A conceptual framework for the greenwashing strategy research

Greenwashing arises from the companies’ need to address the trade-off between the increasing importance of environmental compliance and their real and supportable efforts toward this objective. This paper aims to contribute with a theoretical analysis of greenwashing strategy, starting from a design of its conceptual vision. Our contribution is the development of a conceptual framework, able to represent a solid background for future empirical testing of the research question arising from the analysis of greenwashing in a business economic perspective. In doing so, we adapted the most important theories belonging to socio-political perspectives (i.e., legitimacy and stakeholder theories) and those related to voluntary disclosure (signaling theory) to the greenwashing strategies. We aim to illustrate how corporate theories can support the role of corporate disclosure in greenwashing strategies and how these strategies may be applied through a (mis)use of disclosure. Furthermore, our path of analysis aims to seize the link between greenwashing strategies and the creation of economic and social value, enlightening possible future research areas.