Wash away greenwashing : Retorisk analys av kriskommunikation vid anklagelser av greenwashing

Sammanfattning: The study ”Wash away greenwashing” aims to analyze crisis communication caused byaccusations of greenwashing and whether the accused organizations succeed in repairing their image. Greenwashing is when an organization is trying to portray themselves as more environmentally friendly than they actually are. The chosen organizations are Sveaskog, Preem and Svenskt Flyg, who have been accused of greenwashing and won the annual anti- prize which is voted forward by the swedish environmental organization Jordens Vänner. The study conducts a qualitative rhetorical analysis and a smaller quantitative content analysis based on theories about the rhetorical situation, ethos, pathos and logos, green rhetoric and Image repair theory. The study analyzes four different media texts belonging to the organisations which are called ”Kommentar till Svenska Greenwashingpriset”, ”Sveaskog välkomnar en dialog om skog”, ”Så ska Preem hantera Svenska Greenwashingpriset” och ”De får Svenska Greenwashingpriset 2017”. The result of the analysis shows that all of the accused organizations are using the different theory’s within crisis communication, but theextent differs. The main thing to achieve effective crisis communication is to have available information concerning the accusations and that the crisis communication should be as correct and balanced as possible regarding rhetoric. The conclusion is that Sveaskog is the most efficient with their crisis communication and thus succeeds in repairing their image after the accusations in the best way.