Sustainability has officially become a recurring theme in the lives of consumers who, compared to the past, have become neo-consumers, i.e. more attentive and aware during their purchases. In the first chapter, starting from the consumption data, we will address all the characteristics of the market today, which we will see is increasingly linked to the issue of sustainability. In the second chapter we will address the point of view of companies, which are the strategies they can implement to involve the “socially responsible” consumer. For this chapter, more use will be made of the text by Maria Grazia Persico and Federico Rossi, Communicating sustainability (2016). We’ll see how green marketing lends itself to be the winning strategy, if done in the right way. On the contrary, we will see how some companies consciously implement greenwashing and by connecting to this issue we will try to shed light on the claims of the companies. We will check whether these, in their communication with stakeholders, comply with the criteria suggested by Rossi such as transparency, correctness and coherence or, on the contrary, play on the emotional factor and declare themselves sustainable when in reality they are not. Sustainability has also become central in the fashion industry, prompting some brands to launch new sustainable collections, share more information with their customers and set new goals to be more ethical in their products. The aim of the paper is to deal with the theme of sustainability through the fashion filter, going to investigate more specifically how they communicate and relate to this new reality. On the trail of this, the third chapter will focus more on the green communication of the two brands belonging to fast fashion, H&M and Zara. We will try to understand if there is an instrumentality on the part of the brands or if there is only a prejudice on the production mechanism where the fast fashion model is seen as unsustainable: this is because it is based on the production of high volumes of trendy items, made using cheap labor to maximize profits. Becoming 100% sustainable is not an easy task but it requires honesty and transparency towards consumers. The research aims to show whether the message communicated could be considered misleading or not. To analyze how true these claims are, we consulted the Good on You platform and the report of the Fashion Transparency Index, where every year 150 brands are analysed and given a sustainability assessment. Finally, we will analyze the luxury brand Gucci and make a comparison to understand if the problem of greenwashing is only about fast fashion or not. It also wants to demonstrate that Gucci is an example of sustainable industry, not because of the company’s financial resources, but because, in addition to focusing on quality rather than quantity, it contributes and commits itself more to the respect of people and the planet. Finally, we will touch on regulatory and ethical issues and we will see how the European Commission, in order to prevent greenwashing, is taking action and developing guidelines and criteria for all those who want to define themselves as sustainable by 2022.
La sostenibilità è ufficialmente diventata un tema ricorrente nella vita dei consumatori che rispetto al passato sono diventati neo-consumatori, ovvero più attenti e consapevoli durante i loro acquisti. Nel primo capitolo, partendo dai dati di consumo, affronteremo tutte quelle che sono le caratteristiche del mercato oggi, che vedremo essere sempre più collegato alla tematica della sostenibilità. Nel secondo capitolo affronteremo il punto di vista delle aziende, quali sono le strategie che possono mettere in atto per coinvolgere il consumatore “socialmente responsabile”. Per questo capitolo si utilizzerà maggiormente il testo di Maria Grazia Persico e Federico Rossi, Comunicare la sostenibilità (2016). Vedremo come il green marketing si presta ad essere la strategia vincente, se fatto nel modo giusto. Al contrario, vedremo come alcune aziende attuano consapevolmente il greenwashing e collegandoci a questa tematica cercheremo di fare luce sulle affermazioni delle aziende. Verificheremo se queste, nella loro comunicazione con gli stakeholders, rispettano i criteri suggeriteci da Rossi come la trasparenza, correttezza e la coerenza o al contrario giocano sul fattore emotivo e si dichiarano sostenibili quando in realtà non lo sono. La sostenibilità è diventata centrale anche nel settore della moda, stimolando alcuni marchi a lanciare nuove collezioni sostenibili, a condividere più informazioni con i propri clienti e a fissare nuovi obiettivi per essere più etici nelle loro produzioni. Lo scopo dell’elaborato è quello di trattare il tema della sostenibilità attraverso il filtro moda, andando ad indagare più nello specifico come questi comunicano e si stanno rapportando a questa nuova realtà. Sulla traccia di questo, nel terzo capitolo si ragionerà maggiormente sulla