The Influence of Greenwashing Methods on the Behavior of Environmentally Conscious Employees

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to improve the conversation regarding greenwashing by employing a business model perspective. We argue that the business model literature has the potential to significantly improve current interpretations of greenwashing by linking talk-action discrepancies to the foundational company structure. Firms that intentionally disrupt the congruence between their commitments to stakeholders (i.e., the value proposition) and other components of their business models are referred to as “greenwashing.” Furthermore, we contend that the concept of greenwashing has the potential to improve the business model literature by emphasizing businesses that have defective business structures and fail to deliver on the value propositions they claim to offer their stakeholders. This study has the potential to influence future research on the relationship between greenwashing and deficient business architectures, as well as on the ways in which firms can enhance their stakeholder interactions by modifying their business models