Greenwashing har de senaste åren blivit en del av vårt samhälle, vare sig gemene man eller alla företag är medvetna om det eller ej. Företag måste förhålla sig till den förändrade diskursen i samhället för att hålla sig relevanta och konkurrenskraftiga när allt större delar av samhället vill minska sitt klimatavtryck och leva på ett mer hållbart sätt. Studien analyserar oljebolaget Royal Dutch Shells externa kommunikation med särskilt fokus på klimatfrågan och huruvida greenwashing förekommer eller inte. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur ett av världens största oljeföretag anpassar sig efter den rådande klimatdiskursen och rättfärdigar sin fortsatta verksamhet. Studien använder sig av metodtriangulering för att kvantitativt kartlägga och kategorisera oljebolagets aktivitet på Instagram samt kvalitativt analysera innehållet ur ett semiotiskt perspektiv. Studien undersöker om, och i så fall hur, Shell använder sig av greenwashing- och/eller propagandametoder för att påverka publikens bild av företaget, i förhållande till klimatfrågan, men även generellt. För att svara på studiens frågeställningar används kvantitativ innehållsanalys som metod, men till allra störst del av kvalitativ textanalys med fokus på diverse semiotiska begrepp, en utvald modell för att identifiera greenwashing samt en utvald lista över propagandametoder. Det teoretiska ramverket utgår från greenwashing, corporate social responsibility (CSR), lobbying, diskursbegreppet, hashtags och kompletteras av semiotik och propagandaanalys i metodkapitlet. Studiens analys presenteras i form av tydligt framgående teman där de mest relevanta och intressanta inläggen presenteras tillsammans med en analyserande text. Dessa teman är vad Shell verkar vilja rikta uppmärksamheten mot och därmed intressanta att undersöka i form av argument för oljebolagets fortsatta arbete med sin huvudverksamhet, även om de också kan betraktas som distraktioner från just huvudverksamheten. Studiens resultat visar att ungefär hälften av Shells instagraminlägg från och med 2018 har varit välgörenhetsrelaterade, ungefär en fjärdedel om förnybar energi, ungefär en femtedel om olja. Sex av tio tecken på greenwashing har identifierats samt fyra av fem metoder för propaganda. Studien drar slutsatsen att Shell använder sig av CSR och den teknologiska aspekten av deras arbete som ett sätt att motivera fortsatt oljeverksamhet samt ge en positiv bild av företagets verksamhet. / Over the last few years greenwashing has become a part of our society, whether the average person or company knows it or not. Companies have to find a way to approach the change of discourse that has occurred, to stay relevant and competitive when larger and larger parts of society want to decrease their carbon footprint and live more sustainably. The study analyzes the external communication of the oil company Royal Dutch Shell was particular focus on the climate issue and whether greenwashing is used. The purpose of the study is to examine how one of the world’s biggest companies are adjusting to the current climate discourse and justifies their business. The study uses triangulation of methods to quantitatively map out she oil company’s Instagram activity and qualitatively analyze the content from a semiotic perspective. The study examines whether, and in that case how, Shell uses greenwashing and/or methods of propaganda in order to influence the public’s image of the company in relation to the climate issue, but also in general. To answer the question formulations of the study quantitative content analysis has been used but the primary method used is qualitative text analysis which focuses on various semiotic concepts, one chosen method for identifying greenwashing and a chosen list of propaganda methods. The theoretical framework is based on greenwashing, corporate social responsibility (CSR), lobbying, the concept of discourse, hashtags and is supplemented by semiotics and propaganda analysis in the methodological chapter. The analysis of the study is presented in the form of clearly emerging themes where the most relevant and interesting posts are presented along with an analytical text. These themes include what Shell seems to want to draw attention to, and thus interesting to investigate in the form of arguments for the oil company’s continued work with its main business, although they might also be regarded as distractions from the main business. The results of the study show that as of 2018, about half of Shell’s Instagram posts have been charity-related, about a quarter about renewable energy, about a fifth about oil. Six out of ten signs of greenwashing have been identified as well as four out of five methods of propaganda. The study concludes that Shell uses CSR and the technological aspect of their work as a way to justify continued oil operations and to provide a positive picture of the company.

