Communicating - what and to whom? : A Qualitative Study of Stadium's CSR Practice and External Communication

Abstract: This report discusses the subject of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CSR communication at Stadium. The study’s purpose is to study the role of sustainability in corporate social responsibility. This is executed through studying how Stadium chooses to communicate their sustainability practices externally. Furthermore, the report studies if and how Stadium’s CSR message reaches student consumers, and how it affects their opinions and consumer behavior. The gathered material is analyzed through the concept of CSR, reputation management and stakeholder theory. Our result shows that Stadium utilizes CSR as a business strategy, wants to contribute to a better society as well as gaining a more positive reputation. Stadium communicate the same sustainability information through the same communication channels to all stakeholders.We found that the student consumers are not reached by Stadium’s sustainability communication, and this is a contributing factor to why their opinions and consumer behavior at Stadium is unaffected. However, differences of opinion about whether sustainability practices affect the students’ view of Stadium arose - some would be affected by more sustainability information and for some it is rather a matter of price when making a purchase. The students believe that they would be better reached by Stadium’s sustainability message if it was communicated in stores. The report shows that sustainability is important for student consumers and also that inadequate communication decreases their opportunity to shop sustainably. It is less likely that a company’s reputation is affected in a positive way if sustainability is not adequately communicated