comunicazione green dei due brand appartenenti al fast fashion, H&M e Zara. Si cercherà di comprendere se vi è una strumentalità da parte dei brand o se vi è solo un pregiudizio sul meccanismo produttivo dove il modello fast fashion viene visto come insostenibile: questo perché si basa sulla produzione di volumi elevati di capi di tendenza, realizzati utilizzando manodopera a basso costo per massimizzare i profitti. Diventare sostenibili al 100% non è un’impresa facile ma è richiesta onestà e trasparenza verso i consumatori. La ricerca si propone di dimostrare se il messaggio comunicato potrebbe essere considerato ingannevole o meno. Per analizzare quanto queste affermazioni siano effettivamente veritiere, abbiamo consultato la piattaforma Good on You e il report della Fashion Trasparency Index, dove ogni anno vengono analizzati 150 brand ed a cui viene data una valutazione dal punto di vista della sostenibilità. Infine analizzeremo il brand di lusso Gucci e faremo un confronto per comprendere se il problema del greenwashing riguarda solo il fast fashion o meno. Inoltre si vuole dimostrare come Gucci sia un esempio di industria sostenibile e questo non per le risorse economiche dell’azienda, ma perché oltre al puntare alla qualità anziché alla quantità, contribuisce e si impegna maggiormente al rispetto delle persone e del pianeta. Infine, toccheremo argomenti di tipo normativo ed etico e vedremo come la Commissione europea, per prevenire il greenwashing, si sta attivando e sta sviluppando per l’anno 2022, linee guida e criteri per tutti coloro che vorranno definirsi sostenibili.
L'uso strumentale e ingannevole del “Green marketing”: analisi sulla comunicazione dei brand
BRANÀ, ANGELA
2020/2021
Abstract
Sustainability has officially become a recurring theme in the lives of consumers who, compared to the past, have become neo-consumers, i.e. more attentive and aware during their purchases. In the first chapter, starting from the consumption data, we will address all the characteristics of the market today, which we will see is increasingly linked to the issue of sustainability. In the second chapter we will address the point of view of companies, which are the strategies they can implement to involve the “socially responsible” consumer. For this chapter, more use will be made of the text by Maria Grazia Persico and Federico Rossi, Communicating sustainability (2016). We’ll see how green marketing lends itself to be the winning strategy, if done in the right way. On the contrary, we will see how some companies consciously implement greenwashing and by connecting to this issue we will try to shed light on the claims of the companies. We will check whether these, in their communication with stakeholders, comply with the criteria suggested by Rossi such as transparency, correctness and coherence or, on the contrary, play on the emotional factor and declare themselves sustainable when in reality they are not. Sustainability has also become central in the fashion industry, prompting some brands to launch new sustainable collections, share more information with their customers and set new goals to be more ethical in their products. The aim of the paper is to deal with the theme of sustainability through the fashion filter, going to investigate more specifically how they communicate and relate to this new reality. On the trail of this, the third chapter will focus more on the green communication of the two brands belonging to fast fashion, H&M and Zara. We will try to understand if there is an instrumentality on the part of the brands or if there is only a prejudice on the production mechanism where the fast fashion model is seen as unsustainable: this is because it is based on the production of high volumes of trendy items, made using cheap labor to maximize profits. Becoming 100% sustainable is not an easy task but it requires honesty and transparency towards consumers. The research aims to show whether the message communicated could be considered misleading or not. To analyze how true these claims are, we consulted the Good on You platform and the report of the Fashion Transparency Index, where every year 150 brands are analysed and given a sustainability assessment. Finally, we will analyze the luxury brand Gucci and make a comparison to understand if the problem of greenwashing is only about fast fashion or not. It also wants to demonstrate that Gucci is an example of sustainable industry, not because of the company’s financial resources, but because, in addition to focusing on quality rather than quantity, it contributes and commits itself more to the respect of people and the planet. Finally, we will touch on regulatory and ethical issues and we will see how the European Commission, in order to prevent greenwashing, is taking action and developing guidelines and criteria for all those who want to define themselves as sustainable by 2022.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/1362