Samhället står inför stora utmaningar att konsumera hållbart, vilket fast fashion-företag kritiseras för att bidra till. På grund av den ökade medvetenheten i samhället om hållbarhet har dessa företag börjat ta större ansvar för miljön genom att utveckla mer hållbara affärslösningar. I samband med detta kommer dock nya utmaningar, nämligen att nå ut till konsumenter med det bra arbete som görs så att de både blir intresserade av produkterna och påverkas till attkonsumera dessa. Kommunikationen som företag sänder ut har enligt tidigare forskning ansettsbristfällig ur flera aspekter, vilket innefattar hur den är utformad och vad den innehåller för attkunden ska känna att de hållbara plaggen är attraktiva att köpa. Marknadsföringen har nämligen inte uppfattats som trovärdig och konsumenter uppger att de upplever risker med de hållbara produktalternativen. I denna kvalitativa studie har innehållsanalyser gjorts på sex stora skandinaviska fast fashion-företags digitala kanaler, mer exakt Instagram samt hemsidor. Detta för att undersöka hur fast fashion-företag faktiskt kommunicerar idag och vad det är som karaktäriserar deras strategier. Studiens resultat syftar till att bidra med kunskap och tillvägagångssätt som modeföretag, medhållbara produktalternativ, kan ta hjälp av för att nå ut med dess budskap. Frågeställningarna som vi sökt svar på är hur fast fashion-företags visuella kommunikation av hållbara produktalternativ uttrycks samt vilka strategier som kan urskiljas för att företagen skall engagera konsumenter samt minska konsumenters upplevda risker med hållbara produktalternativ. Tidigare forskning har ofta fokuserat på att studera vad som påverkarkonsumenters köpintention och vilka strategier som ökar varumärkens värde. Med vår studiekom vi fram till hur kommunikationen faktiskt ser ut idag och resultatet visar att det finns en mängd olika strategier som företag använder sig av. Det företagen gör mest av är att kommunicera hållbarhetspåståenden, men de talar även till konsumenters personliga vinning. Det har också gått att urskilja att vissa fast fashion-företag använder sig av storytelling och word-of-mouth för att skapa engagemang kring hållbara produkter, men detta till en lägre grad. Utifrån deras utformning av kommunikationen går det vidare att se att de på olika sätt vill bjuda in till en hållbarhetsdialog med kunden, men det är eventuellt ett område som skulle kunna undersökas mer. De slutsatserna som går att dra är därmed att företag behöver arbeta mer med sin kommunikation för att konsumenter ska nås på ett sätt som uppfattas som trovärdigt vad gäller hållbarhetspåståenden. Företag bör även arbeta med att generera mer engagemanggällande hållbarhet. / In today’s society fast fashion companies are being criticized for promoting unsustainable consumption, which inhibit reaching the societal sustainability goals regarding consumption. But since there is an increased awareness about sustainability, these companies have started to take greater responsibility for the environment by developing more sustainable business solutions that enable a production of sustainable product alternatives. Although companies progress, this adaption arises new challenges regarding marketing communication. Today’s companies struggle to reach consumers with their new sustainability approach in order to both influence and make consumers interested to consume more sustainable products. According to previous research, the communication that companies send out has been considered deficient in several aspects. This includes what the messages in the marketing communication contain to make consumers feel that the sustainable garments are attractive to buy as well as its perceived reliability. In this qualitative study, we implement content analyzes on six Scandinavian fast fashion companies’ digital channels, more precisely Instagram and websites. This enables the possibility to analyze the communication of their more sustainable products and examine what characterizes their communication strategies. The study's result is aimed to contribute with more knowledge within the field and marketing strategies that fast fashion companies, with sustainable product alternatives, can use to reach out with their sustainability message regarding their sustainable products. The questions we sought to answer were how fast fashion companies expressed their visual communication of sustainable product alternatives. But also, which marketing strategies that could be distinguished in the company’s communication in order to both engage consumers and reduce consumers perceived risk with buying sustainable product alternatives. Previous research has often focused on studying what affects consumers purchasing intention and what kind of marketing strategies there are to increase brand value. With this as our framework, we came to know what the sustainability communication looks like today within fast fashion companies. The results show that there are a variety of strategies that companies use. Companies mostly communicate sustainability claims, but they also speak to consumers' personal gain. It has also been discernible that some fast fashion companies use storytelling and word-of-mouth to create engagement around sustainable products, but to a lesser extent. Based on the design of the communication, it is possible to see that they want to invite consumers in a sustainability dialogue when marketing their products, but this is an area that could be explored more. The conclusions that can be drawn are therefore that companies need to work more with their communication in order to reach consumers in a way that is perceived as credible in terms of sustainability claims. Companies should also work to generate more engagement around sustainability in their marketing strategies.

