The effectiveness of environmental claims for

services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
Department of Management and Marketing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore how different types of environmental claims may affect the communication effectiveness of
environmental advertising. Two two moderating variables include the perceived eco-friendly image of the originating country and consumer
involvement.
Design/methodology/approach – The examination involves the analysis of the responses of 1,200 subjects in Shanghai, China, to mock
advertisements containing environmental claims using a 2 x 3 factorial design.
Findings – Environmental claims enhance the communication effectiveness of advertisements for both high- and low-involvement services. For high-
involvement services, substantive environmental claims generate more favorable attitudinal responses than do associative environmental claims.
Research limitations/implications – This research focused on a single Chinese city and on two service categories with contrasting degrees of
involvement. While such a confinement can enhance the internal validity of the findings, their external validity has yet to be established.
Practical implications – These findings suggest that marketers should adopt a situational perspective by taking into account environmental claim
type, country disposition, the degree of environmental consciousness of their target consumers, and service type when designing their environmental
advertising campaigns.
Originality/value – Although a number of previous studies have focused on the application of environmental claims to advertise products, similar
investigation into how these claims may help advertise services is virtually non-existent. In this respect, the present study can be viewed as the first
empirical work devoted to closing this research gap.

Keywords Services, Advertising, Environmental studies, Brand image, Corporate image, China

Paper type Research paper

An executive summary for managers can be found at
the end of this article.
Introduction
In sympathy with the increasing environmental consciousness
of consumers over the past three decades, the use of
environmental claims for advertising has become more and
more popular (Banerjee et al., 1995; Easterling et al., 1996;
Manrai et al., 1997). Apart from the wide application of
environmental claims in the product market (Kangun et al.,
1991; Polonsky et al., 1998), service firms of various types
(e.g. hoteliers and fast food operators) have been increasingly
resorting to these claims to enhance consumer acceptance of
their intangible offerings (Conlin, 2000; Jones, 2002). An
empirical investigation of a sample of major magazines has
also highlighted that over one-third of the environmental
advertisements placed therein are related to service offerings
(Carlson et al., 1996b).
Despite the popular use of environmental claims among
practitioners, limited academic attention has been paid to
exploring the effectiveness of these claims. Of the few studies
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0887-6045.htm
on this issue, nearly all concern the use of environmental
claims to promote tangibles in developed economies of the
West (Manrai et al., 1997; Morris et al., 1995; Polonsky et al.,
1998). Although Chan (2000) examined the effectiveness of
using environmental claims in China, the world’s largest
developing economy, his work was confined to a product
(shampoo) rather than a service. In sum, a review of the
existing literature reveals that investigation of the effectiveness
of environmental claims in promoting services (and
particularly promoting them to consumers in developing
countries) remains virtually non-existent.
Rationale and purpose of the study
Within the foregoing context, this study attempts to analyze
and better understand the communication effectiveness of
environmental claims for advertising services to consumers in
China. To this end, the study refers to the existing literature
on services advertising and general advertising in order to
analyze the effectiveness of environmental claims for
advertising services to Chinese consumers. It also examines
how key environmental advertising variables such as
environmental claim type (Carlson et al., 1996a), country
image of the service firm (Manrai et al., 1997), and consumer
involvement (Chan, 2000) may affect the communication
effectiveness.

Journal of Services Marketing

20/4 (2006) 233– 250 The work described in this paper was supported by a research grant from
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0887-6045] the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Research grant account:
[DOI 10.1108/08876040610674580] A-PD23).

