Astroturfing Global Warming: It Isn’t Always Greener on the Other Side of the Fence |
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Authors: | Charles H Cho Martin L Martens Hakkyun Kim Michelle Rodrigue |
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Institution: | 1.ESSEC Business School,Cergy Pontoise Cedex,France;2.Faculty of Management,Vancouver Island University,Nanaimo,Canada;3.Department of Marketing,John Molson School of Business, Concordia University,West Montreal,Canada;4.école de Comptabilité, Faculté des Sciences de l’Administration,Université Laval,Quebec,Canada |
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Abstract: | Astroturf organizations are fake grassroots organizations usually sponsored by large corporations to support any arguments
or claims in their favor, or to challenge and deny those against them. They constitute the corporate version of grassroots
social movements. Serious ethical and societal concerns underline this astroturfing practice, especially if corporations are
successful in influencing public opinion by undertaking a social movement approach. This study is motivated by this particular
issue and examines the effectiveness of astroturf organizations in the global warming context, wherein large corporate polluters
have an incentive to set up astroturf organizations to undermine the importance of human activities in climate change. We
conduct an experiment to determine whether astroturf organizations have an impact on the level of user certainty about the
causes of global warming. Results show that people who used astroturf websites became more uncertain about the causes of global
warming and humans’ role in the phenomenon than people who used grassroots websites. Astroturf organizations are hence successful
in promoting business interests over environmental protection. In addition to the multiple business ethics issues it raises,
astroturfing poses a significant threat to the legitimacy of the grassroots movement. |
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