Frågeställning: Hur påverkas H&Ms kunder och dess lojalitet som följd av greenwashingskandaler, med hänsyn till deras befintliga hållbarhetssyn och hur de generellt påverkas av nyhetsmedia och social media? Hur förändrar H&M sin hållbarhetsrapportering för att stärka legitimiteten som följd av en förändrad kundlojalitet på grund av greenwashingskandal? Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva och analysera kundernas lojalitet till företag till följd av en greenwashingskandal, med hänsyn till nyhetsmedia och social media samt kundernas hållbarhetssyn. Vidare undersöks om och på vilket sätt företagen förändrar deras hållbarhetsredovisning som följd av greenwashingskandalen som påverkat kundlojaliteten för att upprätthålla legitimitet. Studien fokuserar på klädindustrin med H&M som undersökningsobjekt. Metod: Studien var av en kvalitativ studie av deduktiv karaktär. Den baserades på tio intervjuer med studenter som sedan tidigare är kunder hos H&M. Insamling av information gjordes först genom en referensram och beskrivning av viktiga begrepp, vidare genomfördes intervjuer för att sedan sammanställa i ett resultat och analysera. Informationen insamlades successivt under arbetets gång och har till stor del hittats genom databaser och vetenskapliga artiklar Slutsats: Studien visar att kundernas hållbarhetssyn skiljer sig mellan de manliga och de kvinnliga respondenterna och att hållbarhet har större betydelse för kvinnor. Nyhetsmedia och socialmedia påverkar kundlojaliteten till viss del, respondenterna anser sig vara kritiska när det kommer till media men över hälften tillkännager att de trots det genomfört köp. 6/10 respondenter anser att deras kundlojalitet till H&M inte påverkats av greenwashingskandalerna utan att de kommer fortsätta genomföra köp där medan resterande kommer undersöka företaget mer innan ytterligare köp genomförs hos H&M. Vidare visar studien att kundlojaliteten påverkas olika mycket beroende på vad för typ av greenwashingskandal det handlar om. Respondenterna påverkas mer av sociala hållbarhetsskandaler än miljömässiga. Kundlojalitet påverkar företagets legitimitet och H&M har lagt ett större fokus på hållbarhet i deras rapportering för att på så sätt kunna stärka sin legitimitet igen efter tidigare inträffade skandaler. Studien tyder även på att hög legitimitet är viktigt för studenter men med fokus på andra faktorer än hållbarhet. Studien kommer fungera som ett tillägg till tidigare forskning och bidrar med en annan synvinkel än de tidigare. I enlighet med andra studier framkommer det även här att det finns flertalet faktorer som påverkar kundlojalitet som i sin tur påverkar legitimiteten hos företagen. / Question: How are H&M's customers and their loyalty affected as a result of greenwashing scandals, regarding their existing view of sustainability and how are they generally affected by news media and social media? How does H&M change its sustainability reporting to strengthen its legitimacy as a result of a changed customer loyalty due to the greenwashing scandal? Purpose: The purpose of the study is to describe and analyze customers 'loyalty to companies as a result of a greenwashing scandal, regarding news media and social media as well as customers' views on sustainability. It also examines whether and in what way companies change their sustainability reporting as a result of the greenwashing scandal that has affected customer loyalty in order to maintain legitimacy. The study focuses on the clothing industry with H&M as the research object. Method: The study was of a qualitative study of a deductive nature. It was based on ten interviews with students who are already customers of H&M. Collection of information was first done through a frame of reference and description of important concepts, further interviews were conducted to then compile into a result and analyze. The information was collected gradually during the work and has largely been found through databases and scientific articles Conclusion: The study shows that customers' views on sustainability differ between the male and female respondents and that sustainability is more important for women. News media and social media affects the respondents' loyalty to some extent, the respondents consider themselves critical when it comes to media, but more than half announce that they have nevertheless made a purchase. 6/10 respondents believe that their loyalty to H&M has not been affected by the greenwashingscandals but that they will continue to make purchases there, while the rest will investigate the company more before further purchases are made at H&M. Furthermore, the study shows that customer loyalty is affected to varying degrees depending on if the greenwashing scandal is about social or environmental sustainability. Customer loyalty affects the company's legitimacy and H&M has placed a larger focus on sustainability in their reports in order to be able to strengthen its legitimacy again after previous scandals. The study also shows that high legitimacy is important for students but with a focus on factors other than sustainability. The study will serve as a supplement to previous research and contribute with a different point of view than the previous ones. In accordance with other studies, it also emerges here that there are several factors that affect customer loyalty, which in turn affect the legitimacy of companies.

