In the last decades we have seen an increase of inclusive marketing, partly because of an increase of consumer awareness and expectations. But it can be hard to succeed with inclusive marketing, and previous research shows that many companies have been accused of CSR- washing, forced diversity, etc. Femvertising in particular has received a lot of criticism of being staged and insincere. Therefore, there is a need for brands to know what consumers expect from them regarding inclusive marketing. The purpose of this study was to capture Swedish female consumers’ perceptions on inclusive marketing, as well as their attitudes towards inclusive adverts. As most previous research has focused on gender stereotypes, there was a need for investigations of more topics within inclusive marketing. Also, Swedish consumers’ opinions of inclusive marketing lack research.  A qualitative method was used to gain a deeper understanding of the participants’ perceptions. Through semi-structured interviews, the participants got to express their opinions of inclusive marketing overall, and then react to two different inclusive adverts. The adverts were chosen based on the theoretical framework.  The results show that inclusive marketing is important for Swedish female consumers, and that they experience that it is getting more common. According to the consumers, advertising should reflect the people in the real world, so everyone feels included. It should include people of different origins, gender, sexuality, age, etc. To tackle stereotypes could be to show people in settings where they are not traditionally connected to, or in other ways try to break the norms that society has created. The respondents in this study highly valued femvertising, in contrast to what some other scholars have found.  Inclusive marketing has a positive effect on Swedish female consumers’ attitudes towards the brand. However, the message that is promoted should fit with the content of the advert and with the brand, and it should also be consistent with the brand’s other communications. The use of a diverse group in advertising should feel natural because that will make it more authentic. Brands should not have to justify their use of models “outside the norms”. However, the study also shows that some consumers think that the use of inclusive marketing is always appropriate.  Lastly, the inclusivity in the adverts did not have a specific effect on the consumers’ purchase behavior. But, if a brand is not inclusive at all, it will affect both the consumers’ brand attitudes negatively, as well as their purchase behavior. The most important finding in this study is that it is important for brands to be inclusive in their marketing, however the inclusion should feel natural, and people’s differences should be normalized. Then companies reduce the risk of being accused of staged diversity or CSR-washing.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate how young consumers understand sustainability in the fashion industry: how they define it and if they consider both environmental and social sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative method was used. The 14 semi- structured video-call interviews were carried out with interviewees between the ages of 20 and 30 years old, chosen based on their age and accessibility to the researchers. Further, all the interviewees live in Sweden. Findings – The collected data show that young consumers have a fairly broad understanding of sustainability in the fashion industry, even if parts of that understanding seem to be subconscious. All the interviewees are aware of the fashion industry’s negative impact on global sustainability, and show awareness of transparency and Greenwashing issues. Many also agree that aspects of high quality, timeless design and second-hand clothing are crucial for sustainability in the fashion industry. All interviewees connect sustainability in the fashion industry to environmental sustainability first and foremost, while issues with social sustainability come second. The interviewees were generally more concerned with environmental issues like emissions and materials. However, all but one showed awareness of the social implications as well, addressing social issues like working conditions. Originality/value – The thesis is a response to the lack of research on young consumer’s understanding and perceptions of sustainability within the fashion industry. It’s an interesting subject, since the fashion industry has many sustainability issues, and young consumers have a great spending power, and also care a lot about sustainability. The research is a mean for future research regarding young consumers and the fashion industry and will provide further understanding towards the subject.

Research Question: How does the consumer perception of firm behavior towards environmental and social issues affect consumer purchase intention?   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the perception consumers have developed about issues companies in the fashion industry are facing, the CSR activities they are implementing, and the effect these have on the consumer's purchase intent.  Method: The method applied in this empirical study is the quantitative research method with the utilization of an online questionnaire.  Conclusion: CSR practices are introduced voluntarily by companies with the purpose to contribute to the well-being of the community by utilizing corporate resources to achieve that goal. The authors discovered that CSR activities of companies within the fashion industry and the increased visibility of firms´ response to misbehavior do not show a positive effect on the perception of the consumer. Furthermore, the consumers' purchase intention is neither positively influenced by firms´ CSR practices nor is the pricing of a fashion garment demonstrating a favorable impact.

