GREENWASHING AS A THREAT FOR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Contemporary companies are looking for methods to differentiate themselves from the competitors and meet stakeholders expectations. These expectations are going now in the direction of doing business in a fair, transparent and socially responsible manner. It does not guarantee success in the market, however, research shows that socially-operating companies, are performing better than others. More and more companies declare that they act in accordance with CSR assumptions. Using the concept of socially responsible business, they use public sensitivity on issues such as health, environment, climate change and sustainable development. Most of them really care about the problem and offer green products/services but some of the companies deliver goods and services in the cheapest possible way, despite the environmental impact. The companies which spend more money to appear environmentally responsible than to be environmentally responsible are not social responsible and their operations can be defined as greenwashing. This kind of practices can cause distrust to corporate initiatives oriented to social responsibility. The paper deals with a problem of greenwashing practices. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the reasons for greenwashing popularity and recommendation of methods which can be helpful in preventing and limiting this kind of unethical practices.