Deconstructing (un)sustainability : a critical discourse analysis of the Nordic flag carriers' climate disclosures
Johansson, Eljas (2022)
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202205139188
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202205139188
Tiivistelmä
This thesis contributes to our understanding of how an industry, characterised by the difficulty of being perceived as sustainable, constructs its sustainability discourse about its operations, which contribute negatively to climate change. Examining this issue was conducted in the context of the emission-intensive airline industry, which has been much at the centre of the climate change debate in recent years.
Guided by impression management theory, this thesis critically assessed how the two airlines, SAS and Finnair, based in the Nordic region dominated by high sustainability standards, construct their discourses to legitimise their adverse climate impact in their 2019 sustainability reports. The examination drew on thematic analysis combined with elements and considerations drawn from Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework of critical discourse analysis.
The conducted analysis identified and categorised the companies’ climate discourse occurring under two broad themes: 1) mitigation of climate impact and ) justification for climate impact. The identified mitigation discourse focused mainly on the companies’ positive acclaiming, whereas the justification discourse intended to rationalise and legitimise the airlines’ climate-adverse operations by using several techniques of neutralisation pertinent to protective impression management.
A closer look at the discursive features reveals how the analysed reports positioned the airlines as a source of positive actions in the discourses and how possible credibility gaps were narrowed using intertextuality.
In revealing the reports’ impression management techniques and strategic use of language, this thesis intends to stimulate the discussion of whether stakeholders can make genuinely informed decisions on companies’ climate performance based on the information released in sustainability reports.
Guided by impression management theory, this thesis critically assessed how the two airlines, SAS and Finnair, based in the Nordic region dominated by high sustainability standards, construct their discourses to legitimise their adverse climate impact in their 2019 sustainability reports. The examination drew on thematic analysis combined with elements and considerations drawn from Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework of critical discourse analysis.
The conducted analysis identified and categorised the companies’ climate discourse occurring under two broad themes: 1) mitigation of climate impact and ) justification for climate impact. The identified mitigation discourse focused mainly on the companies’ positive acclaiming, whereas the justification discourse intended to rationalise and legitimise the airlines’ climate-adverse operations by using several techniques of neutralisation pertinent to protective impression management.
A closer look at the discursive features reveals how the analysed reports positioned the airlines as a source of positive actions in the discourses and how possible credibility gaps were narrowed using intertextuality.
In revealing the reports’ impression management techniques and strategic use of language, this thesis intends to stimulate the discussion of whether stakeholders can make genuinely informed decisions on companies’ climate performance based on the information released in sustainability reports.