A systematic review of greenwashing and consumer behaviour in tourism and hospitality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51599/is.2026.10.03.01Keywords:
greenwashing, consumer behaviour, transparency and green trust, sustainability.Abstract
Purpose. The aim of this article is to present the results of the systematic review of greenwashing and consumer behaviour in the tourism and hospitality sector, covering the period from 2015 to 2025.
Results. The results indicate a systematic annual increase in the number of published documents on greenwashing, accompanied by a simultaneous decline in article citation rates. Authors from the USA (157), India (136), China (127), Portugal (93), and the UK (84) account for the highest number of publications. Greenwashing can be defined as an organisation’s projection of environmentally responsible practices to its consumers, whilst in reality, such organisations may damage, degrade and pollute the environment. Tourism and hospitality businesses can be involved in greenwashing. Greenwashing is usually practised so that an organisation can continually make profit irrespective of whether such an organisation is reckless with the environment or not. Consumer behaviour ultimately determines whether a consumer will eventually patronise an organisation or otherwise. Greenwashing in the tourism and hospitality industry whittles down consumer behaviour and in turn results in decreased consumer patronage of such businesses. Continuous greenwashing by these businesses will continuously lead to the destruction of the environment and it will gradually erode consumers trust in their offerings. Hence, tourist choices at a destination are defined by the equilibrium between perceived false claims (greenwashing) and perceived authenticity (transparency) within the sector.
Scientific novelty. The application of systematic and bibliometric analysis methods to the literature on greenwashing and consumer behaviour in the tourism and hospitality industry has provided a better understanding of the state and trends of research in this field, as well as the challenges associated with greenwashing.
Practical value. This study informs owners of tourism and hospitality businesses engaged in greenwashing that it is rather a great disservice to such businesses than an advantage to engage in greenwashing. This is because either in the long run or short run, customers will have the knowledge of such greenwashing practices and it may ultimately result in distrust as well as abysmally low patronage.
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