Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2225-8329

Greenwashing in Sustainability Reporting: A Bibliometric Review and Direction for Future Research

K. Kishan, Zubir Azhar

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS/v14-i4/23743

Open access

This article presents a bibliometric analysis of greenwashing in sustainability reporting studies from 2003 to 2023 via five indicators: trend of annual publications, major contributors, current citation pattern, current pattern of cross-country collaboration, and popular themes within the research field. The Scopus database was queried using keywords and search strings associated with greenwashing in sustainability reporting. Biblioshiny and VOSviewer were utilized for our various analyses. We found 332 researchers from 245 different institutions in 45 other countries published 137 papers across 92 sources. Furthermore, this research field is growing as the number of related publications has steadily increased, especially from 2019 to 2023. The top three cited authors in the field are Simone Pizzi, Alfonso Siano, and Wei Wang, while the major contributing authors and affiliations in this research field are in the USA, China, the UK, and Italy.

Ahmi, A., and Mohamad, R. (2019), “Bibliometric analysis of global scientific literature on web accessibility”, International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, Vol. 7 No. 6, pp.250–258.
Aleixandre-Benavent, R., Aleixandre-Tudó, J. L., Castelló-Cogollos, L., and Aleixandre, J. L. (2017). “Trends in scientific research on climate change in agriculture and forestry subject areas (2005–2014)”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 147, pp. 406-418.
Aria, M., and Cuccurullo, C. (2017), “Bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis”, Journal of Informetrics, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp.959-975.
Baker, H. K., Pandey, N., Kumar, S., and Haldar, A. (2020), “A bibliometric analysis of board diversity: Current status, development, and future research directions”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 108, pp.232-246.
Bartol, T., Budimir, G., Dekleva-Smrekar, D., Pusnik, M., and Juznic, P. (2014), “Assessment of research fields in Scopus and Web of Science in the view of national research evaluation in Slovenia”, Scientometrics, Vol. 98 No. 2, pp.1491-1504.
Broadus, R. N. (1987), “Toward a definition of “bibliometrics”. Scientometrics, Vol. 12 No. 5, pp.373-379.
Comerio, N., and Strozzi, F. (2019), “Tourism and its economic impact: A literature review using bibliometric tools”, Tourism Economics, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp.109-131.
Du, X. (2015), “How the market values greenwashing? Evidence from China”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 128, pp. 547-574.
Durán-Sánchez, A., Del Río, M. D. L. C., Álvarez-García, J., and García-Vélez, D. F. (2019), “Mapping of scientific coverage on education for Entrepreneurship in Higher Education”, Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 13, No.1/2, pp. 84-104.
Font, X., Walmsley, A., Cogotti, S., McCombes, L., and Häusler, N. (2012), “Corporate social responsibility: The disclosure–performance gap”, Tourism Management, Vol. 33, No. 6, pp.1544-1553.
Guerrero-Baena, M. D., Gómez-Limón, J. A., and Fruet Cardozo, J. V. (2014), “Are multi-criteria decision making techniques useful for solving corporate finance problems? A bibliometric analysis”, Revista de Metodos Cuantitativos para la Economia y la Empresa, No. 17, pp.60-79.
Guo, Y. M., Huang, Z. L., Guo, J., Guo, X. R., Li, H., Liu, M. Y., Ezzeddine, S. and Nkeli, M. J. (2021), “A bibliometric analysis and visualization of blockchain”, Future Generation Computer Systems, Vol. 116, pp.316-332.
Hahn, R., and Lülfs, R. (2014), “Legitimizing negative aspects in GRI-oriented sustainability reporting: A qualitative analysis of corporate disclosure strategies”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 123, pp.401-420.
Hassan, S., and Ahmi, A. (2022), “Mapping the state of the art of scientific production on requirements engineering research: A bibliometric analysis”, International Journal of Information Technologies and Systems Approach (IJITSA), Vol. 15, No. 1, pp.1-23.
Kim, E. H., and Lyon, T. P. (2015), “Greenwash vs. brownwash: Exaggeration and undue modesty in corporate sustainability disclosure”, Organization Science, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp.705-723.
Laufer, W. S. (2003), “Social accountability and corporate greenwashing”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 43, pp.253-261.
