Deterring Greenwashing in Travel: A Multistakeholder Action Framework

Abstract

Extant research has identified positive and negative consequences of greenwashing, creating a paradox because the phenomenon is inherently deceptive and detrimental to environmental and societal well-being. This study examines these paradoxical consequences across micro-, meso-, and macro-level stakeholders in the travel industry, as perceived by employees. Using a three-stage qualitative design with employees ( N = 68), the study demonstrates that greenwashing is a self-sustaining, multilevel phenomenon driven by paradoxical cognition among employees, organizational stakeholders, and regulators. Together with structural entrapment and paradoxical actions, these dynamics create a paradoxical engine that sustains greenwashing, while deception remains hidden from external stakeholders, who process green claims peripherally. Participants further indicate that deterrence requires stakeholder engagement with these paradoxes and mechanisms promoting central processing of environmental claims. The study proposes a multilevel framework for deterring greenwashing in the travel industry and advances paradox theory by explaining its persistence across interconnected stakeholder groups.