Human-in-the-Circular-Loop: A consumer attributions-based approach for investigating the effect of enterprise greenwashing on wishcycling.

Abstract

With increasing consumers awareness of environmental problems, corporate greenwashing practices have become common for companies to gain, sustain, and improve a competitive advantage without bearing the costs of moving to more sustainable practices. However, although there is extensive research on greenwashing, there is limited work studying the degree of consumer attribution on corporate greenwashing practices and their consequences on wishcycling. This thesis presents a novel approach to investigating the human aspects of Circular Economy (CE) ecosystems, introducing Human-in-the-circular-loop (HITCL). The framework integrates established theories from different disciplines, such as psychology, human resource management and marketing, to provide an understanding of the human factors influencing the adoption of circular practices. Acknowledging the important part that humans play as both consumers and employees in shifting to a CE, the HITCL framework provides a lens through which to study how individuals embrace the circular economy concept and how this influences their behaviors and decision-making regarding circular practices can be studied. The theoretical contribution of this thesis is the introduction of the HITCL framework, which builds upon mature theories from diverse academic fields and incorporates them into circular studies, thereby advancing the social aspects of circular economy research. This thesis addresses the issue of corporate greenwashing and its impact on consumer behaviour, specifically in the context of circular food and beverage packaging. A survey was completed by 537 participants, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was utilised to analyse the relationships between perceived company motives, consumer attributions, perceptions of greenwashing, and wishcycling behaviour. Additionally, the moderating effect of core self-evaluation on the relationship between circular packaging and greenwashing techniques was explored. The findings highlight the mediating role of consumer perceptions of company motives in the relationship between corporate greenwashing and wishcycling. Specifically, consumers are more inclined to engage in wishcycling when they attribute greenwashing practices to societal reasons thereby rather than business motives, despite their ability to recognise greenwashing techniques in both scenarios. It was also observed that consumer personality traits, particularly core self-evaluation, moderate the relationship between circular packaging and perceptions of greenwashing. A confident consumer will purchase products packaged in what they perceive as circular packaging, when they are confident that they are not being subjected to greenwashing tactics. These results underscore the importance of understanding consumer behaviour and perceptions in circular environments and policy domains. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, businesses, and researchers aiming to promote circular consumption and mitigate environmental harm in the transition towards a more circular economy.