Introduction Consumer ethical behaviors regarding social impact, environmental concern, and ethical practices for the buyer/seller dyad has become a vital issue. A large number of consumers have the willingness to be activists to address potentially threatening environmental problems with foresight (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014). Consumers with environment awareness have begun to consider the environmental claims of products, such as environmental protection certification (do Paço & Reis, 2012) and production process with environmental protection regulations (Yoon & Kim, 2016). All such information effectively spreads the environmental protection knowledge to help consumers identify the environmental features of the product (Leonidou, Leonidou, Palihawadana, & Hultman, 2011), and then to conduct consumption behaviors with ethical/moral concerns. However, the related research to examine the relationships between consumer ethical behaviors and their attitudes toward environmental information disclosure in advertising in Asian countries is few. This study’s main purpose is thus to understand how environmental information disclosure in advertising influences consumers’ attitudes toward the brand and their ethical behaviors. Literature Review Mitchell, Balabanis, Schlegelmich, and CornWell (2009) argues that all direct or indirect consumer actions that could make businesses or other stakeholders to lose money or reputation are viewed as consumer unethical behaviors. Consumers’ (un)ethical behaviors would be influenced by their moral principles and standards as they obtain, use, and dispose of goods and services (Muncy & Vitell, 1992). First, according to the equity theory, brand equity will increase the relationship intention between sellers and buyers. Those consumers with a high perception about product value or brand equity would tend to build a positive relationship with sellers, and thus their ethical behaviors would be influenced (Chang & Lu, 2017). Consumers’ ethical consumption depends on the equity of the profitability of the seller and this study proposes that brand equity has significant positive effects on consumer ethical behavior (H1). Second, environmental advertising claims refer to the classification of environmental claims in advertising with various environmental protection information about products (do Paço & Reis, 2012). Chan, Leung, and Wong (2006) state the two types of environmental advertising claims. Substantial environmental claims focus on the substantial benefits of products for the environment and the positive impacts of enterprises on the environment in order to substantially maintain or enhance consumers’ understanding of products with environmental awareness (Chan, 2000). Associated environmental claims feature advertising that do not have a direct connection with the products or production of enterprises; instead, they reveal an enterprises’ concern about environmental protection topics through environmental protection activities or topics regarding the conservation of the ecosystem, in order to indirectly trigger the consumers’ positive image and reactions to the enterprises or brands (Chan, 2000). Different environmental advertising claims would have different extents of impact on consumers’ attitude towards advertising and the product (Chan et al., 2006). Chan (2000) states that substantial environmental claims are more persuasive than associated claims, as the advertising of the former could directly publicize the specific environmentally-friendly measures in products or production process. The hypotheses are thus submitted: environmental advertising claims have significant positive effects on brand equity (H2.) and the impact power of substantial environmental claims on brand equity is stronger than those of associated environmental claims (H3). Third, eco-labels provide the information of products toward the environment influence during their life cycles (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014; Chekima, Wafa, Igau, Chekima, & Sondoh, 2016) and the claims regarding the eco-features, production, and constituents of the products (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014). Maniatis (2016) argues that eco-labels could clearly reveal the economic and ecological benefits of products and help consumers make purchase decisions. Specific claims, such as marks, pictures, or signs, could clearly convey information about the products, which make it easy for consumers to understand. Therefore, hypothesis 4 is submitted: environmental advertising with eco-labels has a significant positive effect on brand equity (H4). Method This study used the 2x2 factor experiment to create four situations through two types of environmental advertising claims (substantial and associated environmental advertising claims) and two types of eco-labels (available/unavailable). The manipulation checks with regards to the constructs of environmental advertising claims and eco-label were shown to be successful through a pilot test. On the other hand, this study selected 14-items of Muncy and Vitell’s (1992) scale to measure consumer ethical behaviors. The measuring items of brand equity were taken by Yoo and Donth’s (2001) three-dimensional scale, containing brand awareness/associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty. Moreover, 294 valid questionnaires were retained in the formal survey via electronic questionnaire survey. Females accounted for 50.7%. Those aged less than 25 occupied a larger proportion (50%), followed by those aged from 26 to 35 (21.8%). The samples with a college education or above accounted for 92.5%. Additionally, the component reliability, convergent and discriminant validity were also confirmed (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988; Fornell & Larcker, 1981) due to the results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) by Lisrel 8.7. Results and Conclusion Based on the ANOVA results, first, environmental advertising claims had significant effects on awareness/association, perceived value, and loyalty. The effects of substantial orientation on brand equity were significantly stronger than that of associated orientation claims. H2 and H3 were fully supported. That is to say, substantial environmental advertising claims could reveal enterprise efforts to protect the environment and inform consumers that the substantial benefits for the ecosystem are embodied in their products. If enterprises want to disclose information about their social responsibility or to convey the contribution of their products toward environmental protection, direct environmental advertising claims related to product features and production processes should be considered. Second, eco-labels significantly affected on awareness/association, perceived value, and loyalty; hence, H4 were supported. Eco-labels verified by a third-party public notary office could enhance brand equity. As eco-label information regarding environmental protection enterprises and products want to convey, consumers can comprehend and evaluate such environmental advertising through the mark of eco-labels in triggering their positive attitude and value toward the brand. Third, this study also found that the interactive effect of environmental advertising claims and eco-label on the awareness/association dimension of brand equity was significant. Consumers are more likely to receive information from the environmental advertising with a substantial claim and eco-label than other sets, and then their perceptions toward that brand awareness and brand association could be improved. Forth, each dimension of awareness/association, perceived value, and brand loyalty had a significant positive effect on consumer’s ethical behaviors by using structural equation modeling (SEM) via Lisrel 8.7; H1 therefore were supported. That is, consumers’ perceived enterprise efforts related to protecting the environment would improve consumers’ ethical behaviors. If advertising could fully and effectively convey the environmental protection information embodied in products, consumers would know that the products are beneficial for society and ecosystems, and thus they would enact ethical activities in the marketplace. Finally, future studies can use random sampling to improve the sample representative. Product type can also be included into the research model in future studies to consider the different product features how to influence the effects of environmental advertising claims and eco-labels on the consumers’ attitudes and behavior decision.

