Cognitions, Conflicts & Consumption : Work CSR congruence and employees’ cognitions and rationalization in the fair fashion industry

Abstract: Background: The world faces a consumption crisis. The fashion industry in particular is a branch in which excessive consumption patterns are present. Consumers have intentions to consume products that are more sustainable but often do not purchase accordingly; this is commonly called the CSR-consumer paradox. Also on the supply side, many fair fashion retailers have great and rigor Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts, but often face challenges along the supply chain. This can lead to a gap between organizations’ CSR and sustainability intentions and practices possible.  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is threefold. Firstly, it attempts to shed light on how organizational members approach their company’s CSR and sustainability notions and practices and how they relate to it. Secondly, the study aims to investigate other related areas where organizational members’ private cognitions are not congruent with their company’s notion. Thirdly, organizational members’ strategies to handle such incongruent cognitions and potential conflicts will be explored.  Theoretical Framework and Method: To gain a fuller understanding of the research problem this thesis will draw on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and use Festinger’s (1957) Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT) as a theoretical lens Findings and Conclusions: The findings show that organizational members display a high fit between private cognitions and their companies’ understanding of sustainability and CSR and actively seek such companies. However, in terms of sustainable consumption levels and compromises on sustainability, cognitions conflict. They can reconcile this conflict with a variety of strategies. The organizational members’ conflict in relation to sustainability practices and consumption levels can be seen as the counterpart to the CSR-consumer paradox in an organizational context. Thus, we term this phenomenon the "CSR- Organizational Paradox”.