How do businesses signal their credibility to their potential customers and other stakeholders?  This is a particularly important question in the context of environmental product claims, given the high levels of distrust that exist among consumers.  My article published in Business and Politics addresses this question, and develops a novel theoretical framework that builds on the literature on signaling theory, legitimacy theory, and agency theory.  It then applies this framework to an analysis of my dataset of 245 cases of eco-labels and sustainability ratings, and reveals the importance and complexity of independence, transparency, and expertise as signals of credibility.   You can access the article at the following link: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bap.2015.17.issue-2/bap-2014-0028/bap-2014-0028.xml?format=INT.