Environmental Labeling: An Analysis of the Past 22 Years of Research

Abstract

Environmental labeling is a valuable communication and marketing tool used to enlarge the visibility and disclosure of environmental attributes of products, processes, and services. Therefore, scientists worldwide are investigating the use of environmental labeling and its possible compliance with technical and economic standards. This paper has examined the scientific output on environmental labeling over the past twenty-two years, reviewing the literature in three scientific databases. A total of 1,246 articles indexed out of 580 magazines were retrieved. The USA contributed most publications on environmental labels. European countries, such as Italy and Sweden, discussed labeling in the food industry, transportation, and forest certification. Brazil is leading Latin America in publications, including the food industry and civil construction. Type I ISO labeling has been the most used, followed by a growing number of publications on Type III ISO labels in recent years. The results display a tendency in aquaculture and food applications in Europe and South America, exhibiting a panorama of advancing scientific and practical strength of environmental labeling in such areas. Finally, we recommend simple, step-by-step activities for consumers to obtain additional benefits by choosing more sustainable products based on the information available on environmental labels.

Keywords:

• Environmental label
• ecolabels
• marketing
• responsible consumption
• systematic review

Acknowledgments

The authors thanks to the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Capes (Finance Code 001), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—CNPq (313293/2014-7; 424824/2016-7; 302722/2019-0), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia—Fapesb (BOL0849/2016; PAM0017/2014; APP 052/2016), to supporting this research.