Li, H., Jiang, H. D., Yang, B., and Liao, H. (2019), “An analysis of research hotspots and modeling techniques on carbon capture and storage”, Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 687, pp.687-701.
Liu, W., Wang, J., Li, C., Chen, B., and Sun, Y. (2019), “Using bibliometric analysis to understand the recent progress in agroecosystem services research”, Ecological Economics, Vol. 156, pp.293-305.
Lyon, T. P., and Maxwell, J. W. (2011), “Greenwash: Corporate environmental disclosure under threat of audit”, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 3-41.
Mahoney, L. S., Thorne, L., Cecil, L., and LaGore, W. (2013), “A research note on standalone corporate social responsibility reports: Signaling or greenwashing?” Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Vol. 24, No. 4-5, pp.350-359.
Marquis, C., Toffel, M. W., and Zhou, Y. (2016), “Scrutiny, norms, and selective disclosure: A global study of greenwashing”, Organization Science, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp.483-504.
Montero-Navarro, A., González-Torres, T., Rodríguez-Sánchez, J. L., and Gallego-Losada, R. (2021), “A bibliometric analysis of greenwashing research: A closer look at agriculture, food industry and food retail”, British Food Journal, Vol. 123, No. 13, pp.547-560.
Norris, M., and Oppenheim, C. (2007), “Comparing alternatives to the Web of Science for coverage of the social sciences’ literature”, Journal of Informetrics, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.161-169.
Pendse, M. K., Nerlekar, V. S., and Darda, P. (2023), “A comprehensive look at Greenwashing from 1996 to 2021: a bibliometric analysis”, Journal of Indian Business Research, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp.157-186.
Pritchard, A. (1969), “Statistical bibliography or bibliometrics”, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 25, No. 4, pp.348- 349.
Ruiz-Blanco, S., Romero, S., Fernandez-Feijoo, B. (2022), “Green, blue or black, but washing – what company characteristics determine greenwashing?” Environment, Development and Sustainability, Vol. 24, pp.4024-4055.
Shadgan, B., Roig, M., HajGhanbari, B., and Reid, W. D. (2010), “Top-cited articles in rehabilitation”, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 91, No. 5, pp.806-815.
Siano, A., Vollero, A., Conte, F., and Amabile, S. (2017), “More than words”: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 71, pp.27-37.
Van Eck, N. J., and Waltman, L. (2010), “Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping”, Scientometrics, Vol. 84, No. 2, pp.523-538.
Van Eck, N. J., and Waltman, L. (2017), “Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer”, Scientometrics, Vol. 111, pp.1053-1070.
Vošner, H. B., Kokol, P., Bobek, S., Železnik, D., and Završnik, J. (2016), “A bibliometric retrospective of the Journal Computers in Human Behavior (1991–2015)”, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 65, pp.46-58.
Wang, W., Ma, D., Wu, F., Sun, M., Xu, S., Hua, Q., and Sun, Z. (2023), “Exploring the Knowledge Structure and Hotspot Evolution of Greenwashing: A Visual Analysis Based on Bibliometrics”, Sustainability, Vol. 15, No. 3, p.2290.
Wang, Z., Hsieh, T. S., and Sarkis, J. (2018), “CSR performance and the readability of CSR reports: too good to be true?” Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp.66-79.
Wang, Z., Zhao, Y., and Wang, B. (2018), “A bibliometric analysis of climate change adaptation based on massive research literature data”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 199, pp.1072-1082.
Yang, L., Chen, Z., Liu, T., Gong, Z., Yu, Y., and Wang, J. (2013), “Global trends of solid waste research from 1997 to 2011 by using bibliometric analysis”, Scientometrics, Vol. 96, No. 1, pp.133-146.
Yi, H., and Xi, Z. (2008), “Trends of DDT research during the period of 1991 to 2005”, Scientometrics, Vol. 75, No. 1, pp.111-122.
Yoshikane, F. (2013), “Multiple regression analysis of a patent’s citation frequency and quantitative characteristics: the case of Japanese patents”, Scientometrics, Vol. 96, pp.365-379.
Zhao, L., Deng, J., Sun, P., Liu, J., Ji, Y., Nakada, N., and Yang, Y. (2018), “Nanomaterials for treating emerging contaminants in water by adsorption and photocatalysis: Systematic review and bibliometric analysis”, Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 627, pp.1253-1263.

Kishan, K., & Azhar, Z. (2024). Greenwashing in Sustainability Reporting: A Bibliometric Review and Direction for Future Research. International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 14(4), 1241–1263.