Only a few industries face challenges regarding sustainability to the same extent as the fashion industry being one of the largest consumer industries and the second most polluting industry in the world. These challenges are encouraged by the fast fashion business model, which is dominant in the sector and relies on the quick responsiveness to latest fashion trends while maintaining low prices, encouraging more consumption and shorter product life cycles. On the other side, a consumer shift towards more environmental consciousness can be observed leading to most fast fashion brands integrating sustainability in various forms into their products and services. A path that many fast fashion brands take in order to become more sustainable is the strategy of green branding through green brand extensions. Green brand extensions (GBEs) involve the application of an established brand name to new and greener products due to environmental considerations of the brand and can be divided into green line extensions (GLEs) and green category extensions (GCEs). Due to identified research gaps concerning how green brand extensions change consumer attitudes as well as the relationship between brand loyalty and the green image of brands, the following research question got developed to gain in-depth in consumer behavior in the fast fashion industry related to green brand extensions: RQ: How do green brand extensions of fast fashion brands affect the consumers’ parent brand attitude and brand loyalty? This primary study that aims to answer the research question was conducted following a deductive research approach and adopting a quantitative research design through collecting data by means of a web questionnaire. Thereby, the brand attitude of fashion consumers on green line and green category extensions as well as the relationship to brand loyalty got investigated focusing on Generation Y and Z as largest consumer groups of fast fashion. The main results of the study are that the introduction of a GLE by a fast fashion brand generally leads to a more positive brand attitude and a slightly improved brand loyalty of consumers towards the parent brand. However, when introducing a GCE, the launch has rarely a positive effect on the brand attitude and brand loyalty of consumers towards the parent brand. The relationship of GLEs and brand attitude is thereby moderated by the environmental concern of consumers as well as their friends and by the initial brand attitude towards the fast fashion brand. The relationship of GLEs and brand loyalty on the other hand is only moderated by environmental concern of consumers and the initial brand attitude. Looking at GCEs and their relationship with brand attitude as well as brand loyalty, it is influenced and moderated by the age of consumers, the environmental concern of their friends as well as consumers’ initial brand loyalty towards the parent brand.

Background: Brands have started paying attention to brand authenticity since consumer demand for authenticity is increasing. Especially Gen Z is constantly seeking for authentic, inclusive, and diverse brands as they are the first generation to choose brands based on authenticity. Especially the LGBTQ community’s representation in advertising is often perceived as inauthentic and superficial. Since Gen Z is not only a big consumer of fast fashion but also the first to include fast fashion as part of their everyday life, the fast fashion industry is required to be more authentic in its use of LGBTQ in advertising. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how Gen Z perceives LGBTQ images in fast fashion advertising and how this impacts brand authenticity. Method: For this study, an exploratory research design with a qualitative approach was applied. Using an abductive approach, existing literature was used as a basis to create the conceptual model of this study. Further, a fictional fast fashion brand including five advertisements were created and presented to twenty informants during semi-structured interviews to gain a more in-depth understanding of the research problem. Conclusion: The study found that Gen Z’s perceptions of LGBTQ images in fast fashion advertising can be classified into three categories: positive, neutral, and negative perceptions. Informants with a positive perception perceived the brand to be authentic whilst informants with a negative perception the opposite. Since informants with a neutral perception sometimes had similar perceptions as the informants with a positive or negative perception, no clear answer on their perception of brand authenticity can be given.

