However, with a corresponding marketing effort, environmentally harmful products are being dressed up with beautiful images of nature in order to present them as "greener". Greenwashing is booming. Although attention and the pressure of expectation are increasing in this area, companies with sufficient advertising budgets and creative clout can still do a lot of things right. What increasingly bothers critical consumers and is denounced accordingly by activists is not just a problem that can be observed in connection with customer behavior. The motto "Save the world by working for us!" often seems to apply to employer branding as well. Image and identification are key motives for an attractive employer brand. This is where the moment of truth soon strikes: does the company live up to its high standards in practice? Do managers actually live up to the propagated values? Constant test Green marketing is put to the test internally on a daily basis. A lack of consistency harbors two major risks: on the one hand, it has a significant impact on emotional loyalty and therefore on employees' willingness to perform. On the other hand, the company may lose its most important brand ambassadors in this way. This is because purpose-oriented employees quickly move on if there is a high level of inconsistency.

So what helps? Firstly, a common understanding of the key terms (e.g. "sustainability") within the organization - developed together. Secondly, bring a clear top-down strategy to life through consistent monitoring. Thirdly, actively listen to the organization by means of surveys as part of a consistency check. This check then reliably clarifies the question "Do we walk the talk?" - and also provides concrete ideas for improvement measures. Can you buy a green image? In the short term, the chances of this are probably not so bad if the appropriate resources are deployed. However, real credibility only arises when consistency becomes visible and, above all, tangible after a thorough examination.

Verena Riedler is Account Lead at the management consultancy Die Umsetzer in Vienna. Her work focuses on sustainability in corporate development, change management and organizational development