The greenhushing communication dilemma: Consumer interpretations of promotional skepticism and signal invisibility

Abstract

The growing concern over greenwashing has led some organizations to deliberately reduce the communication of their sustainability initiatives, a phenomenon known as greenhushing. Although recent research has examined its consumer consequences, less is known about how consumers navigate the tension between skepticism toward sustainability promotion and limited awareness of credible sustainability practices. Drawing on Signaling Theory, this study explores consumer interpretations of greenhushing in a certified B Corp company. A qualitative exploratory design was adopted, combining an in-depth interview with the company’s founder and semi-structured interviews with 46 consumers. Data were analyzed using abductive thematic analysis complemented by concept co-occurrence analysis. The findings reveal a greenhushing communication dilemma: while promotional sustainability claims may trigger skepticism about firms’ motives, excessive communication restraint can make credible sustainability signals invisible to consumers. B Corp certification emerged as an important third-party validation signal, although its influence depended on consumers becoming aware of it and assigning relevance to sustainability. The study contributes to marketing communications literature by distinguishing between signal credibility, visibility, and relevance, showing that effective sustainability communication requires credible signals to be sufficiently observable without triggering promotional skepticism.