233
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
In bridging the aforementioned research gap, this study will
make academic and practical contributions in several ways. In
academic terms, marketing scholars have long been
dissatisfied with the lack of integration between the services
advertising and general advertising literature (Mittal, 1999;
Tripp, 1997). Such scholars contend that studies of services
advertising would benefit from utilizing those long-established
communication and behavioral concepts derived from
investigations into advertising issues in general (Mortimer,
2002). In response to this call, the current study applies
knowledge and theories documented in the general
advertising literature to aid the analysis of services
advertising issues. It is hoped that this will contribute to
cross-fertilization between related subject fields and provide
insights into the relevance of general advertising theories in
explaining offerings other than tangibles.
In practical terms, the choice of China as the setting of
analysis will also provide significant insights to various service
firms that are attracted to investing in the lucrative Chinese
market (Luo, 2001; Ralston et al., 1999). China’s gross
domestic product has grown at a compounded annual rate of
nearly 10 percent throughout the last two decades (China
Statistical Yearbook, 2002). The rapid rate of economic
development and the associated increasing purchasing power
of Chinese consumers make the country an attractive market
for both foreign and local investors (Kilburn, 2001; Li and
Gallup, 1995). The sustained economic growth has also led to
the expansion of China’s service industry. In recent years, the
industry has contributed to around one-third of the country’s
national income and workforce (China Statistical Yearbook,
2002; Fu, 2002; Lu et al., 2002). With China’s accession to
the World Trade Organization, it is believed that immense
business opportunities will further emerge in its tertiary sector
due to the influx of foreign investment (Tang, 2002). Taking
the fast food industry as an example, it is reported that China
has already become the fastest-growing market of
McDonald’s in the world (Madden, 2004).
While investors have been attracted to China’s remarkable
economic performance, they have more recently started to pay
increased attention to the downside of this speedy economic
development, namely environmental degradation. At least half
of the world’s ten most polluted cities are located in China.
The country is also the world’s largest producer of ozone-
depleting substances, and the second largest producer of
greenhouse gas emissions (Baldinger, 2000). With a national
daily sewage rate of around 3.7 billion tonnes, China would
need 10,000 waste-water treatment plants costing some
US$48 billion just to achieve a treatment rate of 50 percent
(The Economist, 2004). Moreover, it is believed that three-
quarters of the river water flowing through China’s urban
areas is unsuitable for drinking or fishing, and that 300,000
Chinese citizens each year die prematurely as a result of air
pollution (Mallet, 2004). In recent years, the country has
produced 120m tonnes of solid waste annually, and this
amount is increasing by 8 percent per annum (Chuan, 2003).
It is further estimated that environmental degradation and the
resultant resource scarcity costs China the equivalent of 8-12
percent of gross domestic product annually (Economy, 1999).
The continuing environmental degradation has forced the
Chinese government to resort to various legislative and
administrative measures for rectification (Chan, 2000).
Among other measures, the government has strengthened its
environmental laws, developed new environment-related tax
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Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 20 · Number 4 · 2006 · 233 –250
structures (China Environment Series, 1998; East Asian
Executive Reports, 1999; Stover, 2000), and upgraded its
National Environmental Protection Administration (NEPA)
to ministerial status (Baldinger, 2000). All of these actions
indicate the significantly increased commitment of Chinese
officials, at least at the national level, to tackle environmental
issues. This increased commitment from the central
government, together with the corresponding tightening of
national environmental policy, has posed new operating
challenges to enterprises that conduct business in China
(Spitalnik, 1996). Failing to meet such challenges may
jeopardize the survival of these enterprises. For example, it is
reported that 60,000 heavily polluting enterprises from 15
industries have been forced to close down since China’s
enforcement of various environmental regulations in 1996
(Dutton, 1998).
With China’s continued economic and social advancement,
and the increased official commitment to tackle
environmental problems, Chinese consumers (especially
those residing in urban areas) have also gradually realized
the importance of ecological well-being to their enjoyment of
increased amounts of leisure time. This observation is
supported by Chan’s (1999) empirical study, which
demonstrates that Chinese consumers residing in urban
areas are even more emotionally concerned about
environmental problems than are their American
counterparts. They are also willing to pay an additional
premium of 4.5 percent for a green version of an offering
(Chan, 1999). Moreover, Ye’s (2000) investigation indicates
that more than 75 percent of Chinese consumers have strong
intentions to purchase offerings that are eco-friendly, and that
over 90 percent of enterprises are willing to sell green
products in China. In view of these developments, it is hoped
that the current study will provide service marketers operating
in China with some useful insights into fine-tuning their green
advertising strategy. A better understanding of how to
effectively use environmental advertising claims will render
service marketers with another promising tool to differentiate
their offerings from competitors. This understanding is
particularly important given the difficulties commonly
associated with the positioning and promotion of intangibles
(Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004).
Guiding framework of the study
With reference to the classical marketing communication
model (see, for example, Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004), a
framework guiding the subsequent discussion and analysis is
depicted in Figure 1. Briefly, the framework adopts the
systems approach (Input ! Process ! Ouput) to delineate the
major factors that affect the communication effectiveness of
environmental claims. The framework first postulates that the
sender’s or advertiser’s demographic characteristics such as
the nature of his/her offering (e.g. service or product) and
country of origin, and strategic decisions on the use of
environmental claims, will have a significant bearing on the
consequent advertising messages and informational cues of
the advertisement. These messages and informational cues
are then psychologically processed by the receiver (the target
audience). Moreover, because the literature concerning the
advertising of products has revealed that country image and
level of involvement exert significant influences on the
decisions of consumers (Manrai et al., 1997; Mortimer,
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
Figure 1 A framework guiding the analysis
2001; Vaughn, 1980), and particularly Chinese consumers
(Chan, 2000; Zhao and Shen, 1995), the present framework
further proposes that the psychological processing of the
receiver will be moderated by his/her perceived eco-
friendliness of the originating country of the advertiser, and
his/her degree of involvement with the advertised offering.
This processing will eventually lead to the receiver’s
communicative responses being expressed in terms of
attitudes toward the advertisement and the brand, and
purchase intention. From the perspective of the advertiser,
these attitudinal and conative outputs constitute a basis for
evaluating the communication effectiveness of the
advertisement (Stevenson et al., 2000).
With reference to this framework, the remainder of this
paper begins with a review of the literature on how the
intangible nature of an offering may affect the relevant
advertising approach. This is followed by a discussion of
different types of environmental claims (environmental claim
types), and the possible responses of consumers toward these
claims. Two proposed moderating influences on the
communication effectiveness of environmental claims,
namely country image and consumer involvement, are then
analyzed. These conceptual considerations are used as a basis
for the development of four hypotheses, which are tested
using data collected from Chinese consumers. Relevant
managerial implications and concluding remarks are made at
the end of the paper.
Literature review
Services advertising
Although in the last two decades there has been increased
interest in the phenomenon of services marketing (Grove et al.,
2002), the way in which services should be advertised remains
a relatively unexplored research area (Tripp, 1997). Given the
unique characteristics of services, some researchers argue that
the approach for advertising services should differ from that
for tangible products (e.g. George and Berry, 1981; Legg and
Baker, 1987; Stafford and Day, 1995). However, others cast
doubt on the argument for distinguishing between products
and services, and question whether it is really necessary to
study services advertising separately from advertising in
general (Mathur and Kenyon, 1998; Mortimer, 2001).
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Volume 20 · Number 4 · 2006 · 233 –250
While researchers of services advertising often express
different views on how to advertise services, they generally
agree that the relevant advertising strategy should emphasize
addressing the issue of tangibility (George and Berry, 1981;
Legg and Baker, 1987; Mittal, 1999). In this context,
researchers including Hill and Gandhi (1992) and Tripp
(1997) maintain that services advertising should contain
concrete language to help potential customers recognize the
service benefits, and to build up confidence in the service
quality. However, as Mortimer (2002) succinctly points out in
her review of the services advertising literature, other
researchers hold different views about how the issue of
tangibility should be addressed in advertising (e.g. Stern,
1997; Young, 1981). They concede that while most services
have some tangible components, their differentiating appeal
may well lie in some intangible aspects of the service process
or outcome (Mittal, 1999). On this basis, those researchers
suggest the possibility of using emotional advertising appeals
to link the properties of the service to consumers’ subjective
benefits of using the service, as well as to their social and
psychological experiences.
Stafford and Day’s (1995) study provides useful empirical
input for evaluating the relative superiority of rational and
emotional appeals in services advertising. In their work,
Stafford and Day (1995) demonstrated that when compared
with emotional appeals, rational or informational appeals are
able to generate more favorable attitudes toward the
advertisement for advertising both experiential and
utilitarian services. They attribute the result to the ability of
specific and concrete information to reduce the higher level of
perceived risks commonly associated with the purchase of
services (see also Murray and Schlacter, 1990). From this
analysis, Stafford and Day (1995) postulate the universal
superiority of rational appeals for advertising services
regardless of their degrees of experiential/utilitarian content.
When examined carefully, Stafford and Day’s (1995)
findings appear to be consistent with the conventional view
of environmental researchers (e.g. Polonsky et al., 1997)
concerning the relative effectiveness of different types of
environmental claims. For this reason, the issues relating to
the classification and nature of different environmental claim
types, and consumers’ possible responses toward them, are
discussed in the following sections.
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
Environmental claim types
Advertising is one of the most important communication tools
used by green marketers to promote awareness of their
environmentally friendly products and to stimulate
corresponding purchases (Carlson et al., 1996a; Peattie,
1995). To achieve these communication objectives,
environmental advertising typically includes information or
claims about how the advertised product or the advertiser can
contribute to environmental improvement or help reduce
environmental degradation (Polonsky et al., 1997).
Alternatively, these environmental claims may be presented
in a more subtle way by indirectly associating the advertised
product or the advertiser with some positive environmental
messages.
Although the use of environmental claims for advertising
has become increasingly popular, only limited research
attention has been paid to how they should be classified.
Carlson et al. (1993) used content analysis to devise four
typologies to categorize environmental information typically
conveyed in green advertisements. These are:
1 product orientation (e.g. “This product is
