IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v137y2016i1d10.1007_s10551-015-2546-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CSR-Washing is Rare: A Conceptual Framework, Literature Review, and Critique

Author

Listed:
  • Shawn Pope

    (Stanford University)

  • Arild Wæraas

    (Norwegian University of Life Sciences)

Abstract

Growth in CSR-washing claims in recent decades has been dramatic in numerous academic and activist contexts. The discourse, however, has been fragmented, and still lacks an integrated framework of the conditions necessary for successful CSR-washing. Theorizing successful CSR-washing as the joint occurrence of five conditions, this paper undertakes a literature review of the empirical evidence for and against each condition. The literature review finds that many of the conditions are either highly contingent, rendering CSR-washing as a complex and fragile outcome. This finding runs counter to the dominant perception in the general public, among activists, and among a vocal contingent of academics that successful CSR-washing is rampant.

Suggested Citation

  • Shawn Pope & Arild Wæraas, 2016. "CSR-Washing is Rare: A Conceptual Framework, Literature Review, and Critique," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 173-193, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:137:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2546-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2546-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-015-2546-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-015-2546-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric W. Welch & Allan Mazur & Stuart Bretschneider, 2000. "Voluntary behavior by electric utilities: Levels of adoption and contribution of the climate challenge program to the reduction of carbon dioxide," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(3), pages 407-425.
    2. Werther, William Jr. & Chandler, David, 2005. "Strategic corporate social responsibility as global brand insurance," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 317-324.
    3. Eric W. Welch & Yasuhumi Mori & Midori Aoyagi‐Usui, 2002. "Voluntary adoption of ISO 14001 in Japan: mechanisms, stages and effects," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 43-62, January.
    4. Thomas Lyon & A. Montgomery, 2013. "Tweetjacked: The Impact of Social Media on Corporate Greenwash," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(4), pages 747-757, December.
    5. Behnam, Michael & MacLean, Tammy L., 2011. "Where Is the Accountability in International Accountability Standards?: A Decoupling Perspective," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(1), pages 45-72, January.
    6. Stewart Jones & Geoff Frost & Janice Loftus & Sandra Laan, 2007. "An Empirical Examination of the Market Returns and Financial Performance of Entities Engaged in Sustainability Reporting," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 17(41), pages 78-87, March.
    7. Magali Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2004. "Stakeholders and environmental management practices: an institutional framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 209-222, July.
    8. Luciano Barin Cruz & Dirk Boehe, 2010. "How do Leading Retail MNCs Leverage CSR Globally? Insights from Brazil," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 243-263, February.
    9. Bindu Arya & Gaiyan Zhang, 2009. "Institutional Reforms and Investor Reactions to CSR Announcements: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(7), pages 1089-1112, November.
    10. Stephen Brammer & Andrew Millington, 2008. "Does it pay to be different? An analysis of the relationship between corporate social and financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(12), pages 1325-1343, December.
    11. Joëlle Vanhamme & Bas Grobben, 2009. "“Too Good to be True!”. The Effectiveness of CSR History in Countering Negative Publicity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(2), pages 273-283, April.
    12. Adaeze Okoye, 2009. "Theorising Corporate Social Responsibility as an Essentially Contested Concept: Is a Definition Necessary?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 613-627, November.
    13. Gordon L Clark & Tessa Hebb, 2005. "Why Should They Care? The Role of Institutional Investors in the Market for Corporate Global Responsibility," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(11), pages 2015-2031, November.
    14. Ans Kolk & David Levy & Jonatan Pinkse, 2008. "Corporate Responses in an Emerging Climate Regime: The Institutionalization and Commensuration of Carbon Disclosure," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 719-745.
    15. Sylvie Berthelot & Michel Coulmont & Vanessa Serret, 2012. "Do Investors Value Sustainability Reports? A Canadian Study," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(6), pages 355-363, November.
    16. J. Vanhamme & B. Grobben, 2009. "Too good to be true ! : the effectiveness of CSR History in Countering Negative Publicity," Post-Print hal-00581630, HAL.
    17. Wagner, Marcus, 2010. "The role of corporate sustainability performance for economic performance: A firm-level analysis of moderation effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1553-1560, May.
    18. Alexander Dahlsrud, 2008. "How corporate social responsibility is defined: an analysis of 37 definitions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, January.
    19. Hannu Schadewitz & Mikael Niskala, 2010. "Communication via responsibility reporting and its effect on firm value in Finland," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 96-106, March.
    20. Jay Janney & Greg Dess & Victor Forlani, 2009. "Glass Houses? Market Reactions to Firms Joining the UN Global Compact," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 407-423, December.
    21. Stephen J. Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2006. "Corporate Reputation and Social Performance: The Importance of Fit," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 435-455, May.
    22. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4687 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Alan Pomering & Sara Dolnicar, 2009. "Assessing the Prerequisite of Successful CSR Implementation: Are Consumers Aware of CSR Initiatives?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(2), pages 285-301, April.
    24. Sylvie Berthelot & Michel Coulmont & Vanessa Serret, 2012. "Do Investors Value Sustainability Reports? A Canadian Study," Post-Print hal-02417765, HAL.
    25. Thomas P. Lyon & John W. Maxwell, 2011. "Greenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure under Threat of Audit," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 3-41, March.