E-handel ökar kontinuerligt och förändrar detaljhandelskartan oavbrutet som bidragit till att detaljhandeln genomgår ett strukturellt skifte mot e-handel där företag behöver använda sig av nya strategier för att vara framgångsrika. Framförallt möter mikro- och småföretag större utmaningar då de har mindre resurser och är mindre väletablerade på marknaden, där Strategy-as-Practice (S-as-P) ses som ett alternativ till den traditionella forskningen kring strategi då den är mer applicerbar för att förstå strategi i mindre företag. Syftet med studien är genom ett S-as-P perspektiv undersöka skillnader/likheter mellan klädbutikers strategier kring det strukturella skiftet mot e-handel.   Inom S-as-P ligger fokus varför, hur och vad som sker i formulering, planering och implementering av organisationers strategi. Det finns tre olika perspektiv inom S-as-P för att studera ett företags strategi, practitioners, practices och praxis. Studien har baserats på S-as-P genom ett konceptuellt ramverk uppsatt av forskarna vilket innefattar att studera de tre grundpelarna som utgör S-as-P i förhållande till företag inom klädbranschen. Detta för att tolka företagens strategizing och förstå deras strategizing utifrån planerade-, entreprenöriella-, konsensus- och påtvingade strategier.  Studien har genomförts efter en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer, där fem företag har intervjuats. Forskningsprocessen har liknat en abduktiv ansats, där det skett en växelverkan mellan teori och empiri med en möjlighet för vidare insamling av empiri och teori tills att en mättnad uppnåtts. Därefter har forskarna analyserat fram klädbutikers strategi och hur det strukturella skiftet mot e-handel har påverkat företagens strategier.  Resultatet visar att strategier är djupt influerade av enskilda individer. I respektive företag som deltagit i studien finns det en tydlig länk mellan varför strategiska handlingar genomförs och den individ som besitter en högre roll. Genomgående visar resultatet att ägaren kommer styra och hantera sitt företag utifrån sitt perspektiv varpå individen som är involverad i samtliga aktiviteter i ett företag kommer prägla företagets strategi.

Background:  Distinguishing from competitors nowadays turns out to be more difficult as mass communication is a topical issue. Not only, but also in the fashion industry, sustainability is an upcoming topic, especially since this industry is deemed to be the second most polluting worldwide and strives for a change in consumerism. Particularly, millennials are perceived to be the generation being most aware of sustainable alternatives and aspire to protect the environment. Green Marketing is applied to thus promote green processes, products and the like to several customer segments.  Purpose:        The purpose of this thesis is to qualitatively explore the impact of green marketing on the purchase behavior of European female millennials in the fashion industry. Method:         The method chosen for this study were online focus groups with female informants from several European countries. Five online focus groups with a total of 31 informants were conducted. The qualitative study is based on an inductive and interpretivist approach. Due to the existence of known models, individual deductive elements were included for data collection. Finally, a theoretical framework was created. Conclusion:        The results show that green marketing is perceived in a diversified way. Positively, green marketing is creating awareness towards considering sustainable fashion and a possible future change in the purchasing behavior. Negatively it is said, that green marketing is often associated with greenwashing and dishonest pursuits of the companies. Due to sustainability becoming more important and popular, green marketing is also related to a trend in marketing to keep up with competitors. However, green marketing in this study was found out to have no significant impact on the purchase behavior. Overall, the impact of green marketing depends strongly on the knowledge level of the informants in this study. It is noteworthy, that informants with basic knowledge are most likely to be influenced by GM