The purpose of the paper is to create a deeper understanding of the effects a company’s CSR activities have on consumers' purchase decisions in the fast fashion industry. Additionally, how consumers' brand image changes when a company does not meet the criteria for CSR initiatives. We want to investigate if consumers prioritize and truly care about companies' sustainability work in the fast fashion industry. This considering clear statistics that the consumption of clothing increases even if companies do not meet the requirements within the various sustainability perspectives. The fast fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world. By examining the consumers’ perspective, we will potentially discover the components that make a consumer choose to shop from a fast fashion company, as well as finding what influences the consumer to refrain from supporting a company that does not fulfill its obligations within CSR. / Syftet med uppsatsen är att skapa en djupare förståelse för vilka effekter ett företags CSR-aktiviteter har på konsumenternas köpbeslut i fast fashionindustrin. Samt hur konsumenternas varumärkesimage förändras när ett företag inte uppfyller kriterierna för CSR-initiativ. Vi vill undersöka om konsumenterna prioriterar och bryr sig om företagens hållbarhetsarbete. Detta med tanke på tydlig statistik om att konsumtionen av kläder ökar även om företagen inte uppfyller kraven inom de olika hållbarhetsperspektiven. Fast fashion industrin är det näst mest förorenade industrin i världen. Genom att undersöka konsumentperspektivet kommer vi potentiellt att upptäcka vilka komponenter som gör att en konsument väljer att handla från fast fashionindustrin, samt hitta vad som påverkar konsumenten till att avstå från att stötta ett företag som inte uppfyller sina åtaganden inom CSR.

Syftet i studien är att finna likheter och skillnader i casino- och spelföretagens redovisade sociala ansvarstagande. Urvalet är svenska spelföretag som är noterade på Stockholmsbörsen. De studerade företagen är LeoVegas, Evolution AB, Betsson AB och Kindred Group PLC. Metoden grundar sig i en innehållsanalys med komparativ och longitudinell design. Studien har undersökt kategorierna “Kontroll”, “Åtgärd”, “Ansvarsfullt spelande” och “Spelproblem” i företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar för åren 2017-2021. Antalet meningar som innehåller kategorierna har studerats för att finna likheter och skillnader. Resultatet visar att kategorin “Ansvarsfullt spelande” tillämpats mest samt att “Spelproblem” tillämpats minst bland företagen. Resultatet visar även att Kindred Group PLC använt kategorierna mest i sin hållbarhetsredovisning och att Evolution AB har nämnt kategorierna minst. Resultatet kopplas bland annat till teorier om ansvarstagande, användning av ramverk och “greenwashing”. Slutsatserna som dras är att det är svårt att definiera konkreta likheter och skillnader, att företagen generellt har utvecklat sina hållbarhetsrapporter samt att det finns skillnader i användandet av icke-obligatoriska verktyg. Jämförbarheten mellan hållbarhetsredovisningarna är låg, däremot har företagen olika grad av transparens. Studien visar en tendens att hållbarhetsrapportering kopplat till spelproblem har ändrats under Covid-19 pandemin. Utöver detta kan vi konstatera att företagen använder sig av “greenwashing” i sin hållbarhetsrapportering och att det är en fördel för företag att följa GRI:s ramverk vid upprättandet av en hållbarhetsrapport. / The purpose of the study is to find similarities and differences in the reported social responsibility of casino and gambling companies'. The selection of companies is Swedish gambling companies that are listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The companies studied are LeoVegas, Evolution AB, Betsson AB and Kindred Group PLC. The method is based on a content analysis with comparative and longitudinal design. The study has examined the categories “Control”, “Action”, “Responsible Gambling” and “Gambling Problems” in the companies' sustainability reports for the years 2017-2021. The number of sentences that use these categories and the content of the sentences that contain these categories have been studied to find similarities and differences. The results show that the category “responsible gambling” is the most used category among the companies, while the category “gambling problems” is the least used. The results also show that Kindred Group PLC uses the categories the most in its sustainability report and that Evolution AB mentions the categories the least. The results had relevance to the theories about responsibility, the use of frameworks and "greenwashing". The conclusions drawn are that it is difficult to define concrete similarities and differences, that companies have a general method to develop their sustainability reports, and that there are differences in the use of non-mandatory tools. Comparability between the sustainability reports are low, but the companies have different degrees of transparency. The study shows a change of tendency regarding the sustainability reports connected to gamble addiction during the covid-19 pandemic. In addition, we can state that companies use “greenwashing” in their sustainability reporting and that it is an advantage for companies to follow GRI's guidelines when preparing a sustainability report.

