IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i23p10488-d1532980.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Advertising and Corporate Green Innovation: From the Perspective of Greenwashing

Author

Listed:
  • Jiaying Li

    (School of Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, 555 Liutai Avenue, Wenjiang, Chengdu 611130, China)

  • Ying Fu

    (School of Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, 555 Liutai Avenue, Wenjiang, Chengdu 611130, China)

  • Ying Wu

    (School of Business, Nanjing Normal University, No. 1, Wenyuan Road, Xianlin University City, Nanjing 210023, China)

Abstract

Advertising has been regarded as a tool for greenwashing. However, no studies have systematically tested this view. Using a large sample of Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2023, this paper examines the effect of advertising on critical environmental action, namely green innovation. The empirical results show that advertising has a negative impact on green innovation. This finding is robust to a battery of robustness tests and is more prominent for state-owned enterprises and heavy pollution-emitting firms. Further analysis shows that advertising lowers the quantity and quality of green innovation. This finding means that advertising is a tool for greenwashing and seriously damages the corporate environmental protection ability.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiaying Li & Ying Fu & Ying Wu, 2024. "Advertising and Corporate Green Innovation: From the Perspective of Greenwashing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-14, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10488-:d:1532980
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10488/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10488/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pascual Berrone & Andrea Fosfuri & Liliana Gelabert, 2017. "Does Greenwashing Pay Off? Understanding the Relationship Between Environmental Actions and Environmental Legitimacy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 363-379, August.
    2. Holmstrom, Bengt, 1989. "Agency costs and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 305-327, December.
    3. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    4. Guo, Mengmeng & Wang, Huixin & Kuai, Yicheng, 2023. "Environmental regulation and green innovation: Evidence from heavily polluting firms in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    5. Dayuan Li & Min Huang & Shenggang Ren & Xiaohong Chen & Lutao Ning, 2018. "Environmental Legitimacy, Green Innovation, and Corporate Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from CDP China 100," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1089-1104, July.
    6. Francesco Testa & Olivier Boiral & Fabio Iraldo, 2018. "Internalization of Environmental Practices and Institutional Complexity: Can Stakeholders Pressures Encourage Greenwashing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 287-307, January.
    7. Lu Chen & Ming Yuan & Han Lin & Yilong Han & Youyou Yu & Caihui Sun, 2023. "Organizational improvisation and corporate green innovation: A dynamic capability perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5686-5701, December.
    8. Zhang, Dongyang, 2022. "Green financial system regulation shock and greenwashing behaviors: Evidence from Chinese firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    9. Mingfeng Tang & Grace Walsh & Daniel Lerner & Markus A. Fitza & Qiaohua Li, 2018. "Green Innovation, Managerial Concern and Firm Performance: An Empirical Study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 39-51, January.
    10. Hao Huang & Yaping Chang & Liyuan Zhang, 2023. "CEO's marketing experience and firm green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5211-5233, December.
    11. Xiaofeng Quan & Yun Ke & Yuting Qian & Yao Zhang, 2023. "CEO Foreign Experience and Green Innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 535-557, January.
    12. Zhang, Dongyang, 2024. "The pathway to curb greenwashing in sustainable growth: The role of artificial intelligence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    13. Javed, Muzhar & Wang, Fangjun & Usman, Muhammad & Ali Gull, Ammar & Uz Zaman, Qamar, 2023. "Female CEOs and green innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    14. Kunapatarawong, Rasi & Martínez-Ros, Ester, 2016. "Towards green growth: How does green innovation affect employment?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1218-1232.
    15. Wei Li & Weining Li & Veikko Seppänen & Timo Koivumäki, 2023. "Effects of greenwashing on financial performance: Moderation through local environmental regulation and media coverage," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 820-841, January.
    16. Jui-Che Tu & Yang Cui & Lixia Liu & Chun Yang, 2024. "Perceived Greenwashing and Its Impact on the Green Image of Brands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-18, October.
    17. Xin Pan & Xuanjin Chen & Paresha Sinha & Niannian Dong, 2020. "Are firms with state ownership greener? An institutional complexity view," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 197-211, January.