    26. Aravind, Deepa & Christmann, Petra, 2011. "Decoupling of Standard Implementation from Certification: Does Quality of ISO 14001 Implementation Affect Facilities’ Environmental Performance?," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(1), pages 73-102, January.
    27. Peter Dobers & Delyse Springett, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility: discourse, narratives and communication," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 63-69, March.
    28. Jennifer Howard & Jennifer Nash & John Ehrenfeld, 1999. "Industry codes as agents of change: responsible care adoption by US chemical companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(5), pages 281-295, September.
    29. AfDB AfDB, . "Annual Report 2012," Annual Report, African Development Bank, number 461.
    30. Scholtens, Bert & Dam, Lammertjan, 2007. "Banking on the Equator. Are Banks that Adopted the Equator Principles Different from Non-Adopters?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1307-1328, August.
    31. Gilbert, Dirk Ulrich & Rasche, Andreas & Waddock, Sandra, 2011. "Accountability in a Global Economy: The Emergence of International Accountability Standards," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(1), pages 23-44, January.
    32. Olivier Boiral, 2007. "Corporate Greening Through ISO 14001: A Rational Myth?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 127-146, February.
    33. van Doorn, Jenny & Verhoef, Peter C., 2011. "Willingness to pay for organic products: Differences between virtue and vice foods," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 167-180.
    34. Jose M. Moneva & Eduardo Ortas, 2008. "Are stock markets influenced by sustainability matter? Evidence from European companies," International Journal of Sustainable Economy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(1), pages 1-16.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ioannis Oikonomou & Chris Brooks & Stephen Pavelin, 2014. "The Financial Effects of Uniform and Mixed Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(6), pages 898-925, September.
    2. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Elisa Aracil, 2017. "European Banks' Reputation for Corporate Social Responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(1), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Gonzalo Maldonado-Guzmán & Sandra Yesenia Pinzón-Castro & Cid Leana Morales, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Reputation in Mexican Small Business," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 7(5), pages 1-3.
    4. Carmelo Reverte, 2016. "Corporate social responsibility disclosure and market valuation: evidence from Spanish listed firms," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 411-435, March.
    5. Orhan Akisik & Graham Gal, 2014. "Financial performance and reviews of corporate social responsibility reports," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 25(3), pages 259-288, December.
    6. Waymond Rodgers & Mouza Al Habsi & George Gamble, 2019. "Sustainability and Firm Performance: A Review and Analysis Using Algorithmic Pathways in the Throughput Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-27, July.
    7. Maria del Mar Miralles‐Quiros & Jose Luis Miralles‐Quiros & Irene Guia Arraiano, 2017. "Are Firms that Contribute to Sustainable Development Valued by Investors?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(1), pages 71-84, January.
    8. Max Goettsche & Tobias Steindl & Simon Gietl, 2016. "Do Customers Affect the Value Relevance of Sustainability Reporting? Empirical Evidence on Stakeholder Interdependence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 149-164, March.
    9. Eduardo Duque‐Grisales & Javier Aguilera‐Caracuel & Jaime Guerrero‐Villegas & Encarnación García‐Sánchez, 2020. "Does green innovation affect the financial performance of Multilatinas? The moderating role of ISO 14001 and R&D investment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3286-3302, December.
    10. Silvia Ayuso & Mercè Roca & Jorge A. Arevalo & Deepa Aravind, 2016. "What Determines Principle-Based Standards Implementation? Reporting on Global Compact Adoption in Spanish Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 553-565, February.
    11. Theophilos P. Michailides & Michael G. Lipsett, 2013. "Surveying Employee Attitudes on Corporate Social Responsibility at the Frontline Level of an Energy Transportation Company," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(5), pages 296-320, September.
    12. Tiago Melo & Alvaro Garrido‐Morgado, 2012. "Corporate Reputation: A Combination of Social Responsibility and Industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 11-31, January.
    13. Laurence Vigneau & Michael Humphreys & Jeremy Moon, 2015. "How Do Firms Comply with International Sustainability Standards? Processes and Consequences of Adopting the Global Reporting Initiative," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 469-486, October.
    14. Claudia Poser & Edeltraud Guenther & Marc Orlitzky, 2012. "Shades of green: using computer-aided qualitative data analysis to explore different aspects of corporate environmental performance," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 413-450, January.
    15. Lucia Gatti & Peter Seele & Lars Rademacher, 2019. "Grey zone in – greenwash out. A review of greenwashing research and implications for the voluntary-mandatory transition of CSR," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Varsha Singh & Sakshi Kathuria & Deepika Puri & Bharat Kapoor, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and behavioral intentions: A mediating mechanism of Brand Recognition," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1698-1711, July.
    17. Lorenzo Dal Maso & Giovanni Liberatore & Francesco Mazzi, 2017. "Value Relevance of Stakeholder Engagement: The Influence of National Culture," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(1), pages 44-56, January.
    18. Su, Lujun & Gong, Qi & Huang, Yinghua, 2020. "How do destination social responsibility strategies affect tourists’ intention to visit? An attribution theory perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    19. Isabel Lourenço & Jeffrey Callen & Manuel Branco & José Curto, 2014. "The Value Relevance of Reputation for Sustainability Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 17-28, January.
    20. Piotr Bolibok, 2021. "The Impact of Social Responsibility Performance on the Value Relevance of Financial Data in the Banking Sector: Evidence from Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:137:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2546-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.