Neureiter, A., & Matthes, Jã. (2022). Comparing the effects of greenwashing claims in environmental airline advertising: perceived greenwashing, brand evaluation, and flight shame. International Journal of Advertising, 1–25. Web.
Drawing on information process theory, this study examines whether consumers have the ability to perceive vague and false claims, which also include abstract and concrete compensation claims. Moreover, the researchers tested the moderating role of current environmental knowledge. They also researched the effects of perceived “greenwashing” on brand evaluation and shame avoidance.
The research is effective as it shows at the experimental level that only specific demands for compensation do not significantly contribute to the perception of “greenwashing.” However, when consumers have sufficiently high and up-to-date knowledge about the environment, they can also detect greenwashing in specific claims for compensation in time. The article emphasizes the importance of the correct perception of “green,” which affects the evaluation of the brand and contributes to escape. The paper will be used in further research as it discusses implications for greenwashing research and implications for practitioners.
Gurcam, S. (2022). The Neoliberal Initiative of the Aviation Industry to Fight the Climate Crisis: Greenwashing. International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics, 9(3), 178–186. Web.
The article’s central theme is the global climate crisis, which is rapidly deepening and becoming a problem that requires an immediate fight. Therefore, the UN initiated complex negotiations for a long time, but this process did not achieve the desired level of success. The active development of the aviation sector has an increasingly negative impact on the climate. In this context, the aviation industry, which pretends to be a defender of the environment, ignores or hides the impact on the environment to avoid the pressure of the climate crisis and continues to develop around the principle of deregulation of neoliberalism. This greenwashing situation is well adapted to the aviation industry.
The research is effective because it contains a strategic approach that the aviation industry mainly applies to other environmental problems, especially climate crises. Research has shown that innovative projects in the aviation industry, including electric aircraft, hydrogen-powered aircraft, and biofuel research, are highly effective and are largely dysfunctional. The article will be used in further research as it points out that the aviation industry is not as innocent as it seems at first glance.
Mäkinen, M. (2021). CSR reporting in aviation: substantive actions or greenwashing?: Case Lufthansa & Finnair. Web.
The article focuses on the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for greenwashing. Better reporting on corporate social responsibility can thus give airlines a competitive advantage over their peers and enhance corporate reputation. The purpose of the study is to assess current CSR reporting in the aviation industry. Equally important is the study of which aspects Lufthansa Group and Finnair highlight in their reports on corporate responsibility and whether this can be considered “greenwashing.” The article is effective because it uses qualitative content analysis that focuses on the characteristics of language as communication. The author also uses a summative approach to qualitative content analysis and counts and compares the keywords used in their reports. This article will be used in further research as it contains some of the aspects that can be considered “greenwashing.”
Summary
Analyzing three articles, they provide a different kind of analysis of greenwashing. However, the articles explore similar causes and effects of this problem by applying similar concepts to different scenarios. For example, the third research is the most informative since it, unlike the other two, does not simply describe the problem but uses corporate social responsibility as a solution to the issue.
The articles are quite diverse and address different issues in the context of aviation greenwashing. The first article is the least informative in terms of the solutions and causes of greenwashing, but it does provide a description of specific compensation requirements that do not contribute significantly to the perception of “greenwashing”, which is an important point for further research.