Greenwashing and CSR Disclosure of Sustainability in Controversial Industries

Dear Colleagues,

Although CSR communication has been considered as a strategic means to build and strengthen reputational capital and social legitimacy, it is not necessarily indicative of an effective commitment to CSR. In fact, in recent years, due to corporate scandals for unethical practices, CSR communication has been accused of being manipulative and insincere, superficial, or merely “corporate spin” without any real connection with concrete actions. The term used to describe this discrepancy between “talk” and “action” is greenwashing—namely, cosmetic and deceptive communication. There are several possible reasons for this emerging trend, such as the increasing pressure on companies from different stakeholder groups, and the potential benefits that can be gained by a company in terms of financial performance and reputational capital. All of these encourage companies to present themselves as sustainable entities, despite not being “green” firms.

Despite the considerable amount of literature analysing greenwashing practices which has brought out different types of this phenomenon (decoupling, attention deflection, and deceptive manipulation), there are several aspects that deserve further consideration. In particular, limited studies have investigated the link between greenwashing actions and the business activities of organizations. Indeed, it is widely acknowledged that the need to communicate CSR activities is even stronger for companies in controversial industry sectors, namely, organizations whose social and/or environmental behaviour is considered doubtful and unethical and, thus, often exposed to public debate (energy, transport, pharmaceutical industries, banks and financial services, etc.). Thus, these companies may be more prone to committing greenwashing practices to capitalize on the potential benefits of a “green” image. Alternatively, firms could be involved in greenwashing accusations due to poor management or communication practice (nonintentional greenwashing).

The purpose of this Special Issue is to investigate signs of greenwashing in the CSR disclosure of organizations engaging in different business activities, with a specific focus on controversial industries. Therefore, authors are invited to submit both theoretical and empirical evidence covering a wide range of critical perspectives related to the phenomenon of greenwashing.

In detail, selected topics will include but not be limited to:

• Comparative analysis of the link between the business sector and greenwashing practices;
• Controversial firms’ greenwashing practices and their effect on corporate image and reputation;
• Perception of different stakeholders on greenwashing practices;
• Theoretical approaches (neoinstitutionalism; legitimacy theory; signalling theory; impression management; communicative constitution of organization) underpinning greenwashing;
• Link between greenwashing, ethical business decision-making, and sustainable development;
• Signals of greenwashing in CSR communication on corporate websites or social media;
• Perceptions of sustainability messages and corporate greenwashing;
• Measuring and assessment tools of greenwashing actions;
• The impact of greenwashing on firms’ performance;
• The role of corporate governance on monitoring the credibility of CSR disclosure;
• Greenwashing practices of firms included in sustainability indices and/or rankings;
• Greenwashing and consumer behaviour.

Dr. Francesca Conte
Dr. Agostino Vollero
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• greenwashing
• green marketing
• controversial industries
• CSR communication
• sustainable marketing
• symbolic communication
• corporate reputation.