With the increased focus on climate change, sustainability has become a common term for both organizations as well as consumers. The clothing industry is one of the industries that have the biggest negative impact on climate change. Still, the fast fashion business, based on cheap materials and low production costs, continues to thrive. The clothing companies stand before an increased review from society and are therefore forced to work with sustainability and acceptance. Depending on how the companies handle their communication with regards to sustainability, their consumers are put at risk of being subjectable to greenwashing, since the companies regard themselves to be more sustainable than they are. Generation Z consists of people born between the years of 1995 to 2005 and they were born into the so-called climate crisis. Generation Z is ultimately the generation that will live during the unpredictable future due to climate change. This makes the generation the most environmentally conscious generation yet. Still, the generation is the world’s largest group of consumers, and a large part of their identity lies within how they dress. This study aims to examine how generation Z, as an environmentally conscious group with a lot of purchasing power, perceives the Swedish fashion brand's communication about sustainability. The study is based on a quality method, using focus groups to gather data. This method is chosen since the aim is to analyze generation Z perception, feelings, and ideas. The theory studies terms within the roam of sustainability, both in the Swedish fashion business and as well as marketing. How Swedish fashion companies communicate their work on sustainability and how this is perceived by generation Z is presented via “a linear model of communication”. The result of the study shows that all the respondents have a similar perception of how confidence-inspiring the fashion business combination on sustainability is. Previous research has described generation Z as a consumer group that highly values sustainability, this is in line with the results of this study. The respondents describe that they consume sustainably by shopping second-hand but finds it hard to do sustainable choices when shopping for newly produced clothes. Fashion companies in the fast fashion sector that work with sustainability limited areas of the organization have low to no credibility from the respondents. The will to consume sustainably produced clothes is hindered by the fact that the respondents lack the trust for the actual sustainability in the products and production chain. The respondents seek companies with transparency, since thisincreases their trust and fulfills their will to consume sustainably. / I takt med att vår klimatpåverkan ökar har hållbarhet blivit ett uppmärksammat begrepp hos såväl organisationer som hos konsumenter. Modebranschen är en av de branscher som har störst negativ påverkan på miljön, trots detta fortsätter den så kallade fast fashion-industrin, baserad på billiga material och tillverkningskostnader, att blomstra. Modeföretagen står samtidigt inför en ökad granskning av samhället och tvingas att arbeta med hållbarhet för att få acceptans. Beroende på hur företagen väljer att kommunicera sitt hållbarhetsarbete riskerar konsumenterna att bli utsatta för greenwashing, då företagen anser sig vara mer hållbara än vad de egentligen är. Generation z, personer födda mellan åren 1995–2005, är födda in i den så kallade klimatkrisen samt är också den generation som ska leva i en orolig framtid med växande klimatförändringar. Detta resulterar i att målgruppen är den hittills mest kritiska och miljömedvetna av alla generationer. Samtidigt är målgruppen världens största konsumentgrupp och är måna om att skapa sin identitet genom vad de klär sig i. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur generation z som köpkraftig och miljömedveten målgrupp uppfattar de svenska modeföretagens hållbarhetskommunikation. Forskarna har valt en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med fokusgrupper som insamlingsmetod eftersom studien syftar till att på ett djupgående sätt undersöka generation z:s uppfattningar, känslor och idéer. Teorin belyser begrepp som berör området hållbarhet i den svenska modebranschen och hållbar marknadsföring. Hur svenska modeföretag kommunicerar hållbarhetsarbetet och hur detta tolkas av generation z presenteras via kommunikationsmodellen “A linear model of communication”. Resultatet av studien visar att samtliga respondenter har liknande uppfattningar om hur förtroendeingivande modebranschens hållbarhetskommunikation är. Tidigare forskning beskriver generation z som en konsumentgrupp som värderar hållbarhet högt vilket stämmer överens med studiens resultat. Respondenterna beskriver att de handlar mycket hållbart i form av second hand men anser att det är svårt att göra hållbara val av nyproducerade plagg. Modeföretag verksamma inom fast fashion-industrin som arbetar med hållbarhet inom begränsade delar av organisationen har lågt eller inget förtroende hos representanterna. Viljan att handla nyproducerade hållbara plagg hindras av det faktum att respondenterna inte litar på graden av hållbarhet i produkterna och produktionskedjan. Greenwashing är ett begrepp samtliga respondenter är bekanta med vilket minskar förtroendet för företagen eftersom det är vanligt förekommande inom modebranschen. Samtliga respondenter efterlyser transparens hos företagen vilket skulle öka deras förtroende och vilja att konsumera hållbart.

