What is greenwashing?

• The greenwashing It is a malpractice that we find in all areas and sectors
• Environmental commitment is a good resource for attracting customers, a fact that has motivated the use of "green washing"

what is the greenwashing

The environmental commitment is a good resource for attracting customers and, therefore, some organizations use advertising strategies based on environmental commitments that do not exist. We talk about cases of greenwashing or green wash.

In these situations, the information consumers receive is manipulated and misled into drawing the wrong conclusions about a company's ESG policies and actions.

The concept greenwashing was known socially as such in the 80s of the last century, by the hand of the researcher Jay Westerveld, and has evolved with new environmental concerns and problems.

Greenwashing global

Greenwashing is the subject of reports from environmental organizations and observatories around the world.

These reports include the analysis and use they make of these marketing strategies. greenwashing the large world industrial corporations, among others. In many cases, these large companies “sell” the commitment to zero net emissions when, in reality, said commitment is impossible with the very economic activity and exploitation that they carry out.

In any case, greenwashing has become a malpractice that we find in all spheres and sectors, including in governmental, institutional, social, and political environments.

Characteristics

Over the years and the casuistry analyzed, the greenwashing it is characterized by:

• They talk about a “green” product, instead of informing the consumer that the product has only a few sustainable features.
• Use of false information in any of the elements or formats of marketing.
• There is talk of sustainability without any certification or accreditation-
• Some labels contain ecological certifications that the brand does not hold.
• Information is manipulated, diverting consumer attention.

If every green initiative has a positive return for the organization, the greenwashing it can be a fatal danger to corporate reputations. Bad practices or lying to public opinion are currently a very worrying risk for companies.

In this sense, it should be noted that there are NGOs and other independent organizations that have focused their efforts on uncovering cases of greenwashing. And in turn, with the passage of time, consumers have a higher level of awareness and training in this regard.