This case study examines how luxury fashion brands communicate their sustainability practices on the brands' sustainability page on the company's website and whether selected luxury fashion brands are greenwashing and bluewashing. The luxury brands selected for this study are Stella McCartney and Gucci, on the grounds that both brands have different types of businesses and approaches. To understand the context, this study uses the triple bottom line sustainability concept by Elkinton (1998), sustainable luxury fashion brands (Godart & Seong ,2017; Wiedmann et al., 2009; Joey et al.,2012; and Franco et al. 2019), greenwashing concept by Delmas & Burbano (2011) and bluewashing concept (Sailer et al., 2022). To conduct the analysis, this study uses textual, eco-lexicon categorization developed by Thomas (2008) and the categorization from Milanesi et al. (2022) is adapted for visual analysis and the sins of greenwashing by Terra Choice (2010) to see the potential of greenwashing. The results shows that Stella McCartney and Gucci sustainable communication serves as their marketing strategy which encourage purchase and therefore it is problematic. Both brands use vague, ambiguous words, terms, and certifications and lack of transparency. While the images are not yet seen as a potential tool to communicate sustainability initiatives. Even though the brands are known as sustainable fashion brands, the result demonstrates brands show irrelevancies and paradoxes between what the brands communicate and their actual practices ; therefore show potential greenwashing and bluewashing.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discover how management information models provide organizations that have the will to perform sustainable, with a tool that gives them knowledge and practical guidance to reach sustainability and avoid the practice of greenwashing as a result. Therefore, the research question is: How can management information models serve as a tool to improve the sustainability performance and reduce the practice of greenwashing of an organization? Methods The authors approached this research from a balanced and pragmatic view. The primary data in the research is collected with a qualitative approach in the form of semi-structured interviews. The interviews are conducted with respondents from Swedish organizations in different sectors in order to increase the reliability of the study. The respondents are responsible for sustainability and management information models in their organizations. Findings The results present the need to enhance management information models by including the sustainability elements economic, social and environmental, also called the Triple Bottom Line (Elkington 1999). An evolution of the Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan & Norton 1996) is needed to reach a management information models that improves the sustainability performance. In addition, this study shows the importance of including a knowledge section in such models. Also, it is of high importance to place the measured outcomes of sustainability in context in order to provide insight in the true impact of the sustainability performance of the organization. Implications The implications of this research consists of three theoretical implications and three practical implications. The three theoretical implications include the three core elements of a sustainability model, simplification of complex knowledge especially on the knowledge performance and prescribing only the essential elements of a model. The three practical implications exists of dividing the implementation into phases, ensure responsibility of sustainability on a high management level and integrate sustainability into culture. KeywordsSustainability; greenwashing; management information models; contextsustainability; knowledge.

