Sustainability Reporting, a New Type of Companies’ Hypocrisy: Zara and Volkswagen Cases

Allam, Imane; Scagnelli, Simone Domenico; Corazza, Laura

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-36970-5_12

Cited by 10 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…For example, the case of the Volkswagen emission scandal showed how the reality can differ from its portrayal in the sustainability reports. Volkswagen received multiple global sustainability reporting awards in 2012, 2013, and 2014, just as it was deploying the software for its diesel cars programmed to cheat the emission testing in order to violate provisions of the Clean Air Act (Allam et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Language of Optimism in Corporate Sustainability Reports: A Computerized Content Analysis

Laskin

Несова

2022

Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

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The discussion of sustainability reporting rarely addresses the inherent paradox within this concept—tremendous costs associated with sustainability efforts and lack of direct return on these investments. This study contributes to the discussion on sustainability by studying this paradox from the linguistic standpoint in order to answer a simple question: Why are sustainability reports produced? The study’s main contribution is evaluation of the place of sustainability reporting in the corporate communication genre: whether sustainability reporting is a vehicle of fair and objective sustainability disclosure or whether sustainability reporting belongs with marketing and promotional communication.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Language of Optimism in Corporate Sustainability Reports: A Computerized Content Analysis

Laskin

Несова

2022

Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

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“…Fast-fashion brands are often accused of greenwashing or dishonesty, precisely because of the contradiction between the nature of fast fashion and sustainability (Alexa et al . 2021, Allam et al . 2020, Blazquez et al .…”

Section: Theoretical Background the Development Of Fast Fashionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, Zara offers online ordering, in-store pickup, stock pick-up and exchange, and other after-sales services (Chunling 2020) . On digital platforms, Zara emphasizes its commitment to sustainability, which was formulated in the 2000s but since then has been involved in a number of scandals in this area related to poor working conditions and human rights violations affecting its employees (Allam et al . 2020) .…”

Section: A Review Of the Fast-fashion Brand Zaramentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fashion brands achieve a stronger impact in influencing consumer behaviour not by presenting the functional benefits of their products but by the sense of living and lifestyle they offer (Gupta-Gentry 2018, Keller 2013 . This is especially true for fast-fashion brands, as most of the products are designed to be worn on ten occasions (Allam et al . 2020) .…”

Section: Digital Brand Management and Communication Of Fast-fashion B...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Examining Zara's brand identity is challenging for a fast-fashion brand that ranks 45 th out of the top 100 brands in the world with the highest brand equity (InterBrand 2022) . At the same time, Zara's brand identity communication is considered by many experts and analysts to be unreliable, especially in terms of delivering on its brand promise of sustainability, despite scoring 75 th out of 100 on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index 1 in 2021 (Allam et al . 2020, Sajn 2019, Brewer 2019, McNeil-Moore 2015 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Digital Brand Identity of Fast-Fashion Brand Zara. A Case Study

Tőkés

2022

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Social Analysis

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The research presented in this paper examined the structure and consistency of the digital brand identity of the fast-fashion brand Zara. The research was based on the content analysis of Zara’s brand page, the website of Zara’s owner Inditex, and Zara’s Instagram page. The analysis of Zara’s digital brand identity was divided into two parts: on the one hand, the communicative aspects of the brand site and the Instagram page were examined to verify the conditions of the digital brand experience, and, on the other hand, the structure and consistency of the brand identity on all three digital platforms were considered. Among the brand identity elements, mission, values, personality, and offers were present on all three digital platforms, while the competence element was mostly absent. This gap calls into question the credibility of the brand identity, which in turn makes it difficult for Zara to become a strong brand. Zara’s digital brand identity has proven to be consistent towards customers but incomplete towards employees and other stakeholders.

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Employees' response to corporate greenwashing

2023

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Research on corporate greenwashing has expanded rapidly in recent years. At the same time, emerging studies in related literatures have found that employees are seeking out firms that are social and environmental leaders, and employee activism within firms is growing. However, the effect of firms' exaggeration and misrepresentation of environmental claims, or greenwashing, on their own employees has been overlooked. Accordingly, we investigate greenwashing from an organizational psychology lens, exploring the impact it can have on employees, and whether these effects differ for different types of employees. Using data collected at three separate time points from a sample of employees educated in environmental science/sustainability, our results show that greenwashing was positively related to perceptions of corporate hypocrisy, which in turn, resulted in higher turnover intentions. We also found that these relationships were moderated by employees' level of environmental education. By uncovering the deleterious effects greenwashing can have for employees, and by extension for their employers, these findings generate insights into the extent to which corporate environmental communications can backfire.

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Sustainability Reporting, a New Type of Companies’ Hypocrisy: Zara and Volkswagen Cases

Cited by 10 publications

References 18 publications

The Language of Optimism in Corporate Sustainability Reports: A Computerized Content Analysis

The Language of Optimism in Corporate Sustainability Reports: A Computerized Content Analysis

The Digital Brand Identity of Fast-Fashion Brand Zara. A Case Study

Employees' response to corporate greenwashing

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