 “More than words”: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandalAlfonso Siano, Agostino Vollero, Francesca Conte and Sara Amabile Journal of Business Research, 2017, vol. 71, issue C, 27-37 Abstract: This study explores a new type of greenwashing behaviour, through the lenses of the “communicative constitution of organizations” (CCO), which challenges the dominant view in corporate social responsibility (CSR) studies. A theory-building case study was carried out by analysing the Volkswagen scandal. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained via a content analysis of both 2012–2014 CSR reports of the Volkswagen Group and a sample of 1151 U.S. newspaper headlines concerning Dieselgate, together with semi-structured interviews with former managers from Volkswagen. From a theoretical perspective, the study extends the greenwashing taxonomy by identifying a new type of irresponsible behaviour, namely “deceptive manipulation”. This reinforces the CCO perspective according to which sustainability communication acts as a constitutive force. In terms of managerial implications, the study suggests some approaches to prevent this specific type of greenwashing. Keywords: Greenwashing; Corporate social responsibility; Communicative constitution of organizations; Volkswagen; Deceptive manipulation; Reputation damage (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:71:y:2017:i:c:p:27-37 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.11.002 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier |
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