During the last few years, Cancel culture became a significant part of the social mediaculture. The new phenomenon aims to call out people or companies that have acted in a wayt hat does not go with the values of the consumers, which leads to a canceling. Companies got canceled and had to adjust their crisis communication to the consumers in order to repair the companies image. The consumers in question are mainly Millennials and Generation Z who tend to be ethical consumers that focus on social injustice. This leads to bigger pressure on companies to act and adjust their crisis communication accordingly. The purpose of this study is to investigate what kind of crisis communication could be used during a canceling. A statement from two canceled companies, Oatly and Starbucks, will be examined based on their crisis strategies and rhetorical strategies. Both companies claim that their actions in areas, such as climate change and social injustice, are correct and they try to convince thee thical consumers that they can be trusted as an ethical company. The study revealed that both companies used established strategies in their crisis communication, which did differ from one another. Both companies claim that their actions in areas, such as climate change and social injustice, are correct and they try to convince the ethical consumers that they can be trusted as an ethical company. Oatly communicated in a transcendent way and stood firmly by their actions, whereas Starbucks promised to change their actions.

This thesis builds on the literature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. The following three chapters study the potential impacts of disclosing voluntarily negative information in a company’s own CSR communication within the contexts of pharmaceutical, textile and chocolate companies, respectively. Incorporating survey and experimental methodologies, these studies aim to help identify effective solutions for ethical issues by revealing the appropriate contexts in which companies can discuss them transparently and, thus, be rewarded for responding and acting in good faith and due diligence. Our results suggest that companies might benefit from voluntary disclosure of ethical issues if they also intend to disclose their specific actions for eliminating such infractions. Additionally, we highlight the role of public awareness in how negative information by the relevant stakeholders is evaluated. These studies reinforce the concept that acknowledging ethical issues would lead to higher levels of ethical behavior in business. / La siguiente tesis se basa en la literatura sobre comunicación de responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) de empresa. Se analizan los posibles efectos de divulgación voluntaria de información negativa en la comunicación (RSC) en contextos de empresas farmacéuticas, textiles y de chocolate. Estos estudios tienen como objetivo ayudar a identificar soluciones efectivas a cuestiones éticas al revelar los contextos donde las empresas puedan debatir de manera transparente, y ser recompensadas por responder y actuar de buena fe y con diligencia. Los resultados sugieren que las empresas pueden beneficiarse de la divulgación voluntaria de aspectos éticos negativos si también divulgan sus acciones específicas para la eliminación de tales infracciones. Además, se destaca el papel de la sensibilización del público sobre como la información negativa se evalúa por las partes interesadas. Estos estudios refuerzan la idea de que reconocer problemas éticos conduce a niveles más altos de comportamiento ético en el mundo empresarial.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antecedents and reinforcements of fairtrade purchase intention and to examine the effect of reporting good fairtrade practices on consumers’ punishment behavior. A stratified sample of 240 English-speaking, American, adult subjects was collected online. First, the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM) (Foxall, G., 2007) was modified and four manipulations varying luxury/commodity product type and open/closed purchase settings were presented. The results of paired-sample t-tests demonstrated closed purchase settings did not increase luxury purchase intention by itself. A split-plot ANOVA combining closed setting and the participant’s fairtrade learning history did not produce significant results, but post-hoc testing revealed a significant effect of positive learning history on purchase intention. Two separate, repeated-measures ANOVA found that utilitarian reinforcement was not affected by purchase setting, but informational reinforcement was significantly increased by the presence of others. Second, four manipulations of good/bad press events were presented without/without the firm’s fairtrade performance history mentioned in a news article. A two-way, between-subjects ANOVA produced insignificant results for the effect of information on willingness to pay. Importantly, the type of event significantly affected willingness to pay, accounting for 18% of the variation, with positive events generating higher willingness to pay than negative, regardless of whether fairtrade performance information was included. This study suggested firms would benefit from including cues for the social reward aspect of luxury fairtrade purchasing in marketing efforts and from preventing missteps rather than bragging about past practices. Future research suggestions included further analyzing the effect of information on punishment of bad corporate actors, investigating the credibility of self-declaration of fairtrade certification versus independent certification labels, and incorporating the effect of culture into the BPM.

