Varför certifieringar? En marknadsföringsmässig undersökning kring syftet med certifieringar
(2021) FEKH29 20211Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- Corporate social responsibility, also known as CSR, is the responsibility companies have
regarding its societal impact within the area in which they operate. Companies often choose to
market their social responsibility which results in increased consumer loyalty and thus an
increased competitive advantage. To communicate their CSR initiatives, companies may use
various certifications such as MSC and KRAV within the food industry. The purpose of this
essay is to investigate and analyze how certifications are being used from a marketing
perspective, and therefore examine how companies justify their use of certifications.
When companies market themselves through tactical positioning based on their CSR-work, the
marketing... (More) - Corporate social responsibility, also known as CSR, is the responsibility companies have
regarding its societal impact within the area in which they operate. Companies often choose to
market their social responsibility which results in increased consumer loyalty and thus an
increased competitive advantage. To communicate their CSR initiatives, companies may use
various certifications such as MSC and KRAV within the food industry. The purpose of this
essay is to investigate and analyze how certifications are being used from a marketing
perspective, and therefore examine how companies justify their use of certifications.
When companies market themselves through tactical positioning based on their CSR-work, the
marketing incorporates the CSR-work to attract the attention of stakeholders and the willingness
to act ethically; but the underlying motive to present themselves as a good citizen is difficult to
comprehend To investigate and exemplify what was just mentioned above, a survey is made of
sustainability reports written by Swedish companies that sell products with both MSC- and
KRAV-certifications. The sustainability reports emphasize that the products that are being sold
are certified, but the reason is not clear. After a careful analysis, it seems that the sustainability
reports lack CSR-promoting actions, and the underlying motive for the report tends to be based
on legal coercion rather than a desire to be transparent.
One central conclusion is that certifications are largely used for marketing purpose, with the hope
of convincing the customer or stakeholder that a sustainable purchase has been made when
buying a product; unfortunately, the underlying motive is to generate profit, according to the
Stakeholder Theories, rather than to achieve the philanthropic stage in Carroll’s pyramid. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9059681
- author
- Hägg, Louise LU ; Gustavsson, Oscar LU and Barnell, Emma LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- FEKH29 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- CSR, CSR-work, KRAV, MSC Greenwashing
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9059681
- date added to LUP
- 2021-07-01 15:05:26
- date last changed
- 2021-07-01 15:05:26
@misc{9059681,
abstract = {{Corporate social responsibility, also known as CSR, is the responsibility companies have
regarding its societal impact within the area in which they operate. Companies often choose to
market their social responsibility which results in increased consumer loyalty and thus an
increased competitive advantage. To communicate their CSR initiatives, companies may use
various certifications such as MSC and KRAV within the food industry. The purpose of this
essay is to investigate and analyze how certifications are being used from a marketing
perspective, and therefore examine how companies justify their use of certifications.
When companies market themselves through tactical positioning based on their CSR-work, the
marketing incorporates the CSR-work to attract the attention of stakeholders and the willingness
to act ethically; but the underlying motive to present themselves as a good citizen is difficult to
comprehend To investigate and exemplify what was just mentioned above, a survey is made of
sustainability reports written by Swedish companies that sell products with both MSC- and
KRAV-certifications. The sustainability reports emphasize that the products that are being sold
are certified, but the reason is not clear. After a careful analysis, it seems that the sustainability
reports lack CSR-promoting actions, and the underlying motive for the report tends to be based
on legal coercion rather than a desire to be transparent.
One central conclusion is that certifications are largely used for marketing purpose, with the hope
of convincing the customer or stakeholder that a sustainable purchase has been made when
buying a product; unfortunately, the underlying motive is to generate profit, according to the
Stakeholder Theories, rather than to achieve the philanthropic stage in Carroll’s pyramid.}},
author = {{Hägg, Louise and Gustavsson, Oscar and Barnell, Emma}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Varför certifieringar? En marknadsföringsmässig undersökning kring syftet med certifieringar}},
year = {{2021}},
}