IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/espost/341150.html

Stakeholder washing: Theorizing symbolic stakeholder engagement

Author

Listed:
  • Santos Jhunior, Ronaldo de Oliveira
  • Góes, Helna Almeida de Araujo
  • Valentinov, Vladislav

Abstract

Stakeholder engagement is increasingly institutionalized as a marker of responsible governance, yet organizations can also mobilize this engagement to appear responsive while preserving managerial control. This conceptual paper bridges stakeholder engagement with the corporate hypocrisy literature to explain how participatory arrangements can become a façade of participation. Following a problematization and synthesis approach to conceptual theorizing, we develop the concept of stakeholder washing, defined as the strategic misrepresentation of stakeholder engagement as more inclusive, consequential, or responsive than it actually is. We show stakeholder washing to be enacted through three mechanisms: symbolic inclusion, narrative capture, and strategic delay. These mechanisms are integrated into a diagnostic framework that clarifies boundary conditions between substantive engagement, aspirational gaps, and strategic washing. We suggest an institutional countermeasure logic linking each mechanism to design safeguards, advancing conceptual precision and offering an agenda for operationalization and empirical testing.

Suggested Citation

  • Santos Jhunior, Ronaldo de Oliveira & Góes, Helna Almeida de Araujo & Valentinov, Vladislav, 2026. "Stakeholder washing: Theorizing symbolic stakeholder engagement," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 215, pages 1-12.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:341150
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2026.116318
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/341150/1/Santos_Jhunior_2026_Stakeholder_washing.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2026.116318?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
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:zbw:espost:341150. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zbwkide.html .

    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.