Unmasking Greenwashing in the Building Materials Industry Through an Evolutionary Game Approach via Prospect Theory
Green building materials play a vital role in mitigating the significant carbon emissions produced by the construction industry. However, the widespread presence of greenwashing, where firms falsely portray their products or practices as environmentally friendly, presents a critical obstacle to the...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Systems |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/7/495 |
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| author | Zihan Li Yi Zhang Zihan Hu Yixi Zeng Xin Dong Xinbao Lu Jie Peng Mingtao Zhu Xingwei Li |
| author_facet | Zihan Li Yi Zhang Zihan Hu Yixi Zeng Xin Dong Xinbao Lu Jie Peng Mingtao Zhu Xingwei Li |
| author_sort | Zihan Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Green building materials play a vital role in mitigating the significant carbon emissions produced by the construction industry. However, the widespread presence of greenwashing, where firms falsely portray their products or practices as environmentally friendly, presents a critical obstacle to the adoption of genuinely sustainable materials. The risk of collusion between building material enterprises and certification institutions further exacerbates this challenge by undermining trust in green certification processes. To investigate these issues, this study develops an evolutionary game model that captures the strategic interactions between building material enterprises and certification institutions. The model incorporates the behavioral assumptions of prospect theory, specifically bounded rationality, loss aversion, and diminishing sensitivity, to reflect the real-world decision-making behavior of the involved actors. The findings reveal three evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS) within the system. First, a higher initial willingness by both enterprises and certifiers to engage in ethical practices increases the likelihood of convergence to an optimal and stable outcome. Second, a greater degree of diminishing sensitivity in the value function promotes the adoption of authentic green behavior by enterprises. In contrast, a lower degree of diminishing sensitivity encourages certification institutions to refrain from collusion. Third, although the loss aversion coefficient does not directly affect strategy selection, higher levels of loss aversion lead to stronger preferences for green behavior among enterprises and noncollusive behavior among certifiers. This research makes a novel theoretical contribution by introducing prospect theory into the analysis of greenwashing behavior in the building materials sector. It also provides actionable insights for improving regulatory frameworks and certification standards to mitigate greenwashing and enhance institutional accountability. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bcbeed24e0894b61bc6313af9131c72d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2079-8954 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-bcbeed24e0894b61bc6313af9131c72d2025-08-20T02:47:14ZengMDPI AGSystems2079-89542025-06-0113749510.3390/systems13070495Unmasking Greenwashing in the Building Materials Industry Through an Evolutionary Game Approach via Prospect TheoryZihan Li0Yi Zhang1Zihan Hu2Yixi Zeng3Xin Dong4Xinbao Lu5Jie Peng6Mingtao Zhu7Xingwei Li8College of Architecture and Urban–Rural Planning, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611830, ChinaCollege of Architecture and Urban–Rural Planning, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611830, ChinaCollege of Architecture and Urban–Rural Planning, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611830, ChinaCollege of Architecture and Urban–Rural Planning, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611830, ChinaCollege of Architecture and Urban–Rural Planning, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611830, ChinaCollege of Architecture and Urban–Rural Planning, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611830, ChinaCollege of Architecture and Urban–Rural Planning, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611830, ChinaCollege of Architecture and Urban–Rural Planning, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611830, ChinaCollege of Architecture and Urban–Rural Planning, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611830, ChinaGreen building materials play a vital role in mitigating the significant carbon emissions produced by the construction industry. However, the widespread presence of greenwashing, where firms falsely portray their products or practices as environmentally friendly, presents a critical obstacle to the adoption of genuinely sustainable materials. The risk of collusion between building material enterprises and certification institutions further exacerbates this challenge by undermining trust in green certification processes. To investigate these issues, this study develops an evolutionary game model that captures the strategic interactions between building material enterprises and certification institutions. The model incorporates the behavioral assumptions of prospect theory, specifically bounded rationality, loss aversion, and diminishing sensitivity, to reflect the real-world decision-making behavior of the involved actors. The findings reveal three evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS) within the system. First, a higher initial willingness by both enterprises and certifiers to engage in ethical practices increases the likelihood of convergence to an optimal and stable outcome. Second, a greater degree of diminishing sensitivity in the value function promotes the adoption of authentic green behavior by enterprises. In contrast, a lower degree of diminishing sensitivity encourages certification institutions to refrain from collusion. Third, although the loss aversion coefficient does not directly affect strategy selection, higher levels of loss aversion lead to stronger preferences for green behavior among enterprises and noncollusive behavior among certifiers. This research makes a novel theoretical contribution by introducing prospect theory into the analysis of greenwashing behavior in the building materials sector. It also provides actionable insights for improving regulatory frameworks and certification standards to mitigate greenwashing and enhance institutional accountability.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/7/495behavioral decision-makingprospect theoryevolutionary game theorygreenwashinggreen building materialscertification institutions |
| spellingShingle | Zihan Li Yi Zhang Zihan Hu Yixi Zeng Xin Dong Xinbao Lu Jie Peng Mingtao Zhu Xingwei Li Unmasking Greenwashing in the Building Materials Industry Through an Evolutionary Game Approach via Prospect Theory Systems behavioral decision-making prospect theory evolutionary game theory greenwashing green building materials certification institutions |
| title | Unmasking Greenwashing in the Building Materials Industry Through an Evolutionary Game Approach via Prospect Theory |
| title_full | Unmasking Greenwashing in the Building Materials Industry Through an Evolutionary Game Approach via Prospect Theory |
| title_fullStr | Unmasking Greenwashing in the Building Materials Industry Through an Evolutionary Game Approach via Prospect Theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unmasking Greenwashing in the Building Materials Industry Through an Evolutionary Game Approach via Prospect Theory |
| title_short | Unmasking Greenwashing in the Building Materials Industry Through an Evolutionary Game Approach via Prospect Theory |
| title_sort | unmasking greenwashing in the building materials industry through an evolutionary game approach via prospect theory |
| topic | behavioral decision-making prospect theory evolutionary game theory greenwashing green building materials certification institutions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/7/495 |
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