Sustainability certifiers: Diversification, perceived trustworthiness, and performance Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

This dissertation consists of two papers related to the perceived trustworthiness of certifiers.

Certifiers are information intermediaries that define quality standards and ensure offerings within

their domain meet them. In doing so, they play a pivotal role in shaping markets and industries.

Sustainability certifiers, in particular, have an ever-increasing impact due to growing awareness

of the social and environmental risks organizations face. The first paper details the development

and validation of a new measure for the perceived trustworthiness of certifiers. Certifier

trustworthiness is developed as a construct based on seminal research on interpersonal

trustworthiness. The final certifier trustworthiness scale (CTS) consists of three dimensions:

perceived ability, integrity, and authenticity. The validation of the CTS provides an invaluable

tool for researchers to delve into the intricate ways audiences evaluate and establish trust in these

unique organizations. The second paper develops and tests the theory that diversified

sustainability certifiers are perceived as less trustworthy across all three certifier trustworthiness

dimensions compared to their specialized counterparts, contributing to a diversification discount

for certifiers. This paper uses a multi-method research approach pairing experimental and

archival evidence to test the hypotheses. The findings support that specialist sustainability

certifiers outperform unrelatedly diversified sustainability certifiers and that perceived

trustworthiness mediates the relationship between certifier specialization and financial

performance. Further, the experimental evidence supports the hypotheses that product category

diversification negatively affects the three certifier trustworthiness dimensions - perceived

ability, integrity, and authenticity—leading to decreased appeal and, ultimately, reduced

performance.

Keywords: sustainability certifiers, trustworthiness, authenticity, diversification

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................ 3

CERTIFYING ORGANIZATIONS: DIVERSIFICATION, PERCEIVED TRUSTWORTHINESS, AND PERFORMANCE ............. 4

PAPER 1: THE CERTIFIER TRUSTWORTHINESS SCALE ............................................................................................................. 7

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................................... 7

VALIDATION STRATEGY ................................................................................................................................................ 11

Conceptualization .............................................................................................................................................. 11

Scale Development ............................................................................................................................................ 17

Content Validity ................................................................................................................................................. 18

SCALE EVALUATION AND REFINEMENT ............................................................................................................................ 22

Pretest ............................................................................................................................................................... 22

Final Test ........................................................................................................................................................... 28

DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................................... 36

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS ........................................................................................................................... 38

PAPER 1 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................................. 39

TABLE 12: CTS DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR NORM DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................... 50

PAPER 2: SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFIER DIVERSIFICATION: EFFECTS ON PERCEIVED TRUSTWORTHINESS AND PERFORMANCE .................. 61

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................... 61

Certifier Diversification and Performance ......................................................................................................... 61

Certifier Diversification and Perceived Trustworthiness .................................................................................... 64

Perceived Trustworthiness as a Mediator ......................................................................................................... 67

CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFIERS ......................................................................................................................... 68

DATA AND METHODS .................................................................................................................................................. 69

Study 1 – Experiment, Mechanism of Perceived Trustworthiness ..................................................................... 69

Study 2a – Survey, Identifying Unrelated Diversification .................................................................................. 76

Study 2b – Observational, Ecolabels .................................................................................................................. 80

DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................................... 92

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS ........................................................................................................................... 94

CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................................................. 96

PAPER 2 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................................. 97

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Business
Subfield / Discipline	Organization & Management
Degree	Ph.D.
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Sociology, Organization Theory Business Administration, Management
Mot-clé	diversification sustainability authenticity trustworthiness certifiers
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Giacomo Negro, Ph.D., Emory University
Committee Members	Andrea Dittmann, Ph.D., USC Marshall School of Business Özgecan Koçak, Ph.D., Emory University Weihua An, Ph.D., Emory University

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