Gröna löften, granskande röster: En studie av kriskommunikation och mediereception kring Gina Tricot Forest

Sammanfattning

Title: Green Promises, Critical Voices: A Study of Crisis Communication and Media Reception Regarding Gina Tricot Forest (Gröna löften, granskande röster: En studie av kriskommunikation och mediereception kring Gina Tricot Forest) This study examines the crisis communication strategies utilized by the Swedish fashion company Gina Tricot in response to the controversy regarding their sustainability campaign Gina Tricot Forest in collaboration with influencer Bianca Ingrosso, and the media and public reception that followed. The aim of this case study is to examine and identify Gina Tricot’s crisis communication strategies regarding their controversial campaign Gina Tricot Forest according to the Situational Crisis Communication Theory framework and review its validity in relation to the crisis. The case study also examines responses to the crisis communication from news media and the public with a focus on legitimizing strategies and discourses about Gina Tricot and Bianca Ingrosso’s accountability in the crisis. The study applies a qualitative case study design and employs a thematic analysis of corporate statements, news media coverage and TikTok content related to the crisis. The theoretical framework for the study is based on Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and The Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO) to define Gina Tricot’s crisis communication strategies and to further understand how communication can constitute accountability surrounding greenwashing. The findings of the study indicates that Gina Tricot’s crisis communication and societal expectations on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) communication were misaligned. This contributed to an escalated news coverage and in combination with the attention Bianca Ingrosso entailed resulted in a media hype regarding the crisis. These results further highlight the reputational risks of sustainability marketing and CSR communication in this current medial environment. Key words: Greenwashing, Crisis communication, Media discourse, Influencer marketing, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Number of pages: 57