Vad har påverkat utvecklingen av den etiska klädmarknaden? - En jämförande kvalitativ studie av Storbritannien och Sverige
Etiska kläderEthical clothingEtisk konsumtionEthical consumptionHofstede och konsumtionHofstede and consumptionMakromiljöMacro environmentSverigeStorbritannien
There is a growing interest for ethical consumption, in general as well as in
the clothing industry. The consumption of ethical clothes is a complex
phenomenon though, where aspects such as quality, style, function, price,
time assets, accessibility and ethical attitudes affect the decision making.
Researches that have been executed show the diversities in development
between different countries. There are fairly strong indications that the
ethical clothing market is more advanced in the United Kingdom than in
Sweden and therefore these two countries are objects of this research.
The aim with this thesis is to describe and explain what have affected the
development of the ethical clothing market in the United Kingdom compared
to Sweden. For that reason a qualitative approach has mainly been used,
where deep interviews with people within the ethical clothing industry have
contributed to most of the empirical part. As a complement secondary data
such as statistics of the two countries have been used in order to investigate
our area.
One useful tool, among others, to investigate the macro environment is the
SLEPT model. With this model the surroundings are being evaluated within
the areas of social/cultural, legal, economical, political and technological
factors. They influence differently on the possibility for new companies and
businesses to operate and the factors can all together contribute to a better
understanding of the market environment. Population, income levels,
Internet usage, political government and legislation regarding the
environment and business are data that have been studied in this thesis.
Sweden and the United Kingdom are rather similar when it comes to
economical, political, legal and technological aspect, why the social/cultural
differences are more distinct. The index of national culture, created by
Hofstede (2005) helps to explain some of the dissimilarities. The diversity in
short-term thinking, masculinity and individualism in the two countries may
contribute to an explanation of what have affected the development of the
ethical clothing market.