Rhetorical strategies in sustainability disclosure: a multiple case study on rhetorical strategies in sustainability disclosures: ethos, logos, pathos

Abstract: This thesis examines how companies portray themselves as sustainable and respond to stakeholders' sustainability concerns using rhetorical strategies. Drawing on rhetorical theory with a focus on Aristotle's rhetorical appeals to ethos (credibility), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion), we analyze five European companies' sustainability disclosures and investigate rhetorical strategies used in five sustainability dimensions. We find that companies prefer to use ethos in Environment, Business Model & Innovation and Leadership & Governance dimensions. In Social Capital and Human Capital dimensions, pathos and logos are the prevalent rhetorical strategies, respectively. This study complements discourse analyses of sustainability disclosure by providing a dimension-oriented perspective on how rhetoric shapes a company's sustainable image and gains legitimacy for it.