ‘executional greenwashing.’ Internat. J. Advertising 34(1):107–134.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Patagonia, Inc. (2022) Earth is now our only shareholder. Accessed December 24, 2024, https://www.patagonia.com/ownership/.Google Scholar
  • Peng Y, Gao F, Chen J (2025) Green disposable packaging and communication: The implications of bring-your-own-container. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management 27(1):94–113.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Piccolo S, Tedeschi P, Ursino G (2018) Deceptive advertising with rational buyers. Management Sci. 64(3):1291–1310.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Pizzetti M, Gatti L, Seele P (2021) Firms talk, suppliers walk: Analyzing the locus of greenwashing in the blame game and introducing ‘vicarious greenwashing.’ J. Bus. Ethics 170(1):21–38.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Schmuck D, Matthes J, Naderer B (2018) Misleading consumers with green advertising? An affect–reason–involvement account of greenwashing effects in environmental advertising. J. Advertising 47(2):127–145.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Sen S, Bhattacharya CB (2001) Does doing good always lead to doing better? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility. J. Marketing Res. 38(2):225–243.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Servaes H, Tamayo A (2013) The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm value: The role of customer awareness. Management Sci. 59(5):1045–1061.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Siano A, Vollero A, Conte F, Amabile S (2017) “More than words”: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal. J. Bus. Res. 71:27–37.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Starks LT (2023) Presidential address: Sustainable finance and ESG issues—Value versus values. J. Finance 78(4):1837–1872.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Sunar N, Swaminathan JM (2022) Socially relevant and inclusive operations management. Production Oper. Management 31(12):4379–4392.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • Wu Y, Zhang K, Xie J (2020) Bad greenwashing, good greenwashing: Corporate social responsibility and information transparency. Management Sci. 66(7):3095–3112.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Zhang J, Li KJ (2021) Quality disclosure under consumer loss aversion. Management Sci. 67(8):5052–5069.LinkGoogle Scholar
  • Zhang H, Aydin G, Parker RP (2022) Social responsibility auditing in supply chain networks. Management Sci. 68(2):1058–1077.LinkGoogle Scholar
INFORMS site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some are essential to make our site work; Others help us improve the user experience. By using this site, you consent to the placement of these cookies. Please read our Privacy Statement to learn more.