biodegradable”);
2 process orientation (e.g. “20 percent of the raw materials
used in producing this product are recycled”);
3 image orientation (e.g. “We are committed to preserving
our forests”); and
4 environmental fact (e.g. “The world’s rain forests are
being destroyed at the rate of two acres per second”).
This classification has subsequently been adopted to study
environmental advertisements in the USA, the UK, Australia,
and Canada (Carlson et al., 1996a).
When examined carefully, the product and process
orientations identified above demonstrate an organization’s
interventions in the marketplace that have a positive, or at
least benign, effect on the environment (Carlson et al.,
1996a). The product and process orientation information can
be regarded as “substantive” claims that present concrete and
specific information about the environmentally responsible
efforts of an organization (Ottman, 1993). On the other hand,
the image orientation and environmental fact information can
be regarded as “associative” claims that are less tangible in
nature (Chan, 2000). These claims help an organization to
establish an environmentally friendly facade by tying it to
some positive environmental information, but without directly
mentioning how it actually contributes to ecological well-
being (Carlson et al., 1996a). The above analysis is similar to
the views of Polonsky et al. (1997), who regard product and
process orientations as indicators of substantive
improvements in corporate environmental behavior, and
image orientation and environmental fact as environmental
posturing by the marketer. So far as Chinese consumers are
concerned, it is found that they exhibit similar responses
toward the two substantive claim types, and toward the two
associative claim types, respectively (Chan, 2000).
Consumer responses toward environmental claims
In studying strategies for the effective advertising of eco-friendly
products, Davis (1993) maintains that specific environmental
claims that provide detailed, relevant, understandable, and
supported information on green products’ environmental
benefits are better received by consumers than claims that
lack these characteristics. Based on their cross-national analysis
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Volume 20 · Number 4 · 2006 · 233 –250
on environmental advertising claims in four English-speaking
countries, Polonsky et al. (1997) suggest that more positive
consumer responses can be derived by using factual and
verifiable claims. In other words, to make product choices
consistent with their environmentally responsible desire,
consumers would prefer to have concrete (rather than vague)
information about the eco-friendly attributes of green products
(Chan, 1999; Manrai et al., 1997). When these findings are
judged along with the substantive-associative taxonomy, it
appears that substantive environmental claims, due to their
informational and more concrete nature, will generate more
favorable consumer responses than will their associative
environmental counterparts.
Although the foregoing analysis is based on the findings from
studies concerning the advertising of tangible goods, it is likely
that it remains tenable in the context of services advertising.
Indeed, as services are, in general, more ambiguous in nature
than products (Lovelock, 1996), the effectiveness of
substantive environmental claims should be even more
apparent when compared with associative environmental
claims. This is because the higher ambiguity of a service will
limit the amount of evidence available for consumers to
evaluate the relevant service quality (Hoch and Deighton,
1989). In such a situation, it is likely that consumers would rely
more heavily on claims that could provide them with concrete
information and substantiated evidence in order to make their
evaluation. On this basis, it is believed that substantive
environmental claims, due to their greater ability to
substantiate the alleged eco-friendly benefits of an advertised
service, will generate more favorable consumer responses than
will associative environmental claims.
Although investigations of Chinese consumers’ responses
toward environmental advertising or services advertising are
rare, further light can still be shed on the foregoing discussion by
referring to studies concerning consumers’ reactions toward
advertising in general (e.g. Parson, 1993; Pollay et al., 1990;
Zhao and Shen, 1995). Of particular interest, Pollay et al.
(1990) report that Chinese consumers demonstrate very positive
responses toward advertising and like advertising claims to be
informative and substantiated. Zhao and Shen (1995) also
conclude that Chinese consumers are inclined to pay more
attention to the informational content of an advertisement rather
than to its entertaining features. These findings suggest that
Chinese consumers view advertising as one of the most
important sources for concrete product information, a
phenomenon that is probably attributed to traditional Chinese
utilitarian ways of thinking (see Hellersberg, 1953; Jenni, 1999;
Sun, 1992). Should Chinese consumers’ reactions toward
general advertising not deviate greatly from their responses
toward environmental advertising, it is likely that they would
also exhibit a higher preference for substantive than associative
environmental claims. This inference about Chinese consumers’
responses toward environmental claims echoes the general view
of Western researchers (e.g. Davis, 1993; Polonsky et al., 1997)
concerning environmental advertising, namely the advantages of
using concrete, informative, and substantiated claims for
promoting green products.
In sum, given the increasing environmental consciousness
of the Chinese government and its citizens, it is argued that
the use of environmental claims will enhance the
communication effectiveness of advertising services in the
Chinese marketplace. Moreover, it is argued that the
effectiveness will vary according to the type of
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
environmental claims in use. On this basis, two hypotheses are
developed accordingly:
H1. The use of environmental claims will enhance the
communication effectiveness of advertising services to
Chinese consumers.
H2. In the case of advertising services to Chinese
consumers, substantive environmental claims will be
more effective than associative environmental claims in
generating positive consumer attitudes and purchase
intention.
Country image and consumer perception
The hypothesized claim type-effectiveness relationship might
be moderated by the presence of other variables. Among other
factors, it is probable that consumers’ established perception
of the offering (in terms of its performance and quality) may
exert significant moderating influences on the relationship. As
an illustration, even if a substantive environmental claim is
used to advertise an offering, it is unlikely to be effective if the
alleged eco-friendliness contradicts sharply with the
perception of the offering that consumers already hold.
Indeed, if there is a marked discrepancy between the
environmental claim and such a perception, consumers may
even interpret the claim as deliberate deception, thereby
leading to reducing rather than improving communication
effectiveness. In contrast, if an associative environmental
claim were employed in the above circumstance, consumers
would probably feel less annoyed because the vague nature of
the claim may help avoid the sharp perceptual incongruity
that may arise in the case of disbelieved substantive
environmental claims (Chan, 2000; Manrai et al., 1997).
Concerning the development of consumer perception,
behavioral researchers argue that consumers often rely on
some surrogate or extrinsic cues to evaluate the performance
and quality of a service with which they are not familiar
(Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004). Among the various extrinsic
cues, the country of origin of the relevant marketer is
consistently regarded as one of the most important cues for
consumers (Manrai et al., 1997), and particularly for Chinese
consumers (Li et al., 1997) in evaluating offerings. For this
reason, it is worthwhile to further explore how the perceived
image of the originating country might moderate the claim
type-effectiveness relationship.
Since the mid-1960s, numerous studies have been devoted to
investigating the effect of country of origin on consumer
perception (Han, 1989). Overall, these studies confirm that the
perceived image of the originating country (country image)
significantly influences consumers’ evaluation of a product (Kim
and Chung, 1997; Roth and Romeo, 1992; Thakor and
Katsanis, 1997). This line of investigation has, in general,
demonstrated that country image prompts consumers to engage
in more elaborate cognitive evaluation of the product and
product-related information (Lee et al., 2001; Manrai et al.,
1997; Samiee, 1994). For Chinese consumers, similar influences
of country image have also been found. For instance, King and
McDaniel (1989) discovered that Chinese consumers perceive
Japanese, American, and European products as being
significantly more attractive than Chinese products. Li et al.
(1997) also reported that Chinese consumers express more
favorable attitudes toward products originating from the USA
and Japan than toward those from their own country.
Despite the relatively abundant amount of investigation on
how country image may affect the perceived quality of
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Volume 20 · Number 4 · 2006 · 233 –250
products, similar studies on how it may influence consumers’
evaluation of services are rather limited. Javalgi et al. (2001)
identified only 19 major studies performed in the last two
decades on the relationship between country image and
international services. Those researchers, however,
maintained that the way in which country image affects
consumers’ evaluation of a service should not differ greatly
from that documented in the country image literature
concerning products.
Moderating influences of eco-friendly country image
In examining the moderating influence of country image on
product evaluation in the context of environmental advertising,
Manrai et al. (1997) use the term “country disposition” to
denote how individual consumers perceive the originating
country, and believe that this disposition is particularly relevant
in examining how consumers differ in their subjective
evaluations of products from countries of comparable levels of
development. They further contend that consumers who are
unfamiliar with the environmental practices of a foreign firm are
likely to base their assessment of environmental advertising
claims on their disposition toward the relevant country.
Consumers who have more positive disposition toward a
foreign country will probably interpret an environmental
advertising claim from that country as being more credible and
favorable than one from another country (Manrai et al., 1997).
With reference to classic social judgment theory (see Sherif
and Hovland, 1961, 1964; Sherif et al., 1965), further light
can be shed on how country image might affect the claim
type-effectiveness relationship. In brief, the theory posits that
a highly involved individual will interpret a message that is
congruent with his or her opinions as being more positive than
it actually is. This reaction is termed an “assimilation effect”.
Conversely, the theory also posits that a highly involved
individual will interpret a message that is not congruent with
his or her opinions as being more negative than it actually is.
This reaction is termed a “contrast effect”.
Based on the above discussion, the moderating effect of
country image on the claim type-effectiveness relationship
seems plausible in the following two situations concerning
high-involvement purchases. First, if consumers perceive the
originating country of an advertised offering as
environmentally friendly, they will probably project this
favorable or eco-friendly perception onto the offering as well.
In this case, it is likely that consumers’ favorable perception of
the offering will be further strengthened if a substantive
environmental claim is in use. This is because a substantive
environmental claim (compared with an associative claim)
provides a relatively more concrete and specific explanation
about how the offering can contribute to environmental
protection. Hence, the inclusion of such a substantive
description would further reinforce consumers’ existing
favorable perception of the offering (derived from the eco-
friendly country image). According to social judgment theory,
this phenomenon refers to assimilation effects that result from
high congruity between the environmental claim message and
consumers’ existing perception of the offering (Chan, 2000).
Given that assimilation effects often prompt consumers to
perceive an offering as being even more favorable than it
actually is, the third hypothesis is thus developed:
H3. When the advertiser of a high-involvement service
originates from a country perceived as eco-friendly, the
use of a substantive environmental claim will be more
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising Journal of Services Marketing
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong Volume 20 · Number 4 · 2006 · 233 –250

