Stakeholder washing : theorizing symbolic stakeholder engagement

Abstract

Stakeholder engagement is increasingly institutionalized as a marker of responsible governance, yet organizations can also mobilize this engagement to appear responsive while preserving managerial control. This conceptual paper bridges stakeholder engagement with the corporate hypocrisy literature to explain how participatory arrangements can become a façade of participation. Following a problematization and synthesis approach to conceptual theorizing, we develop the concept of stakeholder washing, defined as the strategic misrepresentation of stakeholder engagement as more inclusive, consequential, or responsive than it actually is. We show stakeholder washing to be enacted through three mechanisms: symbolic inclusion, narrative capture, and strategic delay. These mechanisms are integrated into a diagnostic framework that clarifies boundary conditions between substantive engagement, aspirational gaps, and strategic washing. We suggest an institutional countermeasure logic linking each mechanism to design safeguards, advancing conceptual precision and offering an agenda for operationalization and empirical testing.