How institutional pressures influence corporate greenwashing strategies: Moderating effects of campaign-style environmental enforcement

In this study, we investigate the impacts of three institutional pressures on corporate greenwashing strategies, with a special focus on the regulative, normative, and cognitive pressures stemming respectively from governmental supervision, media coverage, and ESG rating divergence. We further examine the moderating effects that campaign-style environmental enforcement has on these impacts - specifically, the effects of the top-down intervention facilitated by the central environmental protection inspection mechanism. Our empirical analyses provide robust evidence to substantiate the constraining effects of various institutional pressures on greenwashing. Our additional analyses demonstrate that campaign-style environmental enforcement positively moderates the negative relationship between institutional pressures and corporate engagement in greenwashing. Furthermore, our findings support arguments concerning institutional isomorphism in greenwashing, which is particularly strengthened by the authoritative top-down interventions and effective constraints imposed on companies through campaign-style environmental enforcement. Implications for theoretical and policy development and future research are discussed.