ÄR GRÖNT SPRÅK LIKA MED GRÖN VERKLIGHET? En kritisk retorikanalys av H&M’s hållbarhetskommunikation

Abstract

Executive summary In the 21st century, the environment and sustainability initiatives have become a major focus of attention worldwide. It is increasingly common for the public to hold companies accountable for the impact of their activities on the environment. While many companies are adapting to green production and promoting these initiatives, some companies are instead exploiting the social discourse of environmental responsibility for their own benefit. This can for instance be done by strategically using the increased attention for sustainability to strengthen the own brand, while transparency may be selective and the company still has a huge environmental impact. This study therefore examines the linguistic strategies that the company H&M uses in their communication to investors in their sustainability reports of 2023. The aim is then to see what consequences their statements may have, in relation to the massive criticism they have received regarding greenwashing in their corporate communication. By doing this, I believe one can see if and how any greenwashing is expressed through language. Which could in its turn be a danger to the consumers trust, the legitimacy of the fashion industry and simply the larger discourse of environmental responsibility. This study aims to critically analyze the rhetoric of H&M's linguistic strategies. The scientific discipline of rhetoric plays a prominent role in this study, both as a theoretical framework and as an analytical method. Given the purpose of the study, a qualitative method is therefore best suitable, as the focus of the study will be on analyzing the meaning, content and context of H&M's sustainability communication. The results of the study identified a variety of linguistic strategies used by H&M, including emphasizing partnerships with influential actors, highlighting its own expertise and experience in environmental work and emphasizing strong shared values as the basis for sustainability work. In summation, the study concludes that H&M does not communicate about its sustainability work in an honest way and is thus guilty of a form of greenwashing; selectively disclosing positive things, while excluding any negative information.