Greenwashing

A manipulation technique based on suggesting to the audience or target group that an entity performs pro-environmental actions, which in reality were not performed or were performed to a lesser extent than suggested in the message.

Greenwashing includes messages of varying harmfulness: from changing a brand's logo to green to suggesting that its activities are environmentally friendly, to informing customers about large-scale activities that have never been completed.

A form of greenwashing is also suggesting large-scale actions and not telling what percentage of the brand's supply chain they cover. For example: "We recycled as many as 1,000 units of product X!" That doesn't impact a company that produces millions of products a day. Such a message only gives the impression that the company is acting pro-environmentally when it has not made any effort to change its way of operating.

Some greenwashing may be due to a lack of education; for example – it does not have to be a deliberate effort to mislead the user. When communicating pro-environmental actions, it is essential to follow green communication guidelines so that only messages consistent with the current situation are made available, and information is not manipulated to mislead the audience.