With greenwashing as an increasingly prevalent issue, B Corps are differentiating themselves with verified sustainability commitments.
The global number of B Corps is climbing. Currently, there are 9,405 B Corps, which is up from 6,123 at the start of 2023—an astounding 54% increase in less than two years. The growth in B Corps is the market’s response to the rising demand for do-good companies from consumers. But with this trend comes greenwashing. As businesses compete for consumers’ trust, they market their products with buzzwords like “eco-friendly” and “net-zero”—often without actions to back these claims up. Environmental imagery is a convincing marketing tool that can be easily manipulated. The B Corp certification is robust and reliable, reassuring consumers that their purchases truly are contributing to a more ethical economy. B Lab is filling a demand for transparency in a world that is inundated by vague sustainability claims.
Greenwashing is deceptive communication that convinces people that an organization is performing better environmentally than it actually is. Green claims are multiplying as companies race to stand out as the ethical pick against their competitors. Many oil and gas giants exemplify how companies use green imagery to sell an ethical brand identity. ExxonMobil, for example, launched its “Honest Energy” campaign to clean up its reputation. These two Exxon advertisements make sustainability promises and use compelling nature and wildlife imagery.
Despite Exxon’s optimistic marketing, it spent just 0.2% of its capital expenditure on renewable energy over an eight-year period. Further, ExxonMobil implemented a seven-year, $210 billion plan to accelerate oil production by one million barrels per day. The oil and gas growth plan will increase emissions by approximately 17% by 2025. Exxon’s strategy is a prime example of how companies use greenwashing to avoid taking accountability and making real changes.
Consumers are catching onto greenwashing tactics and are more skeptical than ever. Articles investigating greenwashing rose from under 300 per year to over 2,000 per year in 2021. A nonprofit reported that 55% of ESG funds exaggerated sustainability claims and 70% failed to meet their promised ESG targets. The public wants more sustainable products that they can feel good about spending their money on, but not at the expense of transparency.
B Lab was created to close this gap—verifying sustainability claims to earn consumers’ trust while encouraging businesses to grow using ethical business practices. B Corps are all about balancing purpose with profit, and infusing transparency into everything they do. When companies undergo the B Impact Assessment, they must examine all aspects of their business practices, from the diversity of their hiring practices to the emissions of their suppliers. The B Corp logo ensures that a product’s positive impact claims are backed up by concrete actions. In 2023 alone, B Corps used 93 million gigajoules of renewable energy and saved 3.5 billion liters of water. The progress is here to substantiate B Corps’ green claims, differentiating them from greenwashers.
There are endless marketing perks that come with certification. 56% of shoppers agree that certifications, including B Corp, influence their purchasing or employment decisions. As greenwashing awareness grows and trust in companies declines, consumers are looking for third parties to verify companies’ claims. B Corp certification differentiates a truly ethical company from a greenwashed company. Verifying products’ sustainability claims enhances customers’ trust and loyalty towards the brand.
Businesses, not just conscious shoppers, benefit from B Corp certification. B Corps also gain access to a global community of peer companies that are the best and brightest in social and environmental innovation. There are many avenues for partnerships within the B Corp community. For example, BLK & Bold, a B Corp coffee company, recently partnered with Ben & Jerry’s to create the limited edition coffee flavored ice cream “Change is Brewing,” which celebrates Black creatives and raises awareness for the People’s Response Act. Business collaborations like this are what B Lab is all about.
Ecolytic’s expertise streamlines the B Corp certification process. There can be hurdles associated with passing the B Impact Assessment, which requires many aspiring B Corps to adjust their business practices to earn better impact scores. The road to certification can be long but the benefits pay for themselves. B Corps almost always experience neutral or positive financial impacts, and B Corps outperform non-certified competitors in revenue growth long-term. Globally, B Corps were more likely to survive the pandemic and display greater overall resiliency.
Ecolytics knows how to level your company up to B Corp status and further impact milestones. Ecolytics’s software instantly generates impact reports for your company’s marketing purposes. Further, Ecolytics creates a customizable web page for your company to showcase its impact and improvement, allowing for transparent communication with stakeholders. These tools can be displayed with QR codes on products, linked on the company website, displayed in shareholder reports, and more. After working with Ecolytics, companies get a better understanding of their business practices and greater overall transparency—not just for customers, but for employees as well.
