Hållbar marknadskommunikation - Genuint ansvarstagande eller ett spel för galleriet? : En kritisk diskursanalys av H&M:s och Lindex:s hållbara marknadskommunikation

Sammanfattning: The climate crisis that the world is facing has resulted in a generally greater awareness about how climate friendly the products that we consume are. This has led companies all over the world to develop their sustainability marketing communication in order to attract consumers. As a fast fashion company, it could be quite a battle to communicate sustainability as it is stated that the textile industry has the greatest negative environmental impact on the climate today. H&M and Lindex are two Swedish-founded fast fashion companies which, among many others, have adapted their communication on their media channels to highlight the environmental friendliness for their consumers.  The purpose of this study was to investigate how H&M and Lindex communicate their sustainable marketing communication on their official websites. The theoretical framework used in the study is Framing theory and Public Relations. By applying a Critical Discourse Analysis based on Fairclough's three-dimensional analysis model the result of the study shows how the two fast fashion companies' sustainable communication is framed. The result of the study shows that both H&M and Lindex use sustainability in their marketing communication as a way to position themselves in the fashion market as active actors by highlighting their own sustainability achievements. By also urging consumers and other actors to contribute with sustainable and environmentally friendly measures, both brands create a role where they take social responsibility in engaging and encouraging a more sustainable world. Future goals and measures pursued in the companies’ sustainability work are also explained in both companies' web communication. Both brands also position themselves as a source of information for consumers, since  they inform them about how climate change can affect society. The differences that were found in the two companies' sustainable marketing communication were above all that Lindex, unlike H&M, places a greater focus on the empowerment of women in its sustainability communication.