Do Regulations Curb Greenwash Advertising in South Korea?

Abstract

Greenwash advertising has been a concern and policymakers have been implementing new rules and regulations to curb greenwash advertising. This study examined the proportion of greenwash advertising before and after the implementation of the new articles in the Environmental Technology and Industry Support Act by content analyzing 103 TV and print greenwashed advertisements in South Korea. The study discovered that after the new articles were implemented, greenwashed advertisements have decreased from 45.45% in Period 1 (August 20, 2015 - June 19, 2016) to 30.65% in Period 2 (June 20, 2016 - April 19, 2017). This study also carried out a secondary comparison with UK and US by looking at the environmental advertising claims and types of greenwashing. The study discovered that the most frequently used environmental advertising claims between South Korea, UK and US were product orientation and image orientation. Among the “Seven Sins of Greenwashing”, the study discovered that South Korea has a high percentage of sin of vagueness (97.1%) when compared to UK (36.8%) and US (38.2%). Prevalence of the sin of vagueness in South Korea may be associated with the lack of regulations on green related terms. Hence, this study provided recommendations that South Korea could adopt by looking at environmental guidance from UK or US. Keywords: Greenwashing, Advertising, Content Analysis, Environmental Technology and Industry Support Act