URSS Projects: Green Claims, Trade Marks and Consumer Trust

Co-supervisors:

• Dr Luminita Olteanu, Assistant Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Warwick Law School
• Dr Tim Mullett, Associate Professor – Reader, Behavioural Sciences Group, WBS

Greenwashing poses significant challenges to consumer protection and environmental sustainability, as businesses increasingly make misleading or unsubstantiated environmental claims to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has conducted extensive investigations into greenwashing practices across various sectors, including recent high-profile cases involving fashion retailers ASOS, Boohoo, and Asda, where the authority found evidence of potentially misleading environmental claims¹. The European consumer organisation BEUC has similarly highlighted persistent greenwashing issues within the airline industry².

The 3 URSS projects will research how legal and regulatory frameworks can be improved to address greenwashing through enhanced regulation of green claims in marketing, potential changes to trade mark registration processes in the UK, and the implementation of behavioural economics insights to prevent and combat greenwashing practices. The research will draw upon recent legislative developments including the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, existing trade mark law under the Trade Marks Act 1994, and emerging EU initiatives such as the proposed Directive on Green Claims³.

1. Benefit for students:

• Understanding greenwashing dangers, thus developing essential critical thinking skills, regulatory compliance knowledge, and consumer protection expertise, which is highly valued in legal, consulting, marketing, and corporate sustainability roles.
• Learning to navigate and utilise trade mark databases, building advanced legal research capabilities, data analysis skills, and familiarity with intellectual property systems, which are essential for careers in law, business and policy making.
• Hands-on experience in developing evidence-based policy proposals, which cultivates project management abilities, analytical thinking, cross-sector communication skills, and policy analysis expertise sought after in government, NGOs, consultancy, and corporate strategy positions.
• Receiving comprehensive feedback and customised guidance enhances students’ ability to incorporate constructive criticism, engage in continuous professional development, and adapt research approaches - core competencies for career progression in any field

2. This research programme aims:

• To establish students’ initial level of knowledge regarding greenwashing regulation in the UK and EU, and examine the role of behavioural sciences in promoting positive environmental change
• To support students in carrying out rigorous interdisciplinary and empirical research using appropriate methodological frameworks
• To assess students’ research strengths and identify areas for development through comprehensive evaluation
• To inform future research on employability skills development and curriculum design based on the insights and feedback gathered throughout this research programme

3. Research themes and accepted methods

The research programme has 3 themes:

1. Understanding registration patterns of green trade marks at the level of the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and/or how UK consumers perceive and interpret green trade marks
2. Understanding whether the purchasing behaviour of UK consumers is influenced by green claims and environmental marketing
3. Understanding whether a governmental certification scheme ensuring that green labels represent genuine environmental benefits would encourage more environmentally conscious shopping behaviour amongst UK consumers

The proposed projects are suitable for intermediate and final undergraduate students, who will conduct their research via one or more of the following methods:

1. Doctrinal research
2. Empirical legal research⁴:
   • Qualitative research in the form of a case study (e.g., company, industry sector, etc).
   • Quantitative research in the form of descriptive statistics analysis of trade mark registration patterns
   • Quantitative research in the form of consumer surveys or simulated shopping tasks run through the WBS online behavioural laboratory.

A comprehensive guidance document outlining the legal framework in the UK and EU, along with relevant international organisation guidance, will be made available to participating students. This will include an extensive bibliography featuring literature from leading intellectual property and consumer protection journals, covering topics such as trade mark law, behavioural economics, and greenwashing regulation. The document will incorporate key sources, including CMA guidance on environmental claims, UKIPO Trade Marks Manual provisions on environmental terms, EU trade mark regulation, and academic literature examining the intersection of intellectual property law and environmental protection. Additionally, detailed guidance on conducting experiments and online surveys will be provided to students who wish to frame their projects as empirical studies, including methodological support for on-campus research activities.

4. Selection of projects

Three (3) projects will be selected based on the originality of the research question and the clarity of the student’s final aims, assessed through individual meetings with potential supervisees.

5. Proposed research schedule

Meeting 1:

Focus on assessing knowledge of greenwashing regulation and specific legal and theoretical frameworks (DMCCA 2024, Trade Marks Act 1994, CMA guidance, behavioural science theories and their application)

Meeting 2:

Specific mention of UKIPO trade mark registry, CMA case files, and methodological approaches for consumer research or regulatory analysis

Meeting 3:

Practical guidance on accessing UKIPO databases, conducting consumer research, analysing CMA investigations, and applying behavioural economics to greenwashing studies

Meeting 4:

Evaluation focused on legal analysis, empirical methodology, and policy recommendations specific to greenwashing