Corporate greenwashing is getting harder to spot—here’s how to do it

Mounting public concern about climate change is a rich marketing opportunity. But it’s also a challenge, because the public is growing inured to the most spurious green claims and demanding more credibility and accountability from companies. As a result, greenwashing is becoming both more common and harder to spot.

It’s also more damaging than ever. Focus group research suggests that many greenwashed claims are effective at misleading consumers, especially when they provide just enough information or data to appear credible, but not enough for the target audience to truly evaluate them. A 2022 study by Austrian researchers, for example, found that prospective airline customers were more likely to be duped by an ad pitching credits to offset the carbon footprint of a flight (like the KLM ads below), than a more generic ad claiming the airline is getting greener. A little detail, in other words, goes a long way.

But the Austrian study also indicated that when customers did pick up on greenwashing, it took a serious toll on their trust in the brand. So businesses that greenwash, by design or by accident, are gambling their customers away. More importantly, as the impacts of climate change mount and time runs out to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, greenwashing conjures an illusion of progress that allows political and business leaders to rest on false laurels instead of undertaking substantive action.

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