Going Green And Greenwashing And How That Affects Corporate Social Responsibility

To a regular person, the global concern about ‘going green’ might appear as a result of speculation from nervous politicians and alarmed citizens. But the reality is totally different. In recent years, businesses have gained much knowledge about the impact of their activities on environment and in turns their customers. Businesses are successively venturing to earn greater revenues. In this process, they are trying out every best possibility to entice their contributors- from customers to investors. Regardless to say, stakeholders these days are more socially responsible than ever. So to keep up to their expectations, businesses are also trying to expand or limit their activities to save the environment- from doing relentless research on lowering waste to lean management and even trying out various eco-friendly activities. Despite of all these, the ultimate question remains unanswered if it is financially beneficial to adapt those initiatives that is going to serve the

As we can see , environmental challenges in recent years have increased the trend of “going green” in businesses like never before. There are two main factors that are currently pushing toward environmental-friendly business practices, harsher international and local regulations, and the high fluctuations of fossil-fuel prices.

The grave, yet subtle, danger that large corporations put the world in is one that not many companies are committed to fixing. Large companies use substantial amounts of water, energy, fossil fuels, etc. and have almost depleted important resources. The Target Corporation has worked tirelessly to improve their environmental standings and therefore, increase the overall well-being of the world. Target, the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, with Walmart being the largest, has set goals year after year to change their consumption habits and increase their environmental sustainability. While Target has many environmentally friendly products and practices, the company has also committed some infractions, making many skeptical

In a world focused on climate change and sustainable development, it is apparent that people have become more interested in the environmentally related behavior of corporations and have increased their demand for “green” products. In response to this growing demand, numerous corporations have shifted towards being more sustainable and have made several green marketing claims. While some of these companies are actually carrying out robust sustainability practices, most companies’ practices do not match up to the image they convey to the public and are guilty of greenwashing. The term greenwashing is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image." Advertising plays a major role in shaping consumer behavior and companies guilty of greenwashing are educating consumers with false or distorted information. This is significant because the general population’s desire to purchase products that are environmentally friendly is being hampered by the current cloud of greenwashing allegations, making it increasingly difficult for consumers to distinguish fact from fiction. Although the upward trend in green consumerism has affected several industries, it has had a noteworthy impact on the automotive industry, which has experienced a recent increase in the development of environmentally friendly options such as

In today’s business world, sustainability can make all the difference in the world. According to Tomson (2015), “sustainability has become an economic and strategic imperative with the potential to create opportunities and risks for businesses by creating new customer relationships, and inspiring new products and business models that drive growth. Consequently, companies that are, or aspire to be, leaders in sustainability are often challenged by rising public expectations, increasing technological innovation, continuous quality improvement, effective governance measures, high standards of ethics and integrity, and heightened social and environmental challenges” (p.1).

The conduct or the operation of any business anywhere in the world brings with it a number of environmental concerns. These range from the emission of harmful gases, such as carbon (VI) oxide, into the environment and contributions to the depletion of the ozone layer, thus furthering global warming. It is however impossible to exist in this modern world without industries and business, as many would be unemployed and further lack various necessities due to a lack of industries and businesses (Forbes, 2011). Therefore, sustainability should be considered with regard for the environment in that actions should not adversely affect the environment to the extent that future generations will find it unlivable . Many of the leading organizations

Dissertation Title: Green Marketing or Greenwashing: a critical review of organisational attitudes towards promotion of their environmental initiatives

It is no mystery that companies exist and desire to make a profit from their product or service being offered. However, it is becoming increasing popular that companies desire to achieve social responsibility in order to increase their public image, which in turn should lead to increased profits. In this class, we learned that social responsibility is the duty to take an action that will benefit the interests of society and the organization (Kinicki & Williams 2011). One of the ways to become more socially responsible that is adopted by many companies is through green management, which is referred to using various policies to reduce environmental problems (Tim Barnett, n.d.). More and more

In the text, the issue of greenwashing was addressed and its impact on consumer purchase decisions and on the sustainability market. Greenswashing can be described as “the practice of overemphasising a company 's environmental credentials, often by misinforming the public or understating potentially harmful activities” (Doyle 2011). The practice of greenwashing has led to consumers being more sceptical of products marketed as ‘green’ or ‘environmentally friendly’. This scepticism may result in consumers avoiding sustainable products for fear that the ‘green’ labelling may indicate an inferior product using promises of sustainable resources and production to increase its prices (Rettie Burchell & Riley 2012, p. 422).

To be environmentally responsible a corporation must bring the environment impact of each decision into the decision making process. They must weigh the pros and cons of the way that a decision of the organization could impact the environment now and in the future. A key factor of being a responsible corporation means to act on issues before they are a requirement from the government, in other words it means to be proactive. Being environmentally responsible means to put profitability or returns on their investments on the sidelines and focusing fully on what decisions are best for the environment. Corporations that decide to join this journey are focused on

With the global warming and climate change posing imminent threat to the world, companies are now taking measures to reduce the negative impact to the environment caused by their organization. This may include reducing carbon footprint, finding renewable energy sources, and having policies to reduce pollution (Nyfeler, 2013).

Businesses are facing increasing pressures – from both internal and external stakeholders – to be accountable and transparent, and to disclose the social, environmental and economic impacts of their activities through sustainability reporting (Klettner, Clarke & Boersma 2014; Soderstrom 2013). Accordingly, there has been an increase in organisations’ claiming their voluntary commitment to the international standards and frameworks for corporate sustainability – namely, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)’s sustainability reporting guidelines (Klettner, Clarke & Boersma 2014; Milne & Gray 2013). According to Benn, Dunphy & Griffiths’ (2014) sustainability phase model, this demonstrates a shift

The last sin identified by the TerraChoice research is “the sin of fibbing.” This involves making false claims about the environmental friendliness of a product or company. It is whereby companies provide false information concerning their environmental efforts or the environmental impacts of their products. In their paper, Bansal & Roth (2000) report that it is very unlikely for companies to participate in this type of green washing. This is because it is quite easy to be discovered when the information provided has no substance.

In today’s world in which consumer purchasing is continually growing, sustainability matters more than ever. At the same time sustainability marketing remains a phenomenon for consumers and brands alike. Consumers have gained awareness and visibility on sustainability topics and issues such as global warming, pollution, water, the rainforest and depletion of the earth’s natural resources. Brands too are also aware of their perpetually growing impact on the environment driven by needing to meet the increasing demand for new products at a faster pace. While brands are aware they need to continue to reduce their environmental footprints, there are currently very few that are adequately adopting Green Marketing or sustainability strategies. Consumers on the other hand are aware that their purchasing affects the environment but are still not choosing to purchase more sustainable products. In many cases it is not the consumer’s fault they are not purchasing greener products, more so the responsibility belongs to the brands many of which have yet to adopt a good sustainable marketing strategy that works in meeting consumer needs on a product and emotional level.

The purpose is to protect the ecosystem, human well-being, welfare of consumers,and the quality of life (Gheorghiu, Nancu, & Alexandra, 2015)