    18. Peter Seele & Lucia Gatti, 2017. "Greenwashing Revisited: In Search of a Typology and Accusation‐Based Definition Incorporating Legitimacy Strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 239-252, February.
    19. Kong, Dongmin & Wang, Yanan & Zhang, Jian, 2020. "Efficiency wages as gift exchange: Evidence from corporate innovation in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Zhang, Dongyang, 2023. "Subsidy expiration and greenwashing decision: Is there a role of bankruptcy risk?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    21. Xingqiang Du, 2015. "How the Market Values Greenwashing? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 547-574, May.
    22. Gustavo Grullon, 2004. "Advertising, Breadth of Ownership, and Liquidity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 439-461.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xing, Chao & Zhang, Xinyue & Zhang, Yuming & Zhang, Luxiu, 2024. "From green-washing to innovation-washing: Environmental information intangibility and corporate green innovation in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 204-226.
    2. Francesca Bernini & Fabio La Rosa, 2024. "Research in the greenwashing field: concepts, theories, and potential impacts on economic and social value," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 28(2), pages 405-444, June.
    3. Lingling Xu & Tingting Tian, 2024. "Blockchain-enabled enterprise bleaching green regulation banking evolution game analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 27457-27483, November.
    4. He, Na & Yang, Junjie & Ren, Jiahui, 2024. "Pollution and green innovation: Evidence from CEOs’ early-life experience," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 65-79.
    5. Yang, Yang & Jiang, Yan, 2023. "Does suppliers’ slack influence the relationship between buyers’ environmental orientation and green innovation?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    6. Yin, Lei & Yang, Yuanyuan, 2024. "How does digital finance influence corporate greenwashing behavior?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 359-373.
    7. Torelli, Riccardo & Balluchi, Federica & Lazzini, Arianna, 2019. "Greenwashing and Environmental Communication: Effects on Stakeholders’ Perceptions," OSF Preprints 97vxn, Center for Open Science.
    8. Guangrui Liu & Hao Qian & Yong Shi & Deli Yuan & Ming Zhou, 2024. "How do firms react to capital market liberalization? Evidence from ESG reporting greenwashing," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4329-4344, September.
    9. Xiang, Yilin & Chen, Lu & Zhang, Zhenya & Sun, Xinyu, 2024. "Does perceived greenwashing promote or inhibit ethical voice? Effects of moral disengagement and perceived competitive pressure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    10. Wei Li & Weining Li & Veikko Seppänen & Timo Koivumäki, 2023. "Effects of greenwashing on financial performance: Moderation through local environmental regulation and media coverage," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 820-841, January.
    11. Tingfa Zhang & Huaying Qin & Weishuang Xu, 2022. "Environmental Regulation, Greenwashing Behaviour, and Green Governance of High-Pollution Enterprises in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-22, October.
    12. Kopyrina, Olga & Wu, Kai & Ying, Zhanyu, 2023. "Greening through central inspection: The role of legitimacy pressure and risk-taking," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    13. Kaijun Gan & Silin Ye, 2024. "Window Dressing in Impression Management: Does Negative Media Coverage Drive Corporate Green Production?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-22, January.
    14. Zhang, Dongyang & Wang, Jinli & Wang, Yizhi, 2023. "Greening through centralization of environmental monitoring?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    15. Balluchi, Federica & Lazzini, Arianna & Torelli, Riccardo, 2020. "CSR and Greenwashing: A Matter of Perception in the Search of Legitimacy," OSF Preprints 5x6sy, Center for Open Science.
    16. Francesco Testa & Ivan Miroshnychenko & Roberto Barontini & Marco Frey, 2018. "Does it pay to be a greenwasher or a brownwasher?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1104-1116, November.
    17. Riccardo Torelli & Federica Balluchi & Arianna Lazzini, 2020. "Greenwashing and environmental communication: Effects on stakeholders' perceptions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 407-421, February.
    18. Zhang, Dongyang, 2023. "Does green finance really inhibit extreme hypocritical ESG risk? A greenwashing perspective exploration," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    19. Yu Wang & Yetaotao Qiu & Yi Luo, 2022. "CEO foreign experience and corporate sustainable development: Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2036-2051, July.
    20. Wei Li & Weining Li & Veikko Seppänen & Timo Koivumäki, 2022. "How and when does perceived greenwashing affect employees' job performance? Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1722-1735, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10488-:d:1532980. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.