Características do Rótulo Ambiental e suas Implicações para a Sustentabilidade Práticas de Mercado Rumo a uma Economia Circular

Abstract

Waste management has undergone many changes since the end of the 20th century therefore, green products have gained increasing attention. This paper aims to understand the association between the use of labels to communicate a sustainable image by green marketing and their impact on consumer perception. Qualitative research was carried out, with a theoretical and empirical nature. No studies were identified analyzing the relationship between the communication of green marketing, aimed at the circular economy, by the environmental labeling perspective, being this groundedness the main contribution for studies improvement in the research field. Then, a sample of 60 product packages in 15 segments and 50 different brands was used. We found that the way the manufacturer seeks to communicate about the potential for reuse or recycling of the material used in the packaging can generate doubt in the consumer. Results demonstrate that no standard symbology is used in environmental labeling. Purchasing decisions would be influenced by information on environmental or ethical aspects of products. Studying how the industry labels its products and offers them to the consumer is certainly a way to understand the degree of maturity and how much progress can be made in terms of consumption and sustainable production. There is still a low relationship between the explored theories and their effective use in environmental labeling, so it is suggested to deepen this gap in future works. Although there is research on environmental labeling, few seek to identify in the field how the concepts and standards have been effectively applied. This study demonstrates that it is still necessary to advance both in terms of consumer understanding of what the labels say, and in aspects of standardization of labels by the industry.