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Journal of Business Ethics

Erschienen in:

01.08.2012

The Harm of Symbolic Actions and Green-Washing: Corporate Actions and Communications on Environmental Performance and Their Financial Implications

verfasst von: Kent Walker, Fang Wan

Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics | Ausgabe 2/2012

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Abstract

We examine over 100 top performing Canadian firms in visibly polluting industries as we seek to answer four research questions: What specific environmental issues are firms addressing? How do these issues differ between industries? Are both symbolic and substantive actions financially beneficial? Does green-washing, measured as the difference between symbolic and substantive action, and/or green-highlighting, measured as the combined effect of symbolic and substantive actions, pay? We find that substantive actions of environmental issues (green walk) neither harm nor benefit firms financially, but symbolic actions (green talk) are negatively related to financial performance. We also find that green-washing (discrepancy between green talk and green walk) has a negative effect on financial performance and green-highlighting (concentrated efforts of the talk and walk) has no effect on financial performance. In this article, we provide explanations of our findings and put forth future research directions.

Vorheriger Artikel The Impact of Service Supplier’s Unethical Behavior to Buyer’s Satisfaction: An Empirical Study

Nächster Artikel An Emotion-Based Model of Salesperson Ethical Behaviors

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Titel: The Harm of Symbolic Actions and Green-Washing: Corporate Actions and Communications on Environmental Performance and Their Financial Implications
verfasst von: Kent Walker
Fang Wan
Publikationsdatum: 01.08.2012
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics / Ausgabe 2/2012
Print ISSN: 0167-4544
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-0697
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1122-4

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