Adolescents involvement in societal issues has been found to be able to influence companies.  Simultaneously, a growing interest in today’s consumers has been found to include ethical commitments in their consumption, a trend considered to be driven by young consumers. This can put an immense pressure on companies to take on a greater responsibility in societal issues. Young consumers in the year 2020 are considered to belong to Generation Z, a consumer group described as conscious and driven by topics of social development, predicted to possess future purchasing dominance. Whether or not Generation Z views consumption as a matter of involving ethical considerations could be of great importance to consider in order to attract the highly influential consumer group. The consequences for not taking this into consideration could result in not being able to reach out to the consumer group properly. Research has sought to understand ethical consumption in regards to generational and cultural differences. This study aims to expand the existing research area on ethical consumption in relation to Generation Z by implementing a focus on Swedish consumers within Generation Z. The purpose of this study is to attain a deeper understanding of how Generation Z’s consumption is influenced by ethical considerations. This has been done by including a theoretical background on ethical consumption, the buying decision process as well as Generation Z. Given the background and purpose of this study, it is of interest to examine how Generation Z is influenced by ethical considerations in their purchase decision. Through a qualitative research method and cross-sectional design, focus group interviews were conducted together with individuals within Generation Z. The empirical evidence from the study shows that Generation Z are influenced by ethical considerations, but not to the extent that it is conclusive for their purchase decision. The factors for purchasing an ethical product include regarding the ethical symbol as visually appealing, trusting the ethical labelling, having sufficient knowledge regarding the ethical stance, regarding the ethical stance as in line with their morals and values as well as their perceived price sensitivity for the ethical product. / Ungdomars engagemang i samhällsfrågor har visat sig kunna sätta prägel på och influera företag. Samtidigt är ett växande intresse för dagens konsumenter att inkludera etiska åtaganden i sin konsumtion, en trend som betraktas vara driven av unga konsumenter. Detta kan sätta stor press på företag att uppvisa ett större ansvarstagande i viktiga samhällsfrågor. År 2020 betraktas unga konsumenter tillhöra Generation Z, en konsumentgrupp med stor framtida köpdominans som beskrivs som medvetna och drivna kring frågor om samhällets utveckling. För företag som vill attrahera kundgruppen kan det vara av stor betydelse att beakta om huruvida Generation Z ser på konsumtion som en fråga om etiska överväganden. Konsekvensen som tillkommer för företag som inte väljer att beakta detta kan härleda till att de inte lyckas nå ut till konsumentgruppen. Tidigare forskning har försökt få en ökad förståelse för etisk konsumtion utifrån generationella och kulturella skillnader. Denna studie ämnar att vidga det befintliga forskningsområdet rörande etisk konsumtion i relation till Generation Z genom ett fokus på svenska konsumenter inom Generation Z. Studiens syfte är att få en ökad förståelse för hur Generation Z påverkas av etiska ställningstaganden vid konsumtion. Detta görs genom en teoretisk fördjupning inom etisk konsumtion, konsumentens köpbeslutsprocess samt Generation Z. Med given problembakgrund och syfte ämnar studien därför att utifrån forskningsfrågan undersöka hur Generation Z påverkas av etiska överväganden i deras köpbeslut. Utifrån en kvalitativ forskningsinriktning och tvärsnittsdesign genomfördes fokusgruppsintervjuer tillsammans med individer inom Generation Z. Empirin påvisar att Generation Z påverkas av etiska överväganden, men inte i den utsträckning att det alltid är avgörande för ett köpbeslut. De avgörande faktorerna för köp av en etisk produkt var om den etiska symbolen var visuellt tilltalande, om de hade förtroende för det etiska budskapet, om de upplevde att de hade tillräckligt med kunskap kring det etiska ställningstagandet, om det etiska ställningstagandet stämde överens med deras moral och värderingar samt deras upplevda priskänslighet för den etiska produkten.

The study was conducted in Harare as regards Zimbabwe’s mobile telecommunications sector, examining the influence of a selected factors on consumers’ awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the effects that CSR awareness has on consumers. The practice of CSR influences a number of business aspects including firm financials, corporate image, corporate reputation and market share. This study has been ignited by the fact that little evidence exist in studies covering the precursors and effects of CSR awareness from the consumers’ perspective. More so, that Zimbabwe’s mobile telecommunications sector is currently the fastest growing sector accompanied with numerous CSR activities. The present study therefore sought to answer the questions which includes; (i) does ethical consumerism, consumer rights awareness, socio-environmental awareness and consumer generosity culture influence consumer awareness of CSR in the mobile telecommunications sector? (ii) what is the effect of age, gender and level of education on consumer awareness of CSR in the mobile telecommunications sector? (iii) what is the influence of consumer awareness of CSR on corporate image, consumer attitude, purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour in the mobile telecommunications sector? (iv) what is the effect of corporate image on consumer attitude in the mobile telecommunications sector? (v) what is the effect of consumer attitude on purchase intention in the mobile telecommunications sector? (vi) what is the effect of purchase intention on actual purchase behaviour in the mobile telecommunications sector? A mixed research study was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire on 1,100 mobile telecommunications sector consumers in Harare, Zimbabwe. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS with AMOS while qualitative data was analysed using NVIVO. The study results indicate that ethical consumerism, consumer rights awareness, socio-environmental awareness and consumer generosity positively influence consumer CSR awareness while age, gender and level of education do not influence consumer CSR awareness. CSR awareness proves to have a direct influence on corporate image, consumer attitude, purchase intention and not on actual purchase behaviour. The study findings show a direct positive relationship among corporate image, consumer attitude, purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour. The study recognized that respondents are aware of CSR in the form of firm donations, assistance towards social causes, improving the environment, building or renovating facilities, good services, affordable prices and promotional programs. Study results points out that respondents are aware of CSR through platforms such as advertising, sending text messages, firms’ ethical or professional conduct, campaigns and exhibitions. / Business Management / D. B. L.(Business Leadership)

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