Corporate social responsibility and greenwash Flashcards
1
Q
What is Corporate Social Responsibility?
A
- Corporations need social legitimacy and support to survive
- Need positive relationship w society
- Aim to give impression the key goal isn’t profit
- Triple Bottom Line Accounting- People, planet, profit
2
Q
What are the motivations for corps to care about the enviro?
A
- Company morale- improves perception of management to workers
- Consumer tastes- appealng to green consumerism
- Good publicity
- Avoiding and managing regulations- volunteer vs enforced regs
- Savings- Walmart with solar
3
Q
Do corps actually care?
A
Only about 5% actual enviro innovators
4
Q
What is green consumerism?
A
- Being aware of all products consumed/ purchased
* “Vote with their wallets”
5
Q
What does green consumerism need to work?
A
- Society to believe crisis is real and urgent
- Affordable alternatives
- Green products must confer esteem
- Must be proof it leads to action
- Structural changes must occur
6
Q
What is greenwash?
A
• Manipulative ad strategy- suggesting corporation is eco friendly when it isn’t
7
Q
What are the tactics of greenwash?
A
Propaganda
Labeling- idea/ group labeled in a way that compels people to reject it
Generalising- associating idea with positive term to make it approvable without evidence
8
Q
What are the main forms of greenwash?
A
- Green by association- subliminal images associated w green enviro
a. Cars add in nature - Reluctant enthusiast
a. Publically embracing regulations while rejecting behind scenes
b. Ie BP- “Beyond Petroleum”- promotes self as eco friendly - Worshipping false labels
a. 3rd party enviro cert that doesn’t mean anything - Red herring
a. Choose one aspect of product’s enviro profile to highlight - Lack of definition- “earth friendly”
- Irrelevance- free of something harmful that’s irrelevant
- Best in class
- Unproven claims
- Bait and switch- selling electric cars and then hummer
- Lying
