Hybrid Intuitionistic Fuzzy SWARA–CODAS Approach for Multidimensional Greenwashing Risk and Strategy Prioritization in Marketing

Greenwashing has evolved beyond a phenomenon confined to marketing communication and has increasingly become a strategic risk area with multidimensional implications for corporate legitimacy, sustainability management, and stakeholder trust. However, existing literature lacks comprehensive frameworks that systematically evaluate the organizational, managerial, and market-based consequences of greenwashing and prioritize strategic responses to these risks. Addressing this gap, the present study develops a hybrid Intuitionistic Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (IF-MCDM) framework that incorporates expert judgments under uncertainty and integrates two complementary techniques: the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (IF-SWARA) method for weighting greenwashing-related risks and the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Combinative Distance-Based Assessment Solution (IF-CODAS) method for prioritizing strategic response options. The proposed model conceptualizes the fundamental risk dimensions of greenwashing based on an extensive literature foundation and examines how these risks can be managed through structured strategic interventions. The findings indicate that managerial, communication-based, and reporting-related risk dimensions differ in their relative importance, with deficiencies in transparency, verifiability, and accountability emerging as the most influential drivers of greenwashing risk. The analysis further shows that strategies emphasizing verifiability, accountability, and integrated sustainability communication hold higher priority in mitigating these risks. Overall, the study clarifies the multidimensional nature of greenwashing at a conceptual level and offers a problem-driven decision-support contribution by aligning an intuitionistic fuzzy weighting and ranking pipeline with the specific requirements of greenwashing risk management, namely expert hesitation, incomplete evidence, and close competition among mitigation strategies. The contribution lies in providing a structured, problem-oriented decision-support framework for prioritizing greenwashing risks and corresponding mitigation strategies, supported by the integration of IF-SWARA and IF-CODAS, which enhances interpretability and enables actionable priorities for managers and policymakers. This integrated framework provides a structured decision-support tool for sustainable brand management and policy formulation.