Chapter 2: Intersecting Paradigms: Reducing Greenwashing, Ensuring Sustainable Claims and Achieving Corporate Transparency

In the increasing competition in today’s dynamic scenario, the industry has seen many instances of deceptive promises by organizations where the organizations have overstated their eco-friendly capacities. This chapter attempts to unleash such greenwashing practices and assess the combination of advanced technologies, like big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence, to identify and reduce the greenwashing in the industry. This chapter also addresses the issues related to corporate transparency. In an effort to dive deeper into the field of study, this chapter reviews a number of research papers by following a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology grounded in the Theory, Context, Characteristics, Methodology (TCCM) framework. The study utilized the ‘Resource-based View’ for establishing the relationship desired and proposed in the conceptual model. It combines existing literature, synthesizes it systematically to provide a comprehensive understanding of the greenwashing practices and integration of cutting-edge technologies for unmasking it and ensuring corporate transparency. This chapter identifies research gaps and bridges them by recommending a conceptual model that suggests how the above technologies can be integrated into a comprehensive strategy for detecting greenwashing and verifying the sustainable claims for improved customer trust. The findings also identify the substantial challenges in widespread implementation of these technological advancements and encourage the organizations to adopt real green practices and improve their brand image effectively. The valuable insights gained through this study assist the academicians, researchers, policymakers and industry professionals to enhance their competencies and credibility by adopting sustainable practices and ensuring corporate transparency to a great extent.