Sustainability is the new black?

Organizations are entities that need to have the ‘licence to operate’ in society. The shifting political, economical and financial changes cause an increasing uncertainty about what the future will bring, leading organizations having to strive even more for this licence. Due to these facts, sustainability has gained much prominence in recent years, shifting stakeholders’ perceptions of how an organization should operate. Luxury brands are not exempted from this licence and are certainly affected by this shift in perception, as previous research has shown that millennials and luxury brand consumers emphasize on purchasing luxury goods that are sustainably produced. Given this, and that the notions of luxury and sustainability don’t go hand in hand at first glance, luxury brands have to convince stakeholders, they are – as a matter of fact – sustainability oriented and driven. To achieve that brands design sustainability narratives, justifying the apparent paradox between luxury and sustainability, and aiming to portray themselves as being sustainable at their very core. The present thesis examined how luxury brands approach those issues and manifest sustainability as an integral part of their organizational identities by applying specific rhetorical strategies in their sustainability narratives. In order to answer this question qualitative content analysis was applied in the sustainability narratives that luxury brands present in their website. Aiming to spot different attitudes between luxury manufacturers of same conglomerates, the goal was to focus only on the sustainability website of each brand and not that of the overarching group company. Overall, the assumptions made by the researcher, based on the theoretical framework of this research, were confirmed by the findings. The key findings confirm the hesitation- addressed by previous research- of luxury brands taking a leading stand when it comes to sustainable practices. Most of the brands of the sample opted for a rather collaborative attitude towards the notion of sustainability and in some cases portrayed themselves as being constraint to operate in a certain manner, not by choice, but rather due to external influences that are out of their control. An additional theme of this research is the issue of supply chain practices, with most luxury brands shifting gears between a collaborative and authoritative attitude. Most of the brands stressed the importance of strategic partnership to achieve sustainable practices, while emphasis was also placed on achieving internal employee compliance to achieve the status of being sustainable. In terms of future research, the findings further triggered the discussion of topics that have not being addressed in this research, such as the importance of strategic partnerships. Hence replicating the present research design but refocusing on the topics would lead to a fruitful analysis. Last, scholars should delve into the rhetorical strategies luxury manufacturers apply in their non-financial reports and try to identify how sustainability is addressed in long texts, where there is significantly more space to be elaborate and detailed.