CSR and Greenwashing: A Matter of Perception in the Search of Legitimacy

Abstract

In recent decades, corporate communication has undergone significant changes in terms of channel, content and receivers. To be accountable, companies are called upon to satisfy a plurality of stakeholders who are increasingly interested in non-financial information. In addition, the type and scope of information can significantly influence the competitive advantage of the company and especially, its credibility and reputation. Today, companies are required to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to give response to the call for action from their stakeholders and society. However, some companies engage in CSR initiatives with the aim of only achieving or increasing their level of legitimacy. When companies offer misleading communication and then try to influence the perceptions of their stakeholders, they incur the phenomenon known in literature as “greenwashing”. Thus, the aim of this work is to analyse the phenomenon of greenwashing, tracing its evolution in the extant literature. Greenwashing will then be analysed through the lens of the legitimacy theory and starting from Habermas’s communication theory to define and broaden the relationships between the concepts of disclosure, credibility, legitimacy, perception and greenwashing.

An algorithmic historiography of biodiversity accounting literature

“…3. The term was coined in 1986 by environmentalist Jay Westerveld to stigmatise the practice of hotel chains that used the environmental impact of laundry washing to invite guests to reduce their towel consumption, when in fact this invitation was mainly economically motivated (Balluchi et al, 2020;Jauernig and Vladislav, 2019).…”

Do environmental scores become multinational corporations' strategic “greenwashing” tool for window‐dressing carbon reduction? A cross‐cultural analysis

“…In attention–deflection greenwashing, companies normally choose to disclose selected information (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015) or uncertain information, which includes disclosing positive information and concealing negative one (Torelli et al, 2020) or exaggerating their environmental practices (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). In doing so, companies' environmental faults can be hidden, and competitiveness can be promoted (Balluchi et al, 2020). Clarkson et al (2008) argued that companies have widely adopted this information disclosure as a “signal” to respond to stakeholders' concerns.…”

ESG Implications: Examining the Impact of Security Analysts' Coverage on Corporate Greenwashing Practices

“…Santos et al (2023) highlight the negative effect of greenwashing on corporate reputation, emphasizing its role in generating brand hate. It can be particularly damaging when companies engage solely in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to achieve legitimacy (Balluchi et al, 2020). Greenwashing is not solely about strategic intention but also about stakeholders' perceptions and can be in uenced by external accusations (Seele & Gatti, 2017).…”