In recent years, the consumption and production of clothing has increased radically because of Fast fashion. Fast fashion is a business model, which means that clothes are sold at cheap prices and enables and encourages the consumer to buy more clothes. The fast fashion industry offers both physical stores and online stores to constantly offer new garments in the latest trends to the consumers. The fashion industry has a large negative impact on the environment. One of the main purposes of this study is to examine the consumers knowledge and attitudes towards fast fashion and see if these match their behaviour. The study is based on the behavioural theory Value Action Gap where parts of this theory is used to obtain the result. The survey also studies whether there are differences between different genders, age and education regarding this subject. To find a reliable result, a quantitative survey was created in which 107 people participated. The survey was created in Survey & Report and later analysed in SPSS. The diagrams were created in Word. The result shows a certain lack of knowledge among the participants. Knowledge is a fundamental basis for people to make more environmentally friendly decisions. The results also show that consumers believe that the clothing industry contributes with a major threat to the environment, where the majority think that the threat affects them in one way or the other. Despite the consumers attitudes towards fast fashion, their attitudes do not always match their behaviours. The result also indicates that there are differences within the groups of people. There are more women who believe that they are affected by the clothing industry's environmental impact, even though women consume more of the clothes in question. Compared to the lower education group, most of the people with longer education believe that the clothing industry poses a threat to the environment. The results also enlightens that there are more of the older participants who choose clothes with environmental certification, compared to the younger ones. / Under de senaste åren har konsumtionen och produktionen av kläder ökat radikalt till följd av Fast fashion. Fast fashion är en affärsmodell som innebär att kläder säljs för billiga priser och gör det möjligt för konsumenten att handla mer kläder. Fast fashion erbjuder fysiska butiker och online-butiker möjligheten att ständigt kunna erbjuda konsumenterna nya plagg efter det senaste trenderna. Klädindustrin har en stor negativ inverkan på miljön. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka konsumenters kunskaper och attityder till fast fashion samt se om dessa stämmer överens deras beteenden. Studien använder sig av beteendeteorin Value Action Gap där delar av teorin används för att ta fram resultatet. Undersökningen studerar även om det finns skillnader mellan olika kön, ålder och utbildning. Metoden som används är en kvantitativ enkätundersökning där 107 personer deltog. Enkäten skapades i Survey & Report och analyserades sedan i SPSS. Diagrammen gjordes i Word. Resultatet visar att det finns viss brist på kunskap hos deltagarna. Kunskap är en viktig grund för att människan ska vilja agera mer miljövänligt. Studiens resultat visar även att konsumenterna anser att klädindustrin utgör att stort hot mot miljön där den större delen tycker att hotet berör dem. Trots konsumenternas attityd till fast fashion visar det sig att deras attityder inte alltid stämmer överens med deras beteenden. Resultatet indikerar även att det finns skillnader inom de olika grupperna. Det är fler kvinnor som anser att de berörs av klädindustrins miljöpåverkan även om det är fler kvinnor som handlar kläder oftare. För de med längre utbildning anser de flesta att klädindustrin utgör ett hot mot miljön. Jämfört med de lägre utbildningsgrupper. Resultatet visar även att det är fler av de äldre som oftare väljer kläder med miljöcertifiering jämfört med de yngre.