effective than that of an associative environmental Moderating influences of consumer involvement

claim in generating positive consumer attitudes and It should be noted that the foregoing analysis based on social
purchase intention. judgment theory points to the importance of high involvement
for the operation of assimilation or contrast effects.
Second, if consumers perceive the originating country of an
Specifically, the theory posits that if an individual is highly
advertised offering as environmentally unfriendly, they will
involved in an issue, he/she will accept very few alternative
probably project this negative or eco-unfriendly perception
opinions. This narrow latitude of acceptance will, in turn,
onto the offering as well. As such, a substantive environmental
lead to assimilation (contrast) effects when the individual
claim that provides concrete environmental information about
perceives similarities (discrepancies) between an external
the offering may simply augment consumers’ perceptual
message and his/her existing beliefs (Chan and Lau, 2004;
incongruity. Due to the aforementioned contrast effect, it is
Meyers-Levy and Sternthal, 1993; Sherif et al., 1965). The
expected that consumers will express even more negative
importance of the degree of involvement in influencing
views about the offering than it actually deserves. In contrast,
consumers’ receptivity of advertising messages has also been
should an associative environmental claim be employed in the
advocated in the general advertising (Vakratsas and Ambler,
advertisement, consumers’ unfavorable views on the offering
1999) as well as the services advertising literature (Mortimer,
may be ameliorated. This is because an associative
2002).
environmental claim does not relate the product directly to
According to behavioral researchers, an offering is classified
any specific eco-friendly attributes. The vague nature of this
as high involvement if it can provoke consumers to engage in
type of claim allows consumers wider latitude to avoid any
an elaborate cognitive process (Petty et al., 1983;
sharp incongruity between the environmental claim message
Zaichkowsky, 1994). They further contend that if
and their existing negative perception of the offering (derived
consumers perceive the purchase of a particular offering as
from the eco-unfriendly country image). Therefore, it is
being highly risky and yet personally important, they will be
expected that a substantive claim will be less effective than an
highly motivated to extensively analyze all the available
associative claim if the advertised offering is from a country
information (including advertising messages) related to the
perceived as being eco-unfriendly. Based on this analysis. The
purchase (Assael, 1998; Li, 1997). This notion of
fourth hypothesis concerning the operation of contrast effects
involvement leads to the general inference that if consumers
is formulated:
have limited experience in the purchase of a particular service
H4. When the advertiser of a high-involvement service
and/or perceive that service as expensive, they will be more
originates from a country perceived as eco-unfriendly,
involved in the purchase. On the other hand, if consumers
the use of a substantive environmental claim will be
have considerable experience in the purchase of a service and/
less effective than that of an associative environmental
or perceive it as inexpensive, they will be less involved in the
claim in generating positive consumer attitudes and
purchase. From another perspective, the foregoing analysis
purchase intention. seems to suggest that the degree of involvement of the
For reference, the hypothesized moderating influences of consumer (i.e. consumer involvement) does vary across
country image are depicted graphically in Figure 2. service types having different inherent characteristics. To

Figure 2 Hypothesized moderating influences of perceived eco-friendliness of the originating country on the relationship between environmental claim
type and communication effectiveness

