Hotels in Sweden in the regard of green marketing

Abstract: Although marketing has been prevalent for many decades, the concept of green marketing remains relatively novel to both consumers and businesses. In the light of the evolving global climate, and escalating concerns regarding sustainability, businesses are compelled to explore new approaches. Among various industries, the hotel industry has been affected one of the most, particularly in recent years. Both green and conventional hotels have been facing challenges stemming from sustainability. A particular emphasis has been on fulfilling market demands. Consequently, hotels need to contemplate how to effectively communicate their ongoing changes in their sustainability practices. This is where marketing assumes a pivotal role. Given the nascent nature of green marketing and its lack of standardised definition, this research endeavours to open hotel managers` interpretations of green marketing in Sweden. The author conducts an in-depth examination and analysis of the websites of four prominent hotel chains - Scandic Hotels, Nordic Choice Hotels, Radisson Hotel Group and Ligula Hospitality Group. To enhance comprehension, ten interviews with managers from the mentioned hotels in Sweden are also conducted and analysed. To address the research questions, this paper employs discourse analysis as a methodological framework. The study encompasses spoken and written text analysis utilising Fairclough's Discourse Analysis Framework on different levels, as well as visual analysis from the theoretical perspective of Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen.