The Boundary Between Transparent Eco-communication and Greenwashing in Advertising: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis Perspective

Hua Ngoc Linh, Tran Thanh Du

Thu Dau Mot University

This study addresses the pressing challenge of distinguishing between genuine ecological sustainability and deceptive greenwashing within contemporary corporate communication. Prompted by increasingly stringent international regulatory frameworks, including the European Union’s ECGT (2024) Directive and the US FTC Green Guides (2012), this research explores how brands navigate compliance in both textual and visual dimensions. To achieve this, the study employs a Corpus-assisted Multimodal Discourse Analysis (CAMDA) approach to scrutinize a curated corpus of 50 compliant environmental advertisements. This methodology integrates M.A.K. Halliday’s (2014) Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) Visual Grammar, and the Speech Act Theory articulated by Austin (1962) and Searle (1969). The empirical findings reveal that effective eco-communication depends on material processes, empirical data, and verifiable behavioral frameworks that meet stringent Felicity Conditions. In contrast, greenwashing often exploits semantic ambiguity, emotional appeals, and unsubstantiated commissive statements. Building upon these insights, the research introduces the Language Strategy Matrix for Transparent Eco-Discourse, a dual-purpose framework designed both as a practical diagnostic toolkit for strategic communicators to ensure regulatory compliance and as a pedagogical model for Business English and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) curricula aimed at promoting critical media literacy and ethical copywriting.

Article link: https://www.asianinstituteofresearch.org/JSParchives/the-boundary-between-transparent-eco-communication-and-greenwashing-in-advertising%3A-a-multimodal-discourse-analysis-perspective