Konstruerad legitimitet eller samhällsmedvetenhet? : En kvalitativ studie av charterbolaget TUIs CSR-kommunikation till svenska konsumenter.

Sammanfattning: Title: Constructed legitimacy or social responsibility? A qualitative study of the tour operator TUI’s CSR-communication directed to Swedish consumers (Konstruerad legitimitet eller samhällsmedvetenhet? En kvalitativ studie av charterbolaget TUIs CSR-kommunikation till svenska konsumenter) Authors: Emma Wallin and Klara Berglund Eriksson Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the tour operator concern TUI work to achieve legitimacy during a period of criticism towards the travel industry, by studying their CSR-communication. This is done by answering following questions:  

Does TUI use CSR-communication as a way to achieve legitimacy? How does TUI communicate their CSR-commitment in their relationship with Swedish consumers? Which tendencies of Suchman’s legimicity types can be found in TUI’s CSR-communication? Method/Material: To answer the research questions we have analysed material from TUI’s sustainability report of 2018, their press releases from 2018-2019 and content from the page of sustainability at TUI Sweden’s website. The material was collected by document analysis and analysed through a qualitative content analysis.  Main Results: Our study indicates that TUI use CSR-communication to achieve legitimacy and maintains two of Suchman’s legimicity types: pragmatic and moral. TUI primarily use one-way communication and the study indicates that there is an economic interest behind their work with achieving legitimacy through their CSR-communication.  Number of pages: 50 pages Course: Media and Communication studies C Department: Department of Informatics and media University: Uppsala University Period: Spring 2020 Tutor: Martin Landahl Keywords: Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR-communication, Legitimacy, Tourism.