Sustainability in Corporate Communications and its Influence on Consumer Awareness and Perceptions: A study of H&M and Primark

This paper focuses on the issue of effective web-based corporate sustainability communications to influence consumer awareness and perceptions. Studying the dedicated corporate sustainability websites of Hennes and Mauritz H&M AB and Primark Stores Limited, a qualitative multimethod two-stage research design was applied consisting of a website analysis and twelve semi-structured consumer interviews. The results show that the existing corporate images influence the interviewees’ perceptions of the web-based corporate sustainability communications. The developed conceptual framework illustrates the importance of a clearly structured website with visualized, objective and sustainability-specific content to positively influence consumer awareness and perceptions.