Corporate Environmental Image and Corporate Reputation in Nigeria's Oil and Gas Sector: The Parallel Mediating Roles of Perceived Green Innovation and Perceived Greenwashing

Sunday Anyaogu

Abstract


Purpose: This study examines the influence of corporate environmental image on corporate reputation in Nigeria's oil and gas sector. It tests perceived green innovation and perceived greenwashing as parallel, rather than sequential, mediating mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey used questionnaires administered via convenience sampling to 303 petroleum-product consumers at six filling stations in Lagos, Nigeria. The instrument measured corporate environmental image, perceived green innovation, perceived greenwashing, and corporate reputation on a 5-point Likert scale. Four regression models were estimated, supplemented by bootstrapped indirect-effect tests and VIF diagnostics for a stricter test of mediation.

Findings: Corporate environmental image is positively associated with corporate reputation (B = 0.434, p < .001), and perceived green innovation fully mediates this relationship. Perceived greenwashing does not mediate the relationship alone, though it retains a small, counterintuitive positive partial association with reputation alongside innovation. Perceived green innovation does not predict perceived greenwashing once environmental image is controlled, so the data support parallel rather than sequential mediation.

Research limitations/implications: The cross-sectional design and convenience sampling within a single Lagos locality limit generalisability to the sector as a whole. The high CEI-PGI correlation warranted a multicollinearity check, and the resulting VIF values fall below conventional concern thresholds.

Practical implications: Firms should prioritise verifiable, communicable green innovation, the dominant pathway through which environmental image translates into reputation. Regulators should strengthen independent verification of environmental claims to address greenwashing's persistent, if modest, influence.

Originality/value: This is the first study to empirically test, rather than assume, the ordering of green innovation and greenwashing perceptions as mediators in this sector. It shows the two operate as parallel, theoretically distinct pathways, competence and integrity signals, rather than a sequential chain.

Keywords: Corporate Environmental Image; Corporate Reputation; Perceived Green Innovation; Perceived Greenwashing; Parallel Mediation; Oil and Gas Sector.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58869/EJABM12(2)/05


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References


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European Journal of Applied Business and Management

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