Influencer marketing is a new marketing strategy that has risen in popularity to be used by businesses during the last decade. Even though studies have been previously made on influencer marketing, little research has been made specifically on influencer marketing in combination with their discount codes being offered. The main purpose of this research paper is to examine the connection between the discount codes and the effect it might have on consumers' purchase intention, behavior and impulsive buying. Furthermore, the satisfactory levels after a purchase due to influencer marketing has been examined as it has not been seen in previous studies. The findings revealed that consumers are directly affected by influencer discount codes, causing impulsive buying to a certain level and affects the purchase intentions and decision-making in a faster manner. Furthermore, consumers who had purchased products due to influencer marketing obtained a high satisfactory level post-purchase. The same result could be seen both with and without discount codes. These results contribute to a positive insight of influencer marketing for businesses as the majority of the consumers were satisfied with their purchases. The research paper is written in english.

This study examines the response of Generation Z females in Sweden to fast fashion web advertisements incorporating six linguistic persuasion strategies. The aim is to identify which of these strategies can be effectively employed in this context to persuade the targeted demographic. An online survey consisting of twelve fast fashion web advertisements was distributed over the social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The respondents' objective was to choose a preferred advertisement from two options, one featuring a linguistic strategy of persuasion and another where the linguistic strategy had been changed or removed, while the respondents had to consider questions related to the linguistic strategies’ persuasive aims. The result from 44 target respondents revealed that the strategies of reader pronouns, directives, and the subject position effectively reached their persuasive aims, while the results for boosters, rhetorical questions, and engagement markers were inconclusive. Still, open-ended non-mandatory answers indicated that the three strategies that got inconclusive results also received negative reactions from the demographic and therefore likely failed at their persuasive aims.

In this comparative study, the design elements and visual merchandising approaches employed in window displays by high-end and fast-fashion retailers are investigated. The study utilizes a visual content analysis method with standardized evaluation criteria to analyze the window displays of six high-end and six fast-fashion stores located in Paris. By adopting an analytical framework adapted mainly from Morgan (2015) and Diamond and Diamond (2007), the research aims to uncover shared patterns and distinguishing factors in the approaches of these two sectors. The findings reveal clear differences in purpose, layout, visual weight, focal points, color schemes, and prop usage between highend and fast-fashion retailers. These insights offer valuable practical implications for enhancing the visual appeal of window displays in the highly competitive retail landscape

The thesis analyses the trend of value-added distribution over a span of 10 years, from 2011 to 2021, in the international supply chain of fast fashion products between manufacturers in Bangladesh and multinational fast fashion retailers in Sweden. Bangladesh has grown economically thanks to its ready-made garment sector and favorable policies for businesses and foreign investments. Meanwhile, fast fashion global brands profit by providing affordable clothing to consumers in Europe while allocating garment production to low-wage countries and imposing tight production timeframes. The purpose of the thesis is to analyze the value-added distribution in the international supply chain of fast fashion products between manufacturers in Bangladesh, multinational fast fashion retailers in Sweden and their workers as key stakeholders. Through this thesis, it is possible to notice the inequality between the wealth generated and the remuneration of the parties involved in the supply chain. The methodology involves multiple case studies and value-added analysis. The thesis has three case studies. In each one of them is included a Swedish retail company and a Bangladeshi garment manufacturer. The value-added analysis is carried out on the selected case study companies’ financial reports from 2011 to 2021. Analyzing the distribution of value-added is key from a social sustainability perspective as it directly impacts poverty levels, countries’ growth, health aspects and living conditions of a large part of the population. The results of the thesis are based on the value-added statement elaborations which entail data processing of the profit and loss statement of the annual reports of the companies selected over a span of ten years. The data collected includes an analysis of a total of 60 annual reports. The findings point to the stark inequality between the average monthly salary costs per worker between Swedish and Bangladeshi workers. The value-added distributed to workers in Bangladesh is slowly increasing however it might take a decade to significantly reduce the difference in remuneration between Swedish and Bangladeshi workers. The core point of the findings has proved that multinational companies’ margins are not significantly impacted if they were to factor in higher salary costs of supply chain workers in Bangladesh to ensure a higher living standard than the current one which is not sufficient for a decent standard of living. To conclude the thesis argues about the current lack of disclosure that fast fashion retailers provide to members of society in their sustainability reports and companies’ sustainability strategies. This is because there is an underlying lack of relevant, faithful, verifiable, understandable, and comparable information provided by companies.

No description available.