Strategic pricing and investment in environmental quality by an incumbent facing a greenwasher entrant.

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Title: Strategic pricing and investment in environmental quality by an incumbent facing a greenwasher entrant.
Authors: Cetin, Can Baris1 (AUTHOR) can-baris.cetin@hec.ca, Mukherjee, Arka2 (AUTHOR) mukherjeea2@macewan.ca, Zaccour, Georges1 (AUTHOR) georges.zaccour@gerad.ca
Source: Annals of Operations Research. Jan2026, Vol. 356 Issue 2/3, p757-784. 28p.
Subjects: Environmental quality, Consumer behavior, False advertising, Price wars, Monopolies, Investment policy, Market design & structure (Economics)
Abstract: We examine how greenwashing affects the strategies and outcomes of companies and consumers. We develop a two-stage game, where a monopolist sets price and invests in environmental quality in the first stage, and competes with a new entrant in the second stage. The incumbent company is genuinely environmentally friendly, while the new entrant may use deceptive green marketing. We assume that only inexperienced consumers can be influenced by greenwashing, and consider two important dynamic factors, i.e., a change in competitive structure and a learning effect in the market. We investigate the conditions under which greenwashing is profitable for the new entrant, the ways in which the incumbent company responds to it, and the impact of greenwashing on the environment and consumers. We find that greenwashing can be mutually beneficial for both firms thanks to higher market potential and the incumbent's first-period actions. Customers always suffer from greenwashing, and in rare cases, greenwashing can be beneficial to enhance environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Annals of Operations Research is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Strategic pricing and investment in environmental quality by an incumbent facing a greenwasher entrant.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Annals+of+Operations+Research%22">Annals of Operations Research</searchLink>. Jan2026, Vol. 356 Issue 2/3, p757-784. 28p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Environmental+quality%22">Environmental quality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Consumer+behavior%22">Consumer behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22False+advertising%22">False advertising</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Price+wars%22">Price wars</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Monopolies%22">Monopolies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Investment+policy%22">Investment policy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Market+design+%26+structure+%28Economics%29%22">Market design & structure (Economics)</searchLink>
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  Data: We examine how greenwashing affects the strategies and outcomes of companies and consumers. We develop a two-stage game, where a monopolist sets price and invests in environmental quality in the first stage, and competes with a new entrant in the second stage. The incumbent company is genuinely environmentally friendly, while the new entrant may use deceptive green marketing. We assume that only inexperienced consumers can be influenced by greenwashing, and consider two important dynamic factors, i.e., a change in competitive structure and a learning effect in the market. We investigate the conditions under which greenwashing is profitable for the new entrant, the ways in which the incumbent company responds to it, and the impact of greenwashing on the environment and consumers. We find that greenwashing can be mutually beneficial for both firms thanks to higher market potential and the incumbent's first-period actions. Customers always suffer from greenwashing, and in rare cases, greenwashing can be beneficial to enhance environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Annals of Operations Research is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1007/s10479-025-06926-9
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 28
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      – SubjectFull: Environmental quality
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Consumer behavior
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: False advertising
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Price wars
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      – SubjectFull: Monopolies
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      – SubjectFull: Investment policy
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      – SubjectFull: Market design & structure (Economics)
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      – TitleFull: Strategic pricing and investment in environmental quality by an incumbent facing a greenwasher entrant.
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            NameFull: Cetin, Can Baris
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            NameFull: Mukherjee, Arka
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            NameFull: Zaccour, Georges
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              M: 01
              Text: Jan2026
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              Y: 2026
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