Bakgrund: Efterfrågan på transparens inom modebranschen har på senare år ökat och konsumenter ställer allt högre krav på information om resan som klädesplagg haft från start till slut. Många företag har dålig insyn i sin egna försörjningskedjor och transparens ses av många som ett första steg i att få företag att arbeta mot en bättre insyn. Det finns åtskilliga definitioner av transparens, och det saknas en allmänt erkänd definition av begreppet. Avsaknaden av en tydlig definition kan vara en orsak till det bristande arbetet med transparens inom modebranschen, ett samband som studien därför avser att undersöka. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att, ur ett aktörsperspektiv, skapa förståelse för samspelet mellan definitioner och arbete med transparens inom modebranschen. Genomförande: Denna tvärsnittsstudie utgår från ett aktörssynsätt och ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv vilka används genom en kvalitativ forskningsdesign. Det empiriska materialet består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med nio respondenter som arbetar på åtta olika företag i modebranschen samt dokumentstudier. Slutsats: Det finns ett samband mellan definitioner av transparens och huruvida aktörer inom modebranschen arbetar med det. Genom det empiriska materialet konstaterades stora skillnader sett till aktörernas definitioner, där de överlag framstod som vaga. Definitionerna speglades i arbetet som till största del höll en låg nivå. För de enstaka aktörer som påvisade ett väletablerat arbete med transparens var definitionerna mer specificerade. Den bristfälliga detaljnivån i aktörernas definitioner och arbete med transparens påvisar att en allmänt erkänd definition troligtvis skulle leda till ett förbättrat arbete med transparens. Studien visar även att aktörer bör skapa tydligare och mer detaljerade definitioner av transparens för att kunna vidareutveckla transparensarbetet. / Background: In recent years the demand for transparency in the fashion industry has increased, and consumers are continuously requiring greater oversight of the supply chain of garments. Transparency is often considered to be the first step into gaining better insight into supply chain processes. There are several definitions of transparency, and no definition is commonly accepted. The lack of transparency in the fashion industry may be a reflection of the absence of a clear definition for the term; a relationship that the study intends to investigate. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to, from an actor's perspective, create an understanding of the interaction between definitions and work with transparency in the fashion industry. Methodology: This cross-sectional study is based on an actor-approach and a hermeneutic perspective, which are used through a qualitative research design. The empirical material consists of semi-structured interviews with nine respondents who work at eight different companies in the fashion industry, as well as document studies. Conclusion: There is a connection between definitions of transparency and how actors in the fashion industry work with it. The empirical material showed major differences in terms of the actors' definitions, where they generally appeared vague. The definitions were reflected in the work, which mostly held a low level. For the few actors who demonstrated well-established transparency work, the definitions were more specific. The insufficient level of detail in the actors' definitions and work with transparency indicates that a generally recognized definition would be beneficial for future work with transparency. The study also shows that actors should create clearer and more detailed definitions of transparency in order to be able to further develop the work with transparency.