The fashion industry is a recurring topic in the media, especially regarding the responsibility the fashion companies should take, which has created skepticism from stakeholders. This skepticism is based on that the stakeholders do not know what the companies do concerning corporate social responsibility and the companies communicate CSR with the hope of creating legitimacy on the market. How apparel and footwear communicate their CSR efforts and their performances in self-assessed tools compared to their actual efforts have not been researched before, hence the purpose of this thesis. The purpose of this research is to map and analyze how apparel and footwear companies communicate CSR efforts in comparison to their claimed CSR performance. This in order to reach a better understanding of how apparel and footwear companies communicate their CSR efforts how consistent they are with their self-assessed performance they communicate to their stakeholders. Content analyses have been conducted on the sample, which contained 59 companies in the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). First, the content analysis has been performed on communication channels used by the sample when communicating CSR and the claimed CSR performances been collected from the Higg Index. The sustainability efforts in comparison to the performances have been analyzed based on a discourse analysis on five of the chattiest companies in SAC, which was performed after the content analysis in order to create a mixed method approach. This study has presented how frequently apparel and footwear companies communicate their CSR efforts and performances. It has also shown what channels primarily used when communicating CSR and how they choose to prioritize their performances. Additionally, the result and analysis in this study have shown that the most talkative companies in SAC, namely H&M, Inditex, Patagonia, PVH and Salomon, communicate quality in their available sustainability information. The way they all incorporate CSR in their business model is also a way of showing dedication and perhaps even quality in their sustainability efforts and claimed performances.

This is a comparative, qualitative study conducted through comparing three different companies that are in some extent using Green marketing in their marketing communication. The issue that this study addresses is the problematics connected to the use of green marketing. To address this problem, the purpose of this study will be to investigate how companies relates to the phenomena and how the attitudes differ between these. The thesis will target companies within the clothing and accessory industry and will furthermore investigate why the concerned companies choose to use green marketing. The empirical data collection consists out of interviews with key-persons that have a deep understanding of their respective company. Three beginning interviewees was performed and later on supplemented with a in-depth interview with representatives from each company’s market department. The selected interviewees are all representative for the respective companies attitudes in this thesis. The three companies compared in this thesis are Sandgrens Clogs, Houdini and Tenson. After conducting the interviews, the interviews were transcribed and analyzed, thereafter the empirical data collection could be compared to each other. Through the interviews we could distinguish three themes: Green marketing, Greenwashing and sustainability.The result from the thesis will provide an understanding of why companies choose to use green marketing. To get a deeper understanding, the thesis will also cover the different attitudes towards the phenomena green marketing and sustainability. Furthermore it will give an understanding of why and how Sandgrens Clogs, Houdini and Tenson uses green marketing in their market communication. Companies as well as consumers could gain from the awareness of the usage of green marketing that this thesis are contributing with.

This Master’s thesis explores environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) in the alpine sport industry. A mixed methods case with a single alpine sport provider in Quebec was performed. The first study is a qualitative examination of how and why ECSR is employed and communicated. Results indicate ECSR is strategically motivated, and as such, the focal organization runs the risk of using several greenwashing techniques in communications that could jeopardize gaining competitive advantage. The second study quantitatively investigates alpine sport consumers’ environmental expectations, engagement with environmental products, and perceptions of the focal organization’s environmental reputation. The results show the focal organization’s customers do indeed have environmental expectations, but believe the focal organization’s environmental reputation remains neutral. The thesis supports arguments of corporate social responsibility (CSR) being strategically motivated and other findings of skiers having conflicting environmental values. Lastly, the thesis provides insight regarding greenwashing, a phenomenon that remains unexplored in sport management.

This Master’s thesis explores environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) in the alpine sport industry. A mixed methods case with a single alpine sport provider in Quebec was performed. The first study is a qualitative examination of how and why ECSR is employed and communicated. Results indicate ECSR is strategically motivated, and as such, the focal organization runs the risk of using several greenwashing techniques in communications that could jeopardize gaining competitive advantage. The second study quantitatively investigates alpine sport consumers’ environmental expectations, engagement with environmental products, and perceptions of the focal organization’s environmental reputation. The results show the focal organization’s customers do indeed have environmental expectations, but believe the focal organization’s environmental reputation remains neutral. The thesis supports arguments of corporate social responsibility (CSR) being strategically motivated and other findings of skiers having conflicting environmental values. Lastly, the thesis provides insight regarding greenwashing, a phenomenon that remains unexplored in sport management.