Effects of Corporate Sustainability on Established Brand : the case of IKEA
Gbanabila, Yenimi (2014)
Gbanabila, Yenimi
Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulu
2014
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201405127292
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201405127292
Tiivistelmä
The emergence of Sustainable Development as an alternative approach to changing unsustainable behaviour in today’s business practices to save the planet towards a sustainable society is shifting branding paradigm from the “what of the commodity to the how of shared values”. For marketers responding to this changing paradigm to maintain competitive in today’s market sustainable branding is gaining attention in today’s business practices. But does sustainable practice have effects on branding in a firm with an established brand?
In an attempt to answer this question, the objective of the thesis was to understand the effects of corporate sustainability practices on branding with emphasis on organisation with an established brand. The core motive was to assess how the firm’s stakeholders perceived this value that creates competitive advantage for the firm by differentiating them from their competitors.
The study applied qualitative content analysis to develop understanding around IKEA’s sustainability practices and its effect on the organisation performance. IKEA’s Group Sustainability Strategies for 2020 and Sustainability report for the 2012 financial year were analysed. This was complemented with other materials and interviews of IKEA’s personnel that communicate the firm’s sustainability practices to their stakeholders.
The result showed that sustainability practices have positive effects on branding in an established firm which influence the firm’s performance and customers’ loyalty. These findings have implica-tions for firms with an established brand who erroneously assumed that sustainability is a choice due to their dominance in their niche market.
In an attempt to answer this question, the objective of the thesis was to understand the effects of corporate sustainability practices on branding with emphasis on organisation with an established brand. The core motive was to assess how the firm’s stakeholders perceived this value that creates competitive advantage for the firm by differentiating them from their competitors.
The study applied qualitative content analysis to develop understanding around IKEA’s sustainability practices and its effect on the organisation performance. IKEA’s Group Sustainability Strategies for 2020 and Sustainability report for the 2012 financial year were analysed. This was complemented with other materials and interviews of IKEA’s personnel that communicate the firm’s sustainability practices to their stakeholders.
The result showed that sustainability practices have positive effects on branding in an established firm which influence the firm’s performance and customers’ loyalty. These findings have implica-tions for firms with an established brand who erroneously assumed that sustainability is a choice due to their dominance in their niche market.