238
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
illustrate this, some scholars have argued that the purchase of
a hotel package will trigger a much higher degree of consumer
involvement than will the purchase of fast food (Bloemer and
de Ruyter, 1999; Mortimer, 2002; Weinberger and Spotts,
1989).
Relating specifically to the purchase of an offering featured
with eco-friendly attributes, another possible determinant of
consumer involvement, namely consumers’ perceived
seriousness of environmental problems, also needs to be
considered. According to Higie and Feick (1989), consumers
will be highly involved in a purchase decision if the offering in
question relates to an issue with which they are greatly
concerned. Blackwell et al. (2001) also maintain that the
degree of involvement tends to be high when consumers
perceive the decision to purchase as having a direct influence
on themselves. On this basis, it is likely that if consumers are
highly concerned about environmental problems or perceive
these problems as serious, they will be highly involved in the
cognitive analysis of those offerings (and the related
advertising messages) alleged to be contributory to
environmental well-being (Chan and Lau, 2004). In order
to better understand how the degree of consumer involvement
may moderate the communication effectiveness of
environmental advertising claims, the empirical test of this
study therefore also takes “service type” and “consumers’
perceived seriousness of environmental problems” into
consideration. The relevant details of the empirical test are
described below.
Methodology and empirical tests
The chosen services
Empirical tests of the four hypotheses, using data from a
survey, were made in order to assess the validity of various
aspects of the foregoing conceptual analysis. The hypotheses
were tested by conducting two field experiments: one for a
high-involvement service and the other for a low-involvement
service. The high- and low- involvement services chosen for
this study were hotel and fast food, respectively. Having
reviewed the relevant literature (e.g. Bloemer and de Ruyter,
1999; Weinberger and Spotts, 1989), Mortimer (2002)
considered the hotel and fast food services as differing
mainly in their degree of involvement. The use of these two
services for investigation would also enhance the practical
significance of the study as hoteliers (Conlin, 2000; Jones,
2002; Malley, 1999) and fast food operators (Hemphill, 1996;
Nation’s Restaurant News, 2001) are increasingly resorting to
various environmentally friendly measures to enhance their
social acceptability and corporate image.
Relating specifically to China’s hotel industry, it is evident
that the industry has experienced rapid growth since the
opening of its first joint-venture hotel in Beijing in 1982.
Throughout the past 15 years, the industry has achieved an
average annual growth rate of more than 15 percent in terms
of revenue (National Tourism Administration, various issues).
Currently, China has a total of 9,751 star-rated hotels. Of
these, 678 are foreign-invested entities (e.g. Holiday Inn,
Shangri-la) that target mainly foreign visitors and affluent
domestic travelers. Owing to their financial and managerial
advantages, these foreign hotels acquire a market share of over
40 percent in terms of total annual revenue (Euromonitor,
2004). Although these hotels used to rely heavily on low
prices to attract customers, they have recently placed an
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Volume 20 · Number 4 · 2006 · 233 –250
emphasis on print and broadcast advertising and publicity to
cultivate their brand equity in the face of intensifying
competition. To further enhance their corporate image and
social acceptability, increasing numbers of new hotels (e.g.
Accord, Hilton) have also widely publicized their
environmental competence in treating wastewater, gas, and
smoke, and in economizing energy consumption (Euromonitor,
2004).
China’s fast food industry has also experienced rapid
growth since the opening of the first foreign fast food outlet in
1987 by Kentucky Fried Chicken in Beijing (Miller, 2004).
Over the last decade, the industry has achieved an average
annual growth rate of 20 percent in terms of revenue (Marr
and Hatfield, 2001). Recently, the 800,000-plus fast food
enterprises operating in China have accounted for one-third
of the total revenue of the nation’s entire catering industry.
With the increasing affluence and Westernization of Chinese
consumers, the number and diversity of fast-food restaurants
in China and especially in Shanghai have mushroomed (Cee
and Theiler, 1999; Marr and Hatfield, 2001). Apart from the
market leaders of Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s,
other overseas or non-mainland Chinese fast food operators
including USA’s Pizza Hut and Papa John’s, Canada’s
Panagopoulos, Japan’s Mos Burger, and Hong Kong’s Cafe
de Coral have been marketing their offerings aggressively in
the country. In addition to localizing their food items to fit the
taste of indigenous consumers, most of these large-scale fast
food chains place considerable emphasis on enhancing their
corporate image through aggressive print and broadcast
advertising to differentiate themselves from rivals (Chen,
1997; Dolven, 2003). The recent launching of the localized
version of the “I’m lovin’ it” campaign by McDonald’s in
China typifies the use of aggressive advertising efforts to
develop brand equity (Madden, 2004). Moreover, these
chains are often engaged in joint promotion with other firms
to provide consumers with collectibles or gift items to further
nurture their loyalty (Chen, 1997; Miller, 2004). In terms of
environmental measures, they have also started reducing the
use of traditional plastic-foam boxes or replacing them with
more eco-friendly paper bags to help solve the problem of
“white pollution” (Bin, 1998).
The experiments
The two experiments were in the format of a 2 £ 3 factorial
research design. In the design, perceived eco-friendliness of
the advertiser’s originating country (PE), and environmental
claim type (ECT) were treated as the independent variables or
factors, and communication effectiveness was the dependent
variable. To operationalize the design, six print
advertisements (test advertisements) for a fictitious service
undertaking (a hotel or a fast food shop) were first developed
for each experiment. A fictitious corporate name was used to
control for influences of prior advertiser or brand perceptions
(Perrien et al., 1985). For each experiment, an identical
offering claim and pictorial representation of the advertised
service undertaking was placed in each of the six test
advertisements.
In addition, with reference to Chan’s (2000) procedure, the
six test advertisements were each featured with the
appropriate country image and environmental claim type
information to result in six different PE-ECT combinations.
The six combinations are similar to those depicted in Figure 2.
Appendix 1 presents the adopted offerings, environmental
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
claims, and pictorial representations of the experiments,
whereas Appendix 2 details the procedure for measuring PE.
Finally, the dependent variable of communication
effectiveness was assessed for each of the two experiments
against three dimensions, namely attitudes towards the
advertisement (AAd), brand attitudes (BA), and purchase
intention (PI) (Brown and Stan, 1992; Bruner, 1998). Items
used to operationalize these dimensions are detailed in
Appendix 2.
The surveyed city
The Chinese city chosen for conducting the survey was
Shanghai. Shanghai is one of the most developed, yet
polluted, cities in China (Hu, 2001). As an illustration,
Shanghai has long suffered from a fresh water supply shortage
due to serious river pollution. Currently, the city can draw on
only 200 tonnes of new fresh water per resident per year, far
below the global average of 1,750 tonnes. Owing to its
inadequate infrastructural development, Shanghai is able to
treat only 28 percent of its total residential wastewater (US
Embassy, 2001). When judged against US standards,
Shanghai’s air is also considered to be “heavily polluted”
due to the extensive use of coal-generated power plants and
the increasing number of vehicles (US Embassy, 2001).
Recently, the city has produced 23m tonnes of solid waste
annually, and this amount is expected to increase by at least 4
percent per annum (Shanghai Environmental Education
Centre, 2004). In view of these deteriorating ecological
conditions, and in sympathy with the environmental policies
of the central government, the municipal government of
Shanghai has recently made strenuous efforts to rectify the
city’s environmental problems by pledging to spend at least 3
percent of its gross domestic product annually on
environmental protection (China Daily, 2003). These
developments indicate that the environmental situation
faced by Shanghai is indicative of that faced by other major
Chinese cities (Tian, 2000).
Data collection
A total of 1,200 adult Chinese subjects were randomly
selected and successfully invited to participate in the study.
Overall, the whole sample had approximately equal numbers
of male (53 percent) and female (47 percent) subjects, and a
median age range of 25-29. In addition, 62 percent of the
subjects were married, and 60 percent had received high
school education or better. These demographic characteristics
of the sample did not differ significantly from those of the
entire Chinese population (see China Statistical Yearbook,
2002).
Of the 1,200 subjects, 600 were randomly assigned for
investigating the high-involvement service of hotel, and 600
for the low-involvement service of fast food. For each service
under investigation, the 600 subjects were randomly assigned
to six groups of equal size (i.e. 100 subjects each). The
subjects of each group were asked to view one test
advertisement (from those depicted in Appendix 1). After
the viewing, they were requested to express their responses
relevant to the investigation. The major results are
summarized below.
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Findings
Summary statistics
Table I presents the summary statistics of the variables under
investigation for the high- and low-involvement services,
respectively. As all these variables achieved satisfactory
reliabilities (see Nunnally, 1978), their composite scores
were computed for subsequent testing of hypotheses.
Summarized results of the hypothesis testing
The approach suggested by Hair et al. (1995) was followed to
test the four hypotheses. Specifically, multivariate analysis of
variance (MANOVA) was first used to test whether the three
dimensions (AAd, BA, and PI) used to assess communication
effectiveness differed across the aforementioned six PE-ECT
combinations. Should significant differences be found,
univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and pairwise
comparisons would then be performed to further identify
the source of the differences (Hair et al., 1995). The major
results of the hypothesis testing based on this approach are
summarized in Table II. Readers are directed to Appendix 3
(Tables AI and AII) for detailed results of the hypothesis
testing.
Overall, the results rendered reasonable support to all four
hypotheses. The support was even stronger when confined to
the effectiveness measures of attitudes toward the
advertisement, and brand attitudes. Specifically, the results
echoed the general belief that the use of environmental claims
enhances the communication effectiveness of advertising
services to Chinese consumers. Compared with associative
environmental claims, substantive environmental claims were
found to generate higher communication effectiveness among
Chinese consumers. The results also highlighted that service
type and the perceived eco-friendliness of the originating
country exert significant moderating influences on the
environmental claim type – effectiveness relationship. Put
another way, in the case where the advertised service is a high-
involvement one and the advertiser originates from a country
perceived as eco-friendly, the superiority of substantive
Table I Summary statistics for all major variables
Variable Mean Standard deviation Cronbach Alpha
The high-involvement service, hotel (n 5 600)
PEa 3.84 1.61 0.9428
AAd 4.20 1.35 0.9897
BA 3.99 1.16 0.9911
PI 3.44 0.82 0.9914
The low-involvement service, fast food (n 5 600)
PEa 3.80 1.53 0.9713
AAd 4.12 1.40 0.9892
BA 3.91 1.18 0.9895
PI 3.40 0.86 0.9907
Notes: a Based on their composite scores, PE was subsequently converted
into a two-level factor using the median split technique to operationalize
the 2 £ 3 factorial research design; n = sample size; PE ¼ perceived eco-
friendliness of the advertiser’s originating country; AAd ¼ attitudes toward
advertisement; BA ¼ brand attitudes; PI ¼ purchase intention; all were
coded on a seven-point scale (1 to 7) with higher values indicating more
favorable responses
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
Table II Summarized results of the hypothesis testing
Hypothesis
H1. The use of environmental claims will enhance the communication
effectiveness of advertising services to Chinese consumers
H2. In the case of advertising services to Chinese consumers,
substantive environmental claims will be more effective than
associative environmental claims in generating positive consumer
attitudes and purchase intention.
H3. When the advertiser of a high-involvement service originates from
a country perceived as eco-friendly, the use of a substantive
environmental claim will be more effective than that of an
associative environmental claim in generating positive consumer
attitudes and purchase intention
H4. When the advertiser of a high-involvement service originates from
a country perceived as eco-unfriendly, the use of a substantive
environmental claim will be less effective than that of an
associative environmental claim in generating positive consumer
attitudes and purchase intention
Notes: AAd = attitudes toward advertisement; BA = brand attitudes, PI = purchase intention
environmental claims (relative to associative claims) in
enhancing communication effectiveness will be further
augmented. Conversely, if the advertiser originates from a
country perceived as eco-unfriendly, the use of substantive
rather than associative environmental claims to advertise a
high-involvement service will result in much lower
communication effectiveness. These moderating influences
are depicted graphically in Figure 3.
Influence of perceived seriousness of environmental
problems
Apart from the influence of service type, consumers’ degree of
involvement in a service alleged to possess eco-friendly
attributes might also be affected by their perceived seriousness
of environmental problems, as discussed. Regarding this,
several points arise from the results of the analysis. First, all
other things being equal, consumers who perceive
Figure 3 Details of the moderating influence of perceived eco-friendliness of the originating country: the high-involvement service of hotel (n ¼ 600)
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Result
Hotel: supported for the effectiveness measures of AAd and BA but not PI
Fast food: supported for all three effectiveness measures
Hotel: supported for the effectiveness measures of AAd and BA but not PI
Fast Food: supported for all three effectiveness measures
Hotel: supported for the effectiveness measures of AAd and BA but not PI
Fast food: Results further supported “high-involvement service type” as a
precondition for the operation of assimilation effects
Hotel: supported for the effectiveness measures of AAd and BA but not PI
Fast food: Results further supported “high-involvement service type” as a
precondition for the operation of contrast effects
environmental problems as more serious exhibit more
positive communicative responses toward a service
advertisement featured with an environmental claim, for
both service situations studied (MANOVA based significance
level , 0.05). Second, being a major determinant of consumer
involvement, perceived seriousness of environmental
problems (as shown in Figure 4) also exerts a significant
moderating influence on communication effectiveness under
the high-involvement service situation. Specifically, if the
advertiser of a high-involvement service originates from a
country perceived as eco-friendly, the use of an environmental
(either substantive or associative) claim will elicit much higher
communication effectiveness from those who perceive
environmental problems as serious than from those who do
not. Such an influence is similar to augmenting the
aforementioned assimilation effect. Conversely, if the same
advertiser is from a country perceived as eco-unfriendly, the
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
Figure 4 Details of the moderating influence of perceived seriousness of environmental problems: the high-involvement service of hotel (N ¼ 600)
