Perceived Greenwashing And Consumer Trust In Fast Fashion: The Mediating Role Of Brand Integrity In Social Media Sustainability Communication

Sammanfattning

This thesis will examine consumer trust in the social media communication of fast-fashion brands and the relationship between consumer trust and greenwashing. Considering the ongoing critique of the fast fashion industry for issues of overproduction, environmental damage, and labour concerns, the study aims to analyze three prominent brands, H&M, Zara, and SHEIN, all of which have been adopting sustainability strategies and promoting those initiatives through their social media presence. The study first draws on literature on sustainability communication, consumer trust, brand integrity, and greenwashing to examine whether sustainability-related social media posts can be conceptualized as increasing consumer trust, raising questions about the integrity of corporate sustainable claims or greenwashing. The study adopted a quantitative research design, with a secondary analysis of corporate sustainability reports. The primary data were collected via an online questionnaire completed by 174 respondents. Likert-scale items were used to measure the perceived greenwashing in social media sustainability communication, perceived brand integrity, and consumer trust. Reliability testing, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, regression analysis, and mediation analysis have been used for data analysis. The results indicate that the measurement scales internal consistency was acceptable. Most respondents were active media users, were familiar with fast-fashion brands, and had previously viewed sustainability posts from those brands. The Findings show strong positive relationships among perceived greenwashing, perceived brand integrity, and consumer trust. Perceived greenwashing in social media sustainable communication did not negatively affect consumers' brand integrity or trust, which is contrary to original assumptions. The results, however, indicate that consumers may be aware of some elements of promotions or potential greenwashing despite perceiving the brands as sincere or responsible. The highest contributors to consumer trust were the perceived brand integrity and perceived greenwashing, which also emerged as a significant mediator between consumer trust. So, the findings at the end of the study are that the consumer trust of fast-fashion sustainability communication is not only dependent on greenwashing, but also on consumers' perceptions of the brands' honesty, consistency, and credibility. The findings of this study add to the literature of sustainability communication and greenwashing as they reveal the ambivalent and complex reactions of consumers to fast-fashion sustainability messages on social media. The study also has practical implications for fast-fashion companies, as mentioned in the study, as it demonstrates that a communicative approach to sustainability based on facts and transparency is coherent and consistent, but it is necessary to impress consumers. Key Words: Sustainability communication, consumer trust, greenwashing, fast-fashion, social media, brand integrity.