Institutional design of ecolabels

Sponsorship signals rule strength

Bibliographic Data

ID6377745
AuthorsNicole Darnall (0000-0002-4260-6487), H Ji (0000-0001-5603-3213), Matthew Potoski (0000-0003-2011-338X)
Year2017
Volume11
Issue4
Pages438-450
Publication date2017-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRegulation & Governance (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-5983 • E-ISSN: 1748-5991
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/rego.12166
OpenAlexW2739776663
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited44

Ecolabels are designed to help consumers identify environmentally superior products and services; however, they are not all created equal. Some ecolabels have strong rules that promote environmental improvements, while others have weaker rules that permit free‐riding. Because information about ecolabel design and rule strength is typically not readily available at the point of purchase, consumers struggle to differentiate stronger ecolabels from weaker ones. We investigate whether ecolabel sponsorship is a signal that can help consumers distinguish between ecolabels according to the quality of their institutional design. Using data of 189 prominent ecolabels, we find that while most ecolabels have basic rules for environmental performance, monitoring, and conformance, the strength of these rules varies across labels according to sponsoring organization. Independent sponsors have the strongest ecolabel rules, followed by governments. Industry sponsored ecolabels have the weakest rule structures. Taken as a whole, these findings suggest that sponsorship may provide important information about whether an ecolabel is designed with rules that effectively condition firms to promote meaningful environmental improvements

Business · Industrial organization · Point (geometry · Quality (philosophy · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Environmental Sustainability in Business · Sustainable Supply Chain Management · Marketing

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