Deceptive Sustainability: Analysing the Impact of Greenwashing on Consumer Behaviour in Social Media Marketing – Case study of the Fast Fashion Industry of China

Abstract

The purpose of this paper has been of analysing the impacts of greenwashing practices and related social media marketing activities on the consumer behaviour and to study these impacts, the study has focused on the contemporary fast fashion industry of China. The reason behind the selection of this industry is that fast fashion is a considerably wasteful industry and although a number of brands in the concerned industry are trying to shift towards sustainable production and other operations, there are also increasing incorporation of greenwashing activities by these businesses. Given that the fast fashion industry in China is considerably prospective and dynamic, the study has tried to assess the ways in which perceived greenwashing practices in this industry, impact on consumer behaviour. For this purpose, surveys have been conducted with 400 respondents who are current consumers in the concerned market. The findings highlight the presence of perceptions about greenwashing practices of fast fashion brands in China, among majority of the respondents. The study also highlights that these brands use social media marketing in different manners to practice greenwashing and simultaneously retain their reputation as sustainable and environment-friendly companies, to ensure competitive advantages in the concerned markets. However, the findings also highlight the presence of knowledge about greenwashing among the customers and in presence of such practices, the trust of the customers on the credibility these companies and thereby on their social media marketing is lost, which in turn, impacts negatively on the purchasing intentions of the consumers, especially from these greenwashing fast fashion brands in the country.