Striving for the ideal identity: How CEO celebrity identity shapes corporate greenwashing decisions

This study explores how Chief Executive Officer (CEO) celebrity affects corporate greenwashing. While existing literature emphasizes celebrity CEOs' tendency to engage in conspicuous Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, we uncover a more nuanced behavior pattern: their sensitivity to identity threats drives them to avoid greenwashing, as such deceptive environmental practices would undermine their carefully crafted personas. Grounded in identity theory, we develop a defensive identity framework, illustrating how celebrity identity creates self-imposed constraints against deceptive environmental disclosures. We further propose that limited organizational slack and intense market competition could reinforce celebrity CEOs' identity protection motives, leading them to impose stronger constraints on greenwashing. Empirical analysis of the sample of Chinese-listed firms between 2008 and 2021 confirms our propositions, suggesting that leveraging the influence of celebrity CEOs can be an effective strategy to combat greenwashing, providing a valuable practical implication for enhancing corporate sustainability.