"Let's do good"? : A qualitative study of fast fashions sustainability communication and generation z’s critical view.

Title: “Let’s do good”? – a qualitative study of fast fashions sustainability communication and generation z’s critical view. In recent years, the fast fashion industry has received an abundance criticism for their negative climate impact. The purpose of this study is to compare the companies NA-KD and Gina Tricot and their sustainability communication, and how consumers in generation Z perceive their communication and if they can influence the industry to be more sustainable with participatory culture in social media. To get answers on how generation Z experiences the fashion companies' communication, focus group interviews were conducted with participants aged 18–26. The authors have also studied material from the companies’ websites through a multimodal critical discourse analysis. Theories that have been applied to the study are critical discourse theory, convergence- and participatory culture, and greenwashing. The result from the study shows that both companies are using colors and environment which are associated with the environmental movements when it comes do their sustainability communication, but also greenwashing. As both companies apply greenwashing one can assume that it can lead to more customer having a critical view of sustainability communication from fast fashion firms. The participants perceived the companies' sustainability communication as visual appealing, but the content did not meet expectations. Furthermore, social media was considered important for the industry's change as important, but that it requires a person with a big platform to reach out to many people