ABSTRACT
Consumers seem to experience some confusion about environmental advertising claims, yet it appears that no research has attempted to investigate the nature of claims that are being made in environmental advertising. This study posits a system for classifying environmental ad claims and then applies that system by content analyzing 100 environmental ads. Results indicate that organizations seem to be generating environmental claims that present themselves as “good environmental citizens” or they are stating environmental facts rather than those that extol the ecological virtues of their products or process attributes. This emphasis may contribute to consumer confusion regarding environmental advertising.
