Eco-friendly companies in Italy

Bc. Andrea Bruciaferri

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The purpose of the following work is to study the concepts of sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and green economy to then apply them to the business. We speak in this frame about eco-friendly companies as economic activities that do not pursue only the mere goal of profit, but also care about the world in which we are leaving. Indeed we consider an eco-friendly company as a business that is acting responsibly towards the society and the environment by following the path to the sustainable development. In order to deeply understand this topic, a study case about the Italian clothing company Benetton Group and its sustainability commitments has been developed in the second part of the thesis. The main goal in this part of the work, which takes place from the previous study of the literature, was to carry out a social research with the aim of analysing and interpreting the people’ s perception about a brand that is being consider eco-friendly since the beginning. Therefore, random people together with loyal customers of Benetton have been interviewed in order to deduce their opinions and ideas about the company itself in the frame of its social responsibility, ethics, and sustainable attitude. Regarding the methodology, online survey and in-depth interview have been chosen as the methods of research. The consecutive findings show how, especially nowadays, the green approach of a company can lead to its success, also increasing the brand image, the awareness, and the loyalty. Moreover, also the engagement of the customers in the corporate culture represents one of the main steps towards a prosperous activity that makes of responsibility and ethics the distinctive elements of its identity.

Keywords

Sustainability, sustainable development, Corporate Social Responsibility, green economy, green marketing, green washing, eco-friendly companies, Benetton, research, questionnaire, in-depth interview, customers, reputation, loyalty, engagement.

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 13. 4. 2017

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 23. 6. 2017
• Supervisor: doc. Giuseppe Maiello, Ph.D.
• Reader: Mgr. Zdeněk Sloboda

University of Finance and Administration

Master programme / field:
Economics and Management / Marketing Communication