The competitive situation for businesses has experienced drastical changes as an effectof globalization and changes in consumer demands. Product related competitive advantages arerisking to quickly become presumptions for competition. The demand for increased innovationpace, along with the intense price competition, has led to buisnesses trying to find new ways todifferentiate themselves and Corporate Social Responsibility has became one way of doing so.The bad working conditions associated with the textile industry have rised a debate about thebusinesses’ Corporate Social Responsibility. The future is heading towards more and morecompanies choosing to take their social responsibility, many of those experiencing this to be anadvandage in the relation with the consumers. Although, there are no proofs supporting thattheory.To be able to answer if the Corporate Social Responsibility adopted by companies actually cancontribute with benefits, the following problem formulation was created: Is it possible to build a strong brandimage through CSR? Is the interest for ethics important enough among swedish fashion consumers to have animpact on their buying desicion?The purpose of this study is to illustrate how companies in the fashion industry can apply CSR, toenhance their brandimage, and create competitive advantages. The study also aims to examine, inwhat way, the consumers’ interest in ethics and social issues affect their buying decisions.The study showed that most consumers like to think of themselves as “good people” andtherefore find social responsibility and fair working conditions to be of great importance whichmakes it possible for comapanies to build a strong brandimage with CSR. Although, the likingtowards social responsibility showed to be in no way a warranty for companies that consumerswill choose their products over those of the competitors’. A strong brandimage, thus, isn’t enoughto affect the consumers buying decision though other attributes is of greater importance for thecustomers. However, there is a small segment that find fair working conditions to be of greatimportance. The conclusion is that CSR, as a competitive weapon and differentiator, is suitablefor a small segment of the market rather than the market as a whole. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hb-19611 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Johansson, Marie-Louise |
| Publisher | Högskolan i Borås, Institutionen Textilhögskolan, University of Borås/Swedish School of Textiles |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Kandidatuppsats, |
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