How CSR is marketed and optimized in the Swedish fashion industry : A qualitative study on digital marketing and web analytics when marketing CSR

Sammanfattning: The fashion industry is commonly known for being responsible for large amounts of environmental damage as well as having poor working conditions. This is why many companies operating withinthe Swedish fashion industry are working with Corporate social responsibility (CSR)in orderto become more sustainable. CSR is a well-knownconcept that has been researched in many studies as well asimplemented by many companies. While there are many ways to incorporateCSRactivities, the main goal is to take responsibilityfor the actions of the company, address stakeholder interestsand work towards more sustainable operations. Besides CSR, this study also investigates the use of digital marketing and web analytics in the Swedish fashion industry. While mostcompanies activelyuse digital marketing, a large number of companies fail at utilizing the full potential of web analytics when evaluating digital marketing strategies. Furthermore, thisstudy investigates how companies in the Swedish fashion industry use digital marketing and web analytics when marketing their CSR initiatives. The purpose of this study was todevelop a deeper understanding about the role that digital marketing and web analytics have in marketing CSR initiatives in the Swedish fashion industry. The Swedish fashion industry was the context investigated in this study as the fashionindustry is at front edge with implementingCSR initiatives,and is developing into becoming a less environmentally damaging industrywith stricter regulations and more knowledgeableconsumers.This study was conducted througha qualitative method with semi structured interviews. The respondents consisted of CEOs,sustainability experts as well as business developers working within the Swedish fashion industry. Through a thematic analysis, we have found themes which in turn were analyzed regardingCSR activities, digital marketing and web analytics. The findings showed that there was an existing controversy with the marketing of CSR, which might have been due to the lack of clear guidelines and regulations restricting what can be considered as sustainable products. This situation led to some marketingwithin the industry being considered as misleading marketing, while some companies did not dare to market their CSR initiativesdue to the fearof being criticized for green washing or not doing enough. Furthermore, the findings showed that digital marketing has a largerole in the Swedish fashion industry. While some companies worked extensively with web analytics to improve their marketing campaignsand social channels, othercompanies failed at utilizing the full potential of web analytics.