Third-Party Certification, Sponsorship, and Consumers’ Ecolabel Use

Abstract

While prior ecolabel research suggests that consumers’ trust of ecolabel sponsors is associated with their purchase of ecolabeled products, we know little about how third-party certification might relate to consumer purchases when trust varies. Drawing on cognitive theory, and a stratified random sample of more than 1,200 consumers, we assess how third-party certification relates to consumers’ use of ecolabels across different program sponsors. We find that consumers’ trust of government and environmental NGOs to provide credible environmental information encourages consumers’ use of ecolabels sponsored by these entities, and consumers do not differentiate between certified vs. uncertified ecolabels in the presence of trust. By contrast, consumers’ distrust of private business to provide credible environmental information discourages their use of business association sponsored ecolabels. However, these ecolabels may be able to overcome consumer distrust if their sponsors certify the ecolabels using third-party auditors. These findings are important to sponsors who wish develop ecolabels that are more credible to consumers, and thus encourage more widespread ecolabel use.

Full text

Third-Party Certification, Sponsorship, and Consumers’ Ecolabel
Use
Nicole Darnall
1
•Hyunjung Ji
2
•Diego A. Va
´zquez-Brust
3
Received: 12 September 2015 / Accepted: 23 March 2016 / Published online: 8 April 2016
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016
Abstract While prior ecolabel research suggests that
consumers’ trust of ecolabel sponsors is associated with
their purchase of ecolabeled products, we know little about
how third-party certification might relate to consumer
purchases when trust varies. Drawing on cognitive theory
and a stratified random sample of more than 1200 con-
sumers, we assess how third-party certification relates to
consumers’ use of ecolabels across different program
sponsors. We find that consumers’ trust of government and
environmental NGOs to provide credible environmental
information encourages consumers’ use of ecolabels
sponsored by these entities, and consumers do not differ-
entiate between certified versus uncertified ecolabels in the
presence of trust. By contrast, consumers’ distrust of pri-
vate business to provide credible environmental informa-
tion discourages their use of business association-
sponsored ecolabels. However, these ecolabels may be able
to overcome consumer distrust if their sponsors certify the
ecolabels using third-party auditors. These findings are
important to sponsors who wish develop ecolabels that are
more credible to consumers, and thus encourage more
widespread ecolabel use.
Keywords Ecolabel Environmental label Ecolabel
sponsor Consumer perceptions Ecolabel credibility 
Third-party certification Verification
Introduction
Increased global interest in environmental issues (Euro-
barometer 2014) has caused consumers to increasingly
consider the environment in their purchasing decisions.
Markets have responded by producing more than 450
ecolabels worldwide that are sponsored and administered
by government, environmental non-government organiza-
tions (NGOs), or business associations (Ecolabel Index
2016). Ecolabels are symbols or seals that are designed to
help consumers identify environmentally superior products
and services and increase their confidence in making pro-
environmental purchases (Tarkiainen and Sundqvist 2005;
Nuttavuthisit and Thøgersen 2015).
Despite their increased prevalence, only one in five eco-
minded consumers report acting on their environmental
preferences by purchasing ecolabeled products (Euro-
barometer 2014). One explanation for consumers’ lack of
ecolabel use is their skepticism that an ecolabel is a cred-
ible signal of a product’s superior environmental charac-
teristics (Atkinson and Rosenthal 2014; Dendler 2014;
Nuttavuthisit and Thøgersen 2015). Additionally, con-
sumers appear to be more distrustful of ecolabels sponsored
by business associations and therefore are less likely to use
them in their purchasing decisions (Darnall et al. 2012).
Rather, consumers tend to prefer ecolabels that are devel-
oped by sponsors they believe to be more trustworthy, such
&Nicole Darnall
ndarnall@asu.edu
Hyunjung Ji
mmang37@gmail.com
Diego A. Va
´zquez-Brust
d.a.vazquez@rhul.ac.uk
1
School of Public Affairs, School of Sustainability, Arizona
State University, 411 N. Central Ave., Suite 400, MC 3720,
Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
2
Department of Political Science, University of Alabama,
303 ten Hoor Bldg, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
3
School of Management, Centre for Research Sustainability,
Royal Holloway University of London, Egham,
Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
123
J Bus Ethics (2018) 150:953–969
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3138-2
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