use of an environmental claim will elicit much lower
communication effectiveness from consumers who are more
environmentally conscious. The influence is similar to
intensifying the aforementioned contrast effect.
Implications
Several salient implications can be drawn from this study. In
academic terms, the findings have enriched the existing
environmental advertising literature whose focus has been on
the use of environmental claims for promoting products
(rather than services). In conventional product marketing,
researchers have often maintained that the use of an
environmental claim enhances the communication
effectiveness of an advertisement (e.g. Chan, 2000; Manrai
et al., 1997). The current findings concerning the use of
environmental claims for services marketing echo this
traditional view. In short, although product and service
offerings bear different characteristics, the results presented
here help demonstrate the universal benefits that may be
derived from the tactful use of environmental claims for
promoting each of them. The results also contribute to the
external validation of extant general advertising theories in the
arena of services marketing.
From the practitioner’s perspective, the reported
effectiveness of environmental advertising claims may be
even more strategically important for service marketers than
for product marketers. Owing to the intangible and
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ambiguous nature of most service offerings, service
marketers often encounter greater difficulty in positioning
and image development compared with product marketers
(Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004). Should they be employed
properly, environmental claims would represent a promising
strategic tool for service marketers to personify their firms as
socially responsible corporate citizens who constantly
contribute to environmental protection. The rapid adoption
of eco-friendly advertising appeals by various service sectors
(e.g. hotel, fast food, utilities) has clearly signified service
marketers’ increasing awareness of the importance of this tool
(Jones, 2002; Nation’s Restaurant News, 2001; Rashing,
2001). With the rising environmental consciousness of
consumers both in developed countries (Davis, 1993) and
in those that are rapidly developing (Chan, 1999), service
firms that fail to apply this tool effectively would undoubtedly
be jeopardizing their own competitive position or even
survival.
While increasing numbers of service marketers have
resorted to environmental appeals in promoting their
offerings, problems associated with this green advertising
approach are well documented (Easterling et al., 1996). These
problems are attributed in part to the type of environmental
claims being employed (Carlson et al., 1993, 1996b). In that
context, the present study demonstrates that other things
being equal, substantive claims that provide detailed and
concrete information about how the service firm contributes
to environmental protection will elicit much more positive
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
attitudinal and/or conative responses from consumers than
will their associative counterparts. Indeed, the occurrence of
several well publicized incidents of bogus environmental
claims, and the occasional exaggeration and
misrepresentation by some green marketers, have prompted
consumers to be skeptical about environmental advertising
claims (Carlson et al., 1996b; Landler, 1991). To overcome
this skepticism, service marketers must ensure that the
promoted environmental benefits of their offerings can
genuinely be perceived by consumers as bearing real and
positive impacts on environmental quality (Davis, 1993). In
order to accurately identify these environmental benefits from
the consumer’s perspective, service firms are strongly advised
to conduct thorough surveys to discover which environmental
problems in their own industry are of most concern to their
consumers. Such surveys should provide valuable input to
help firms fine-tune their marketing communications
strategies.
Despite the observed competency of environmental claims
in enhancing communication effectiveness, it should be noted
that such effectiveness does vary across service types differing
in degrees of involvement. In the case of advertising high-
rather than low-involvement services, the use of
environmental claims alone, as revealed by the present
findings, may still lack the required momentum to channel
consumers’ positive attitudinal responses into the
corresponding conative responses. Given that the purchase
of high-involvement services often involves greater perceived
risks (e.g. financial and functional risks), it is not
unreasonable for consumers to make more elaborate
cognitive efforts to additionally evaluate other traditional
service-related attributes (e.g. reliability, price, facilities)
when making a purchasing decision (Cacioppo et al., 1986).
Advertisers of high-involvement services should therefore be
aware of the importance of employing a more integrated
advertising approach by combining environmental claims with
other appeals concerning traditional service-related attributes.
To do so, they need to further consider the degree of emphasis
that should be placed on each of these two sets of appeals. In
product marketing, Davis (1993) suggests that environmental
claims should be communicated as supplemental to
traditional appeals as consumers are unlikely to base their
purchase decision primarily on the basis of environmental
attributes. This view also seems applicable to the purchase of
high-involvement services. In fact, when several competing
service entities are perceived to be similar in terms of
traditionally important service-related attributes, a specific
and evidence-based environmental claim would serve as a
particularly effective tie-breaker to induce patronage from
consumers who have a moderate degree of environmental
concern.
As an important extrinsic cue for the development of
consumer perceptions, country image has been found in this
study to exert significant moderating influences on the claim
type-effectiveness relationship under the high-involvement
service situation. Specifically, in the case where the originating
country is perceived as eco-friendly, substantive
environmental claims appear to be far more effective than
associative environmental claims for advertising a high-
involvement service (i.e. the operation of assimilation
effects). However, this observation appears to be reversed
when the originating country is perceived as eco-unfriendly.
In such a case, associative claims seem to be much more
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Volume 20 · Number 4 · 2006 · 233 –250
effective than substantive ones (i.e. the operation of contrast
effects). Undoubtedly, these findings provide useful insights
to green marketers responsible for promoting high-
involvement services. Instead of blindly applying any one
type of environmental claim, they should pay particular
attention to the perceived level of eco-friendliness of the
originating country. If their services originate from countries
perceived as eco-unfriendly, an associative claim may
represent a better choice in order to avoid, or at least abate,
the undesired contrast effect.
On the other hand, a substantive environmental claim
would be a wise choice only when the originating country in
question is perceived as eco-friendly. In sum, it is advised that
green service marketers of high-involvement services should
adopt a contingent perspective when designing their
advertisements by taking the possible moderating influence
of country image into account.
Relating specifically to green service marketers from
countries having an eco-unfriendly image, forming strategic
alliances with business partners originating from countries
bearing a greener image would be a viable strategy to enhance
the relevant corporate and brand images through the halo
effect. In real terms, this strategy would also facilitate the
inter-firm transfer of green technologies and practices, and
ultimately, lead to a greener service delivery system of the
allied entity.
In the case of China, while service marketers operating in
its hotel and fast food sectors are increasingly resorting to
various forms of strategic alliance (e.g. franchising, joint
ventures) to strengthen their overall competitive position (Xu,
2000; SinoCast China Business Daily News, 2003), they
should be aware that the same strategy would also help them
better capitalize on business opportunities emerging from the
country’s rising green consumerism. From another
perspective, as previous research has revealed that a
favorable brand image derived from direct experience with
the brand will significantly lower the reliance of consumers on
country of origin to evaluate the offering quality (Ahmed and
d’Astous, 1996; Cordell, 1992), these service marketers may
also resort to other promotional tools (e.g. refund guarantee
for dissatisfied services, price incentives) to encourage
consumer trial. This would be in the hope that trials of the
service by consumers would lead to the generation of a more
favorable brand image to counter the negative country-of-
origin effect.
Concerning the influence of consumers’ perceived
seriousness of environmental problems, the findings
highlight that it is detrimental for marketers to employ
environmental claims blindly without paying due
consideration to other important individual characteristics of
consumers. Specifically, the present results suggest that in the
case of purchasing high-involvement services, consumers
having different degrees of concern about environmental
problems would vary in their communicative responses
toward environmental claims.
These findings should encourage high-involvement service
marketers operating in China to track the degree of
environmental concern of their target customers on a
continuous basis. Such longitudinal consumer data will
provide useful insights regarding which environmental claim
type should be applied at any given time to maximize
communication effectiveness.
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
Conclusion
Although a number of previous studies have focused on the
application of environmental claims to advertise products
(Manrai et al., 1997; Chan, 2000), similar investigations into
how these claims may help advertise services are virtually
non-existent. This is despite the increasing contribution of
services to global economic development (Tang et al., 2002).
To help close this research gap, this study has examined how
different types of environmental claims may affect the
communication effectiveness of environmental advertising,
and how two important moderating variables, perceived eco-
friendly image of the originating country, and consumer
involvement, may influence the claim type – effectiveness
relationship. These relationships were examined by analyzing
the responses of 1,200 subjects in Shanghai, China, to
advertisements containing various types of environmental
claim.
Overall, environmental claims are found to enhance the
communication effectiveness of advertisements for both high-
involvement and low-involvement services. For the purchase
of high-involvement services, substantive environmental
claims generate more favorable attitudinal responses than do
associative environmental claims. Furthermore, for high-
involvement purchases, the perceived eco-friendly image of
the originating country is found to exert significant
moderating influences on the claim type-effectiveness
relationship. Under the same purchase situation, consumers’
perceived seriousness of environmental problems also affects
their responses towards advertisements bearing environmental
claims. These findings suggest that marketers should adopt a
situational perspective by taking into account environmental
claim type, country disposition, the degree of environmental
consciousness of their target consumers, and service type
when designing their environmental advertising campaigns. A
large number of multinational and domestic marketers are
currently engaged in a variety of such “green” advertising
activities aimed at promoting their offerings to Chinese
customers who are becoming increasingly ecologically
conscious (Chan and Lau, 2002). Given that consumers are
often skeptical about environmental claims that appear in
advertisements (Chan, 1999; Zinkhan and Carlson, 1995),
these marketers need to bear in mind that a claim which is
incongruent with their target customers’ extant beliefs is
unlikely to be effective.
This research focused on a single Chinese city and on two
service categories with contrasting degrees of involvement.
Whilst such a confinement can enhance the internal validity of
the findings, their external validity has yet to be established.
In view of this, the research framework as presented should be
extended to study other Chinese cities and/or other service
categories in order to determine whether any universal
relationships can be established among environmental claim
type, perceived eco-friendly image of the originating country,
consumer involvement, and communication effectiveness.
Moreover, the methodology adopted here may be extended to
study the communication effectiveness of other appeals (e.g.
humor, fear) among Chinese consumers. Such an
investigation would advance understanding of the relative
effectiveness of various types of appeals among Chinese
consumers, and would provide useful guidance for advertising
practitioners in fine-tuning their marketing communication
strategies in the increasingly lucrative Chinese market.
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Appendix 1. Offering and environmental claims,
and pictorial representations adopted in the
study
The wonderful Visit Hotel from Canada’s (or Japan’s)
environmentally-minded hotel group
Offering claim
We offer uninterrupted panoramic views from every spacious
and luxurious guest room. The moment you enter our
graceful lobby, you can be assured of gracious hospitality in a
friendly setting. Our magnificent banquet and conference
facilities and delicious cuisine of various choices cater to a
wide variety of functions ranging from social gatherings,
wedding banquets, grand balls to international conferences.
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We also offer you the ideal city resort atmosphere. Our stylish
pools, full range of recreational facilities and state-of-the-art
exercise equipment all promise a fit and memorable stay for
you (see Plate A1).
Substantive environmental claim
Unsurpassed concern for the environment. There is nothing
more important to humankind than the environment. So our
entire air-conditioning system is CFC-free and 50 percent of
our furniture and 100 percent of our paper supplies are made
of recycled materials. We also conduct environmental auditing
on our entire service delivery system annually to ensure that it
causes minimal impacts to our ecological conditions. [Or]
Associative environmental claim
Unsurpassed concern for the environment. There is nothing
more important to humankind than the environment. The
atmospheric composition has been altered more in the past 100
years than in the previous 18,000 years, and all our tropical
forests will be gone in just 50 years if the current deforestation
rate continues. So we are always committed to making our
Earth a better place for us and our children to live.
The delicious fast food from Canada’s (or Japan’s)
environmentally-minded catering group
Offering claim
We offer quality, delicious and fresh food just the way you
want it. The moment you enter our spacious and tidy outlet,
you can be assured of gracious hospitality in a friendly setting.
Our special and carefully selected ingredients, and wide
variety of food choices, cater to almost all guests whose meal
preference ranges from hamburgers, sandwiches, spaghetti to
Chinese dishes. We also offer efficient yet tasty take-away
services. Our certified nutritionists, well-trained chefs and
professional service staff are all committed to providing you
with a brand-new fast food experience (see Plate A2).
Substantive environmental claim
Unsurpassed concern for the environment. There is nothing
more important to humankind than the environment. So our
entire air-conditioning system is CFC-free and 50 percent of
our furniture and 100 percent of our paper supplies are made
of recycled materials. We also conduct environmental auditing
on our entire service delivery system annually to ensure that it
causes minimal impacts to our ecological conditions (Or).
Plate A1 The wonderful Visit Hotel from Canada’s (or Japan’s)
environmentally-minded hotel group
 The effectiveness of environmental claims for services advertising Journal of Services Marketing
Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong Volume 20 · Number 4 · 2006 · 233 –250

