COMMUNICATION POLICY IN THE TEXTILE SECTOR: AN ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS

Abstract

Due to several environmental tragedies denounced and announced in recent decades, the pressure of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, the media and, especially, investors on large companies in the textile fashion chain is currently remarkable. They, in turn, respond to pressures through corporate communication. Based on the above, the structure of the communication policy of four large companies in the textile fashion sector was analyzed, through exploratory documentary research, from which sustainability reports were analyzed. The results showed that three of the four companies analyzed are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and use the international standard Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which gives the reports the possibility of comparison between the companies, since they use similar indicators. The discussion that opens up is whether this communication is really reflecting practices towards sustainability, or tries to comply only with a formality imposed by the market.