How Promoted Social Entrepreneurship Activities Influence Consumers' Perceptions and Purchase Decisions

Social entrepreneurship is a promising approach in addressing social issues, however, it is still relatively new to consumers. There is an increase in demand for products that have a positive social reputation. In order to reach consumers, social enterprises need promotion. It is crucial for social enterprises since they are competing for public awareness of the company itself and its social mission. Social enterprises are addressing social issues and striving to reach their missions through different activities. There is little research available of perceptions and purchase decisions of different consumer groups regarding social entrepreneurial activities. The purpose of the thesis was to examine how consumers perceive social entrepreneurship activities within the fashion industry and consequently, how consumers’ purchase decisions are affected by these activities. To fulfil this purpose, existing literature was reviewed and an online questionnaire was conducted. Total amount of 235 people living in Sweden participated in the questionnaire. Promoted social entrepreneurship activities were observed through the Social Entrepreneurship Map and the results showed that activities related to ‘Job creation’ and ‘Help focus’ sector were the ones represented in the fashion industry. It was discovered that the promoted social entrepreneurship activities within ‘Job creation’ sector were triggering more positive associations than ‘Help focus’ activities. Despite the positive overall perception of the activities, the majority of consumers had not purchased products from social enterprises. The results showed that overall consumers were willing to purchase products from companies engaging in social entrepreneurship activities. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between purchase decisions and willingness to buy in the future. The more consumers had purchased products before, the more willing they were also to purchase in the future