Plate A2 The delicious Fast Food from Canada’s (or Japan’s)
environmentally-minded catering group
evaluation of the originating country was then measured using
three seven-point statement anchored with 1 ¼ “strongly
disagree” and 7 ¼ “strongly agree”. The three statements
were:
1 The originating country is an environmentally friendly
country.
2 The government of the originating country has been
doing a lot to improve the ecological well-being of the
country.
3 People of the originating country are, in general,
environmentally conscious.
Scores on the three statements were used to compute
subjects’ composite PE scores. Based on these composite
scores and the use of the median split technique, subjects
were finally classified into either the “eco-friendly image”
(positive PE) or “eco-unfriendly image” (negative PE) group
to represent the two levels of the factor (see Chan, 2000).

Communication effectiveness
All items used to measure the three dimensions of
Associative environmental claim communication effectiveness (attitudes toward the
Unsurpassed concern for the environment. There is nothing advertisement, brand attitudes, and purchase intention)
more important to humankind than the environment. The were scaled 1 to 7. Following the practice of Stevenson et al.
atmospheric composition has been altered more in the past (2000), these dimensions were operationalized as follows:
100 years than in the previous 18,000 years, and all our 1 Attitudes toward the advertisement were measured in
tropical forests will be gone in just 50 years if the current terms of four items:
deforestation rate continues. So we are always committed to
.
bad-good,
making our Earth a better place for us and our children to
.
dislike-like,
live.
.
irritating-not irritating, and
.
uninteresting-interesting.
2 Brand attitudes were measured in terms of three items:
.
bad-good,
Appendix 2. Procedures for measuring perceived .
unfavorable-favorable, and
eco-friendliness of the advertiser’s originating .
negative-positive;.
country, communication effectiveness, and 3 Purchase intention was measured in terms of three items:
perceived seriousness of environmental problems
.
unlikely-likely,
.
improbable-probable, and
.
impossible-possible.
Perceived eco-friendliness of the advertiser’s
originating country (PE)
Manrai et al. (1997) maintain that the use of more than one Perceived seriousness of environmental problems
originating country of similar levels of development will The measuring items were adapted from Ng (1991).
improve the robustness of the measurement. In this study, PE Respondents were requested to rate the following seven
was treated as a measured variable, and Canada and Japan items according to a seven-point scale anchored with 1 ¼ “not
were employed to calibrate it. These two countries were serious at all” to 7 ¼ “very serious”:
chosen because they are both major industrialized countries 1 air pollution;
(G7 members) and have similar levels of development in 2 solid waste disposal;
terms of gross domestic product per capita (CIA World 3 water pollution;
Factbook, 2002). To calibrate PE, either Canada or Japan was 4 toxic waste problem;
first randomly assigned to any three of the six test 5 rural landscape destruction;
advertisements (of each chosen service) to denote the 6 noise;
originating country. For each test advertisement, subjects’ 7 townscape destruction.