Introduction Consumer ethical behaviors regarding social impact, environmental concern, and ethical practices for the buyer/seller dyad has become a vital issue. A large number of consumers have the willingness to be activists to address potentially threatening environmental problems with foresight (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014). Consumers with environment awareness have begun to consider the environmental claims of products, such as environmental protection certification (do Paço & Reis, 2012) and production process with environmental protection regulations (Yoon & Kim, 2016). All such information effectively spreads the environmental protection knowledge to help consumers identify the environmental features of the product (Leonidou, Leonidou, Palihawadana, & Hultman, 2011), and then to conduct consumption behaviors with ethical/moral concerns. However, the related research to examine the relationships between consumer ethical behaviors and their attitudes toward environmental information disclosure in advertising in Asian countries is few. This study’s main purpose is thus to understand how environmental information disclosure in advertising influences consumers’ attitudes toward the brand and their ethical behaviors. Literature Review Mitchell, Balabanis, Schlegelmich, and CornWell (2009) argues that all direct or indirect consumer actions that could make businesses or other stakeholders to lose money or reputation are viewed as consumer unethical behaviors. Consumers’ (un)ethical behaviors would be influenced by their moral principles and standards as they obtain, use, and dispose of goods and services (Muncy & Vitell, 1992). First, according to the equity theory, brand equity will increase the relationship intention between sellers and buyers. Those consumers with a high perception about product value or brand equity would tend to build a positive relationship with sellers, and thus their ethical behaviors would be influenced (Chang & Lu, 2017). Consumers’ ethical consumption depends on the equity of the profitability of the seller and this study proposes that brand equity has significant positive effects on consumer ethical behavior (H1). Second, environmental advertising claims refer to the classification of environmental claims in advertising with various environmental protection information about products (do Paço & Reis, 2012). Chan, Leung, and Wong (2006) state the two types of environmental advertising claims. Substantial environmental claims focus on the substantial benefits of products for the environment and the positive impacts of enterprises on the environment in order to substantially maintain or enhance consumers’ understanding of products with environmental awareness (Chan, 2000). Associated environmental claims feature advertising that do not have a direct connection with the products or production of enterprises; instead, they reveal an enterprises’ concern about environmental protection topics through environmental protection activities or topics regarding the conservation of the ecosystem, in order to indirectly trigger the consumers’ positive image and reactions to the enterprises or brands (Chan, 2000). Different environmental advertising claims would have different extents of impact on consumers’ attitude towards advertising and the product (Chan et al., 2006). Chan (2000) states that substantial environmental claims are more persuasive than associated claims, as the advertising of the former could directly publicize the specific environmentally-friendly measures in products or production process. The hypotheses are thus submitted: environmental advertising claims have significant positive effects on brand equity (H2.) and the impact power of substantial environmental claims on brand equity is stronger than those of associated environmental claims (H3). Third, eco-labels provide the information of products toward the environment influence during their life cycles (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014; Chekima, Wafa, Igau, Chekima, & Sondoh, 2016) and the claims regarding the eco-features, production, and constituents of the products (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014). Maniatis (2016) argues that eco-labels could clearly reveal the economic and ecological benefits of products and help consumers make purchase decisions. Specific claims, such as marks, pictures, or signs, could clearly convey information about the products, which make it easy for consumers to understand. Therefore, hypothesis 4 is submitted: environmental advertising with eco-labels has a significant positive effect on brand equity (H4). Method This study used the 2x2 factor experiment to create four situations through two types of environmental advertising claims (substantial and associated environmental advertising claims) and two types of eco-labels (available/unavailable). The manipulation checks with regards to the constructs of environmental advertising claims and eco-label were shown to be successful through a pilot test. On the other hand, this study selected 14-items of Muncy and Vitell’s (1992) scale to measure consumer ethical behaviors. The measuring items of brand equity were taken by Yoo and Donth’s (2001) three-dimensional scale, containing brand awareness/associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty. Moreover, 294 valid questionnaires were retained in the formal survey via electronic questionnaire survey. Females accounted for 50.7%. Those aged less than 25 occupied a larger proportion (50%), followed by those aged from 26 to 35 (21.8%). The samples with a college education or above accounted for 92.5%. Additionally, the component reliability, convergent and discriminant validity were also confirmed (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988; Fornell & Larcker, 1981) due to the results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) by Lisrel 8.7. Results and Conclusion Based on the ANOVA results, first, environmental advertising claims had significant effects on awareness/association, perceived value, and loyalty. The