Environmental Communications and Credibility

Dr. Molina (Ph.D., MS, University of Minnesota) is ResidentLecturer in Environmental Economics and Policy at the Center forSustainable Development Studies of The School for Field Studiesin Costa Rica. Recently he worked as consultant for 3M in thearea of sustainability, and as Researcher and Lecturer at theUniversity of Minnesota.

The communication of corporate environmentalmessages has a history of mixed results, andconcerns are mounting around the possibility ofinformation overload, and the quality andaccurateness of the content. In this research I lookat the complexities associated with environmentalinformation and communication, and explore therelationship of information complexity andcredibility as key constructs that influencecommunication performance. Recent emphasis on LifeCycle Assessment (LCA) information is presented asholding some promise to improve the effectiveness ofenvironmental claims. Results indicate that althoughthe likelihood that more complex communications inan advertising context makes for poor advertising;the credibility gained through more explicitenvironmental disclosures, favorably influences theperceptions toward the company and the brand.In asecond study with architects, I found that,advertisements with environmental messages are moreeffective than those presenting functional productbenefits alone, but only when the messages aresubstantiated with quantitative and disaggregatedinformation [resulting from LCA studies].