Organizational Greenwashing and Work Engagement: Evidence From the Hospitality Industry

Current research on organizational greenwashing primarily focuses on its impact on customers, while its effects on employees—crucial internal stakeholders—remain underexplored. Drawing on Affective Event Theory, we investigate the relationship between organizational greenwashing and the work engagement of hospitality employees. Utilizing a 2‐week time‐lagged survey (Study 1, N = 324) and an online experiment (Study 2, N = 226), we provide corroborating evidence that greenwashing behaviors by hospitality firms lead to employees' contempt for the organization, which subsequently decreases their work engagement. Additionally, family motivation negatively moderates the relationship between contempt for the organization and work engagement, indicating that the negative impact of contempt on work engagement is attenuated when employees have a high level of family motivation. This research enhances the theoretical understanding of how organizational greenwashing affects employees' job‐related behaviors and offers practical implications for hospitality firms to prevent and manage greenwashing practices.