The influence of greenwashing perceptions on consumer purchase intentions in the Chinese fashion industry

Drawing on the legitimacy theory framework, this study introduces an alternative means to spot “fuzzy reporting” signals as a way to detect greenwashing at the firm level. Its approach is based on the way the sustainability reporting process can mislead stakeholders after critical incidents take place. In order to do so, a single environmental incident, which took place in Colombia, is analyzed in light of what happened before, during and afterwards, with special emphasis on the corporate disclosure process performed by the company involved. Results obtained give support to the assumption that fuzzy reporting can be objectively detected not only through the analysis of annual sustainability reports, but also by tracking other forms of corporate messages when a specific concern is carefully followed. This study’s contribution is two-fold. First, it builds on the theoretical notions of greenwashing and fuzzy reporting by illustrating a practical and objective way to identify some deceiving corporate practices. Second, it empirically evaluates this approach in a sensitive context in order to obtain better illustration and prepare the groundwork for further studies.

Innovative marketing has given rise to practitioners’ and scholars’ attention in the 21st-century market. Given this, social media marketing has become the order of the day when accessing modern tools for marketing communication. However, the adoption of this innovation comes with its associated challenges, particularly, from a developing country perspective. Against this background, this study sought to examine the inhibitors characterized in the application of social media channels as an innovative tool for advertising and communication among SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in Ghana. For study results to be achieved, a quantitative research approach with a questionnaire of 650 was distributed among managerial staff of the fashion industry in the central part of Ghana of which 512 respondents were duly received and correctly filled for data processing and analysis. Results from the partial least square structural equation method (PLS-SEM), showed that despite the importance of innovation, lack of managerial skills/marketing expertise, perceived cost, regular systems/links upgrade, and financial constraints are significant inhibiting factors affecting the application of social media as advertising and communication tools among SMEs in developing economy. Interestingly, the findings further showed that ’company’s size’ as well as ’availability of social media channel/tool’ significantly control for the outcome variable (internet/social media) as a marketing communication tool.

Acknowledgment
This work is supported by Tomas Bata University in Zlin through; IGA/FaME/2019/002: The role of the institutional environment in fostering entrepreneurship, and further supported by IGA/FaME/2020/002 and IGA/FaME/2019/008. The authors are thankful to Prof. Jaroslav Belás, Prof. Boris Popesko, and Prof. Miloslava Chovancová for their guidance towards developing this manuscript.

Green marketing is becoming a trend, and many companies have implemented it as a strategy for winning the market. However, attention to the importance of green marketing strategies has been relatively limited compared to its importance as a viable strategy, and this happens, particularly, in developing countries. As a result, the green marketing strategies of companies in developing countries are not yet fully recognized. So, this study is intended to explore marketing practices of the selected companies in Indonesia. The research is a case study of three selected companies producing herbal medical drinks, natural spa-related beauty products, and natural coloring fabric. They were selected for several reasons: producing of green products, conducting of green practices, and marketing the products abroad. In-depth interview of the owner or in-charged manager of each company was used to obtain the data about its marketing practices. The data were then classified into four Ps of marketing mix, and interrelationship concepts generated from the data were systematically identified using NVivo to get clear picture of their marketing strategy. The results indicated that the companies undertook only quasi green marketing: dealt with green product and conducted green practices but did not apply green pricing, green distribution, and green promotion. This brings implication for companies marketing a green product to take advantage by differentiating their product based on the green characteristics of the product. This study also contributes to knowledge about green marketing strategy in a developing economy that is still limited.