THESIS HOW APPAREL COMPANIES COMMUNICATE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON THEIR WEBSITES: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY Submitted by Jamie N. Gaskill-Fox Department of Design and Merchandising In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Science Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Summer 2010 COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY June 8, 2010 WE HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER OUR SUPERVISION BY JAMIE N. GASKILL-FOX ENTITLED HOW APPAREL COMPANIES COMMUNICATE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON THEIR WEBSITES: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY BE ACCEPTED AS FULFULLING IN PART REQUIRMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE. Committee on Graduate Work Donna Rouner Co-Advisor: Jennifer Ogle Co-Advisor: Karen Hyllegard Department Head: Mary Littrell ii ABSTRACT OF THESIS HOW APPAREL COMPANIES COMMUNICATE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON THEIR WEBSITES: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an essential part of Western business practices in the last two decades, and companies are increasingly communicating about their CSR efforts on their websites. Researchers have examined website communications about the CSR practices of businesses from multiple industries, but few researchers have focused on a single industry and none to date have focused on the apparel industry exclusively. In addition, an opportunity exists for researchers to focus on the changes in communications about CSR over time. The present longitudinal study fills gaps in the existing research by examining how three apparel companies (Gap, Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., and Nike) communicated about CSR on their websites and how those communications changed from 2001 to 2009. Stakeholder theory guided the development of this study and was used as a conceptual framework for the analysis. The qualitative research method Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) was used to examine the 2001 and 2009 websites of the selected apparel companies, and constant comparison was used as a coding strategy. The results of the analysis indicated that although the apparel companies emphasized some areas of CSR more than others on their websites, seven themes related iii to CSR were identified as common to all three companies: motivations for CSR, philanthropy, labor practices, minimizing environmental impacts, accountability, and recognitions for CSR efforts. In addition, the companies put the most emphasis on addressing the following stakeholder groups within their website communications about CSR: employees, charitable organizations and communities, the natural environment, consumers, suppliers and factory workers, activists, and youth and students. In terms of changes between 2001 and 2009, the companies generally provided greater detail and communicated more about their CSR practices in 2009 than 2001. Nike was the exception to the increase in communications about CSR in that it reduced the amount of communications relative to several of the themes from 2001 to 2009. Nike did not, however, appear to be less committed to ethical practices in 2009, rather the company appeared to change the way in which it presented communications about CSR on its website. A summary figure was developed to compare how each company’s website communications about CSR represented the seven identified themes in 2001 and 2009. New insights about website communications regarding CSR in the apparel industry are presented, and implications, limitations, and suggestions for future work are discussed. Jamie N. Gaskill-Fox Department of Design and Merchandising Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 Summer 2010 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my family for their support, encouragement, patience, understanding, and confidence throughout my graduate work. Thank you to my husband, Nathan Gaskill-Fox, for providing me with undying love and support, and for keeping me grounded the last five years. I also appreciate all of your help with editing my thesis. To my first son, Skylar Gaskill-Fox, I appreciate the sacrifices you made the first three years of your life while I worked to finish my graduate studies. I also appreciate the hugs that you gave me at the end of each day that kept me going. To my second son, Micah Gaskill-Fox, thank you for providing me with the much-needed motivation to complete my degree before your arrival. Thank you to my parents, Bill and Jacque Gaskill who gave me the gift of their love and who taught me about perseverance and determination. Mary Ann Fox, you have been an amazing childcare provider, mother-in-law, and friend. Mike Fox, thank you for your advice, wisdom, and for proofreading my thesis. I would also like to thank my advisors, Dr. Jennifer Paff Ogle and Dr. Karen Hyllegard, for their support throughout my graduate career. You have taught me a lot about what it means to be a successful scholar. You pushed me to be a better student, researcher, and writer. Thank you for your guidance. I would also like to acknowledge my outside committee member, Donna Rouner, who added valuable perspective to my research. v Finally, I would like to thank all of my friends who have cheered me along and supported me during this process. Thank you for helping me with childcare, advice, proofreading, and lending an ear when I needed someone to listen. Your support and encouragement have made this journey possible. vi DEDICATION I wish to dedicate this thesis to Nathan, Skylar, and Micah. You are the reasons I want to make the world a better place. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1 SIGNIFICANCE .................................................................................................................. 6 PURPOSE AND GOALS ....................................................................................................... 7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................... 8 DELIMITATIONS AND LIMITATIONS .................................................................................. 9 RESEARCHER’S PERSPECTIVE ........................................................................................ 10 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS.................................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................. 14 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ............................................................................ 14 Importance of CSR ................................................................................................... 14 Definition of Corporate Social Responsibility .......................................................... 17 STAKEHOLDER THEORY AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY .............................. 19 Stakeholder Theory ................................................................................................... 20 Determining Stakeholder Groups ............................................................................. 23 Stakeholder Engagement .......................................................................................... 26 Stakeholders and Evaluation of Corporate Social Responsibility ............................ 28 COMMUNICATING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ............................................... 30 Social Reporting........................................................................................................ 34 Corporate Social Responsibility Communication and the Internet........................... 36 Empirical Findings about CSR Communication on the Internet .......................... 38 Content of CSR communication on corporate websites ................................... 38 Organization of information about CSR policies and practices on corporate websites ............................................................................................................. 44 Stakeholder groups targeted on corporate websites .......................................... 47 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN APPAREL AND TEXTILES LITERATURE AND INDUSTRY ...................................................................................................................... 47 Definition of Corporate Social Responsibility in Apparel and Textiles ................... 48 Empirical Findings in Apparel and Textiles Research ............................................. 50 ATOs and Corporate Social Responsibility .......................................................... 51 Apparel Companies and Labor Codes of Conduct ............................................... 51 Environmentalism and the Apparel and Textiles Industry ................................... 53 Lifecycle analyses in the apparel and textiles industry. .................................... 53 Minimizing environmental impact in the apparel and textiles industry. .......... 54 Apparel Consumers and Corporate Social Responsibility .................................... 57 Apparel and Textile Companies and CSR Marketing Appeals ............................ 60 COMPANY OVERVIEWS .................................................................................................. 61 Gap, Inc. .................................................................................................................... 63 Levi Strauss & Co. .................................................................................................... 67