La presente investigación tiene como finalidad determinar cuáles son los potenciales factores que influyen en el Comportamiento de Compra de Moda Ecológica de los millennials en Lima Moderna como estrategia competitiva de los econegocios de moda en el año 2020. El diseño a emplear para la investigación es no experimental, de corte transversal simple y de alcance explicativo. Adicional a ello, se emplea el enfoque cuantitativo como metodología para la recolección de datos; esté último se da a través de la aplicación de encuestas con el propósito de analizar los resultados obtenidos de la relación de las variables de estudio. Asimismo, la confiabilidad del instrumento se evalúa mediante el alfa de Cronbach, el cual es de 0.807 para la variable “Moda Ecológica”, y para la variable “Factores que influyen en el Comportamiento de Compra del Consumidor” es de 0.811. Por otro lado, de una población estimada de 453,012 habitantes millennials en Lima Moderna, se delimitó por medio del método de muestreo probabilístico estratificado una muestra de 384 millennials. Y según el análisis de la contrastación de hipótesis a través de la prueba Chi Cuadrado, se infiere que, los factores que influyen en el comportamiento de compra de Moda Ecológica de los millennials en Lima Moderna son potenciales para la Estrategia Competitiva de los Econegocios de Moda en el año 2020. / This research aims to determine what are the potential factors that influence in the purchase behavior of ecological fashion for millennials in Modern Lima as a competitive strategy for fashion eco-businesses, by 2020. The research design is non-experimental, cross-sectional simple and explanatory scope. In addition to this, the quantitative approach is used as a methodology for data collection, which is given through the application of surveys in order to analyze the results obtained from the relationship of the study variables. Likewise, the reliability of the instrument is evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, which is 0.807 for the variable “Ecological Fashion”, and for the variable "Consumer buying behavior" it is 0.811. On the other hand, from an estimated population of 453,012 millennial inhabitants in Modern Lima, a sample of 384 millennials was delimited by means of the stratified probabilistic sampling method. And according to the analysis of the hypothesis testing through the Chi Square test, it is inferred that the factors that influence the buying behavior of Ecological Fashion for millennials in Modern Lima are potential for the Competitive Strategy of Fashion Eco-businesses in 2020. / Tesis

Esta investigación tiene por objetivo analizar los criterios de diseño persuasivo que utilizan las marcas peruanas de moda sostenible durante el proceso de creación de la identidad visual para comunicar sus valores. Por consiguiente, se planteó como hipótesis que el diseño persuasivo se utiliza como base al momento de crear la identidad visual de las marcas de moda sostenible, puesto que facilita la comunicación y recepción de los valores sostenibles. Esta investigación es de tipo cualitativo, puesto que los datos a examinar son los elementos de la identidad visual de las marcas peruanas de moda sostenible. Los elementos analizados son: el logo, la tipografía, la paleta de color, el estilo fotográfico, el tono de comunicación y las figuras de soporte. Se trata de una investigación de alcance descriptivo en vista que el fin es examinar información con respecto a una gráfica visual. Los resultados obtenidos confirman que la identidad visual posibilita la comunicación efectiva de los valores sostenibles de la marca. Gracias a los elementos que componen la identidad visual, las marcas peruanas se dan a conocer ante su público objetivo. Se concluye que, el diseño persuasivo es apto para comunicar los valores de las marcas de moda sostenible, mas no es considerado al momento de crear la identidad visual. Sin embargo, este sí se evidencia en la comunicación de los valores sostenibles. Esto sucede porque las marcas optan por mostrarse ante sus consumidores de forma auténtica; buscan concientizar al usuario sobre el impacto de la industria de la moda. / This research aims to analyze the persuasive design criteria used by Peruvian sustainable fashion brands when creating their visual identity to communicate their sustainable values. Regarding the hypothesis, it was considered that persuasive design is used as the basis when creating the visual identity of sustainable fashion brands; since it eases the communication and reception of sustainable values. The research type is qualitative, since the data and elements to be analyzed on are graphic and not numerical. The content to be observed are those used by Peruvian sustainable fashion brands when creating their visual identity. This investigation has a descriptive scope since the purpose is to examine information with respect to a visual graph. The results demonstrate that the visual identity enables the brand to achieve an effective communication, and it is the elements that compose it that allow Peruvian sustainable fashion brands to achieve recognition between the users. Finally, although persuasive design is apt to communicate the sustainable values ​​of sustainable fashion brands, it is not considered when creating a strategy and designing visual identity; however, if it is evidenced in the communication of sustainable values. This happens because brands choose to show themselves as a genuine brand to their consumers. Its objective is not to impose sustainability but to make the user aware of its existence, and that from the purchase they choose responsible fashion consumption. / Trabajo de investigación

