Recent research supports that a person's self-reported explicit attitude is not necessarily consistent with their implicit attitude. However, in sustainability research, implicit cognitive measures are still at their early stages, and consider primarily singular aspects of sustainability. Here, we pose that the degree of congruence of individuals' implicit and explicit attitudes represents the foundation of any organization's sustainability culture. Although many organizations assert that sustainable development represents an important dimension of their vision and strategy, in reality, sustainable development often translates simply into explicit self-presentation and reputation. Traditional methods such as surveys lack information on implicit measures and-since they collect data based solely on the explicit knowledge of the respondents, which may be biased by social desirability and impression management-can therefore not determine the degree of congruence between explicit and implicit attitudes. We implemented a browser-based application of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) regarding sustainability as a reaction time-based cognitive measure supported by an interactive and activating process that was completed by 114 executives. Additionally, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted among them to investigate their explicit attitudes. We calculated Pearson correlation coefficients and conducted repeated measures MANOVA and principle component analysis. Our data analysis demonstrated low congruence between explicit and implicit sustainability orientations (Pearson's r ranging from - 0.10 to 0.31). Potential explanations for our findings relate to the effects of impression management and individuals' lack of cognitive processing of their own sustainability orientation. In sum, exploring the potential incongruence between explicit and implicit sustainability orientations helps narrow an important knowledge gap and provides a basis for rethinking the impact of internal and external learning processes within and between organizational systems, society, and science.
Keywords: Explicit and implicit attitudes; Greenwashing; Implicit association test (IAT); Implicit cognition; Sustainability awareness; Sustainable development goals (SDGs).