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Appendix 3

Table AI Hypothesis testing results for the high-involvement service of hotel (n ¼ 600)
MANOVA results (dependent variables5AAd, BA and PI):
Independent variable Approximate F-Value Significance Level
ECT 2.49 0.02*
PE 532.53 0.00**
ECT 3 PE 14.32 0.00**
ANOVA results (Dependent variables5AAd, BA and PI):
Independent variable Dependent variable F-value F-significance level Scheffe’s Pairwise Comparison (at p < 0:05)
ECT AAd 4.02 0.02* Substantive claim¼4.40 .
Associative claim¼4.23 . No-claim¼3.98
BA 4.28 0.01* Substantive claim ¼ 4.18 .
Associative claim¼4.03 . No-claim¼3.77
PI 2.59 0.08 Not applicable
PE AAd 1220.84 0.00** þve PE ¼ 5.29 . –ve PE ¼ 3.12
BA 740.60 0.00** þve PE¼4.83 . 2ve PE¼3.15
PI 357.85 0.00** þve PE¼3.94 . 2ve PE¼2.95
ECT 3 PE AAd 34.89 0.00** Detailed analysis of interaction effect in Figure 3
BA 26.02 0.01* Detailed analysis of interaction effect in Figure 3
PI 4.31 0.01* Detailed analysis of interaction effect in Figure 3
Notes: * Significant at p , 0:05; ** Significant at p , 0:01; n = sample size; ECT = environmental claim type; PE = perceived eco-friendliness of the
originating country; AAd = attitudes toward advertisement; BA = brand attitudes; PI = purchase intention

Table AII Hypothesis testing results for the low-involvement service of fast food (n ¼ 600)
MANOVA results (dependent variables = AAd, BA and PI):
Independent variable Approximate F-Value Significance level
ECT 13.56 0.00*
PE 33.33 0.00*
ECT 3 PE 1.57 0.15
ANOVA results (Dependent variables5AAd, BA and PI):
Independent variable Dependent variable F-value F-significance level Scheffe’s pairwise comparison (at p < 0:05)
ECT AAd 31.09 0.00* Substantive claim¼4.48 .
Associative claim¼4.21 . No-claim¼3.65
BA 50.01 0.00* Substantive claim¼4.26 .
Associative claim¼4.06 . No-claim¼3.42
PI 28.20 0.00* Substantive claim¼3.57 .
Associative claim¼3.39 . No-claim¼3.24
PE AAd 76.34 0.00* þ ve PE¼4.59 . 2ve PE¼3.64
BA 70.39 0.00* þ ve PE¼4.29 . 2ve PE ¼ 3.53
PI 52.64 0.00* þ ve PE¼3.64 . 2ve PE¼3.16
ECT 3 PE AAd 1.58 0.21 Not applicable
BA 0.30 0.74 Not applicable
PI 0.28 0.75 Not applicable
Notes: * Significant at p , 0:01; n = sample size; ECT = environmental claim type; PE = perceived eco-friendliness of the originating country; AAd = attitudes
toward advertisement; BA = brand attitudes; PI = purchase intention

Corresponding author
Ricky Y.K. Chan can be contacted at: msricky@polyu.edu.hk

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Ricky Y.K. Chan, T.K.P. Leung and Y.H. Wong
Executive summary
This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives
a rapid appreciation of the content of the article. Those with a
particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article
in toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of
the research undertaken and its results to get the full benefit of the
material present.
The effectiveness of environmental claims for services
advertising
Do people choose one product rather than another because
one is advertised as “environmentally friendly”? At a time of
increasing environmental consciousness of consumers, they
might. But they would first have to believe the claims made
about the environment – and that is something which many
people find more difficult to do as more and more products
and services are marketed – sometimes vaguely – with “eco-
friendly” credentials.
A random sample of advertisers reads: eco-friendly jewelry
(ecologically and socially responsible jewelry as an alternative
to gold and diamond mining); eco-friendly cleaning products
(caring and being responsible for water, our main life force);
eco-friendly handbags (made from recycled materials) and
many, many more. Some companies have incorporated “eco”
into their brand name as if they believe consumers these days
are more likely to choose to “save the planet” than “save 10
percent off the marked price.” And it is not just products, but
services which increasingly claim environmentally-friendly
reasons to buy.
Awareness by consumers, producers and service providers
globally of the need to take care of the earth’s limited
resources is, of course, something to be applauded and
encouraged, as is an increasing concern for the welfare of
people who produce goods and services. If people have the
choice of buying a product or service which improves, or does
less damage to, the environment, so much the better. The
problem for marketers is how to pitch those claims at an
audience which has become skeptical.
The study by Ricky Y.K. Chan et al. finds that
environmental claims do enhance the communication
effectiveness of advertisements for both high and low-
involvement services, but there are nuances to be
considered with regard to the claims being made, including
whether they are to be “substantive” (presenting specific
details about how the organization approaches its
environmental responsibilities) or “associative” (claims
which suggest the environmental credentials of the
organization by linking in with environmental information,
but not being specific about how they go about it).
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Volume 20 · Number 4 · 2006 · 233 –250
However, even if a substantive environmental claim is used
to advertise a service, it is unlikely to be effective if the alleged
eco-friendliness contradicts sharply with the perception
consumers already have about it. It might even be regarded
as deception. In such a situation an associative (more vague)
claim would be less likely to produce a negative attitude
towards the service.
Also worth emphasizing in marketing (or not as the case
may be) is the country of origin of the service, taking account
of consumers’ attitude towards that country. Even if they have
no knowledge of a foreign country’s environmental practices,
they are likely to base their assessment of environmental
advertising claims on their disposition towards that nation.
The authors’ survey of customers’ responses to advertising
took place in Shanghai – as one of China’s most developed
and heavily polluted cities, a place where environmental issues
are of increasing concern to the population. It focused on
both high and low involvement services, namely the hotel and
fast-food industries, two sectors where operators are
increasingly attempting to improve their image by means of
environmentally friendly measures. New hotels, for instance,
have publicized their energy-saving initiatives and
commitment to cleaner methods of treating waste, while the
burgeoning number of fast-food outlets have been able to
boast such environmental measures as using more eco-
friendly packaging.
From the practitioner’s perspective, the reported
effectiveness of environmental advertising claims may be
even more strategically important for service marketers than
for product marketers, particularly because of the intangible
and ambiguous nature of most service offerings. The proper
employment of environmental claims represents such a
promising strategic tool for service marketers to personify
their firms as socially responsible corporate citizens who
constantly contribute to environmental protection, that failure
to apply it could be detrimental to its competitive position.
Detrimental for marketers is to employ environmental
claims blindly without paying due consideration to other
important individual characteristics of consumers. Ricky Y.K.
Chan et al. say: “In the case of purchasing high-involvement
services, consumers having different degrees of concern about
environmental problems would vary in their communicative
responses toward environmental claims. These findings
should encourage high-involvement service marketers
operating in China to track the degree of environmental
concern of their target customers on a continuous basis.”
(A précis of the article “The effectiveness of environmental claims
for services advertising”. Supplied by marketing Consultants for
Emerald.)