Fashion and Sustainability: Analyzing Fashion Companies’ Digital Communication on Sustainability - A Comparative Study of Veja and Nike

Details

Supervisors

De Cock, Sylvie ; Kyle Conway

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en communication multilingue, à finalité spécialisée: langues des affaires

Abstract

The emergence of sustainability as a societal concern has reshaped the basis of most industries, challenging established business models and norms. As the fashion industry is one of the most environmentally damaging, and socially and economically impactful industries, most companies had to adapt to the evolution of consumer behavior toward sustainability. Potential buyers look for alternatives, searching for fashion brands’ sustainable initiatives. In this context, corporate communication about sustainability has become crucial in shaping brand image, with digital channels becoming predominant. This master’s research paper sets out to analyze how fashion companies communicate about sustainability to potential consumers, by comparing communication made by a company created around sustainability, Veja, with communication made by Nike, a company that had to adapt to this issue. A qualitative method is used to investigate communication made on each company’s e-commerce, website, and Instagram page. The results showed that both companies handled communication about sustainability in similar ways but with different levels of transparency.