What is moral grandstanding?

In a recent episode of a certain podcast, moral grandstanding was the main topic of the conversation. "Grandstanding" is denoted as the act of impressing onlookers. Therefore, moral grandstanding is showing off a person's morals to impress. In a sense, moral grandstanding has a lot of similarities with virtue signaling; however, virtue signaling is not discussed here.

Moral grandstanding is not exclusive to individuals. Corporations and other groups can act for the sake of grandstanding. Such acts committed by individuals or groups are often described as "hollow", "insincere", and "meaningless". Imagine a person advocating for the cleanliness of the environment and bragging about how he/she always uses paper straws instead of plastic. Yet, later on, he/she can be seen throwing a candy wrapper as they walk on the street.

While some acts are done to simplify satisfy the craving for attention of the doers, some acts are harmless. Sometimes, the intent of a person to grandstand is merely to make their opinions known on the matter. Thus, acts of moral grandstanding fall under a scale.

It is important to learn the context and intentions behind some person's or thing's moral grandstanding. Humans are easily deceived and quickly judge. It is also best to keep in mind that one set of morals aren't necessarily more right than others.