Introduction: The second hand market for apparel is a good alternative for making sustainable purchases, given that it does not contribute to textile waste to the same extent as the fast fashion industry. Consumers are aware of the current environmental issues, however they do not always act according to their knowledge. Therefore, this study is devoted to examine the possibility to increase the consumer’s participation in the second hand market for apparel, as a solution to the problem of textile waste. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how influencer marketing can be used in order to increase the participation in the second hand market for apparel. Further, this paper examines the impact of the factors of price, environmental awareness and quality on sale and purchase of second hand apparel. Method: To implement this study both quantitative and qualitative methodologies have been used. For the quantitative part surveys have been constructed, to get a broader view of the consumer behavior. Furthermore, interviews with different consumers were held for the qualitative part, to get a deeper insight in the consumer behavior. The collected data has later on been a support for the analysis. Conclusion: This study shows that influencer marketing can indeed increase the participation on the second hand market for apparel, by increasing environmental awareness among the consumers. Moreover, the most influential factors are quality when purchasing, price when selling and environmental awareness both when purchasing and selling. Introduktion: Andrahandsmarknaden för kläder är ett bra alternativ om man vill fatta hållbara köpbeslut, då det inte bidrar till textilavfall i samma utsträckning som fast fashion industrin. Konsumenter är idag medvetna om befintliga miljöproblem, men det är inte alltid de handlar i enlighet med sin kunskap. Därför är denna studie egnad åt att undersöka möjligheten att öka konsumentens deltagande på andrahandsmarknaden för kläder som en lösning till textilavfallsproblemet. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur influencer marketing kan användas för att öka konsumentens deltagande på andrahandsmarknaden för kläder. Vidare, undersöker denna studie tre faktorers påverkan på köp och sälj av andrahandskläder. Dessa faktorer är pris, miljömedvetenhet och kvalitet. Metod: För att genomföra den studie har både kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod används. Till den kvantitativa delen har enkäter skapats för att få en bredare bild av konsumentens beteende. Vidare har intervjuer hållits med olika konsumenter till den kvalitativa delen. Detta har gjorts för att få en djupare insikt i konsumentens beteende. Den data som har samlats har senare varit stöd för den analys som har gjorts. Slutsats: Denna studie visar att influencer marketing kan användas för att öka kundens deltagande på andrahandsmarknaden för kläder och detta genom att öka miljömedvetenheten bland kunderna. Dessutom visar studien att kvalitet är den faktorn som har störst inflytande på köpande, samtidigt som pris har störst effekt på säljande. Slutligen har miljömedvetenhet ett relativt stort inflytande på både köp och sälj.

The fashion industry has been criticized due to environmental issues, such as the causation of increased scarcity of landfills, hazardous emissions, and exhaustion of non-renewable resources. At the same time, customers, and governments require organizations within the industry to be transparent, offer sustainable consumption, and take responsibility for textile waste. The proposed solution for this is called circular economy (CE), which aims to present a circular system where the value of materials, resources, and products is preserved in the economy for as long as possible. Reverse logistics, referring to managing product returns, end-of-life processing followed by recovery operations, has been stated to be the primary component of CE. Thus, there has been a research gap on how CE practice can be applied to reverse logistics within the fashion industry. To enrich the literature in the field, the purpose of this study is to describe and analyze how sampled Swedish founded fashion retailers state that they apply CE practice to reverse logistics. The methodology applied was a multiple case-study, using semi-structured interviews and official documents. Driving forces that were stated as reasons for applying CE practice to reverse logistics were categorized into three main categories: environmental, social, and economic forces. They were linked to the theory of institution. Signs of all types of isomorphism was shown in the research. This could explain why fashion retailers stated that they performed similarly causes of actions. The stated approaches were divided into four main categories: product-service system, clothing collection, direct redistribution, and reuse or recycling. These categories included the following practical activities: 1) product care and leasing service, 2) in-store clothing collection, 3) sales in outlet stores, sales in second-hand stores, and donating garments to charity and, 4) collaboration with a recycling organization, reuse, and producing and selling upcycled collections. Thus, before implementing the approaches the design and production stage had to be considered.