effects of substantial orientation on brand equity were significantly stronger than that of associated orientation claims. H2 and H3 were fully supported. That is to say, substantial environmental advertising claims could reveal enterprise efforts to protect the environment and inform consumers that the substantial benefits for the ecosystem are embodied in their products. If enterprises want to disclose information about their social responsibility or to convey the contribution of their products toward environmental protection, direct environmental advertising claims related to product features and production processes should be considered. Second, eco-labels significantly affected on awareness/association, perceived value, and loyalty; hence, H4 were supported. Eco-labels verified by a third-party public notary office could enhance brand equity. As eco-label information regarding environmental protection enterprises and products want to convey, consumers can comprehend and evaluate such environmental advertising through the mark of eco-labels in triggering their positive attitude and value toward the brand. Third, this study also found that the interactive effect of environmental advertising claims and eco-label on the awareness/association dimension of brand equity was significant. Consumers are more likely to receive information from the environmental advertising with a substantial claim and eco-label than other sets, and then their perceptions toward that brand awareness and brand association could be improved. Forth, each dimension of awareness/association, perceived value, and brand loyalty had a significant positive effect on consumer’s ethical behaviors by using structural equation modeling (SEM) via Lisrel 8.7; H1 therefore were supported. That is, consumers’ perceived enterprise efforts related to protecting the environment would improve consumers’ ethical behaviors. If advertising could fully and effectively convey the environmental protection information embodied in products, consumers would know that the products are beneficial for society and ecosystems, and thus they would enact ethical activities in the marketplace. Finally, future studies can use random sampling to improve the sample representative. Product type can also be included into the research model in future studies to consider the different product features how to influence the effects of environmental advertising claims and eco-labels on the consumers’ attitudes and behavior decision.

The purpose of the article is to evaluate the factors that affect the degree of environmental accounting information disclosure. Data are collected from 87 industry companies listed on the Vietnamese stock market from 2009 to 2019. I focus on the effect of factors such as the Firm size, Profitability, Leverage, Firm age, and Independent auditors. To explain the causal relationship between factors, I construct the regression model and then test it by using different statistical method approaches, including the pooled OLS, the fixed effects model, and the random effects model. Then I conduct testing of model defects: White Test, Wooldridge Test, Hausman Test, and Wald Test. The Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) method is used to analyze the image factors that affect environmental accounting information disclosure. The results show that the extent of environmental accounting information disclosure is influenced by factors: firm size, uptime and independent audit. These factors positively affect the level of environmental accounting information disclosure; independent audit has the greatest influence. Based on the research results, the author gives recommendations to improve the disclosure of environmental accounting information for industrial enterprises listed on the Vietnamese stock market, increasing the competitiveness of the public company in terms of global integration.

Environmental pollution and climate change in Vietnam are now becoming a major concern. This situation is increasing the pressure on the companies to improve their social responsibility in production and business activities and disclose the environmental information to meet the requirements of stakeholders. This study investigates the internal and external factors of the company that affects the environmental information disclosure of listed companies on the Vietnam stock market as business sector, firm size, corporate manager perceptions, profitability, financial leverage, community pressure, pressures from stakeholders, government pressure influencing environmental information disclosure. Analytical data collected through the survey of 120 listed companies on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE). By testing Cronbach's Alpha, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and logistic regression analysis, the results of the study show that the level of environmental information disclosure of listed companies on the stock market in Vietnam depends heavily on government regulations, followed by the pressure from stakeholders, community pressure, views of business managers, companies size, business sector, and particularly profitability and financial leverage factors that have a negative relationship with environmental information disclosure.

Few prior studies investigated the correlation between corporate ownership structure and environmental information disclosure. Using environmental index disclosure in GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) reports of the Korean companies, the study examines the effects of ownership structure on the magnitude of environmental information disclosure. A total of 220 firm-years during 2013-2016 period are analyzed. The empirical results of the study indicate that the institutional and foreign investors’ ownership have positive correlations with environmental information disclosure, while the executives' within board of directors has a negative correlation. The ownership by largest shareholders including those with special interests shows no significant relationship with the environmental information disclosure.