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Sainsbury’s: The employment of storytelling in the process of
building up credibility
Master thesis: Cand.ling.merc. - English By: Kirsten Marie Ebbesen
Supervisor: Sinne Louise Brandt Jakobsen
Aarhus School of Business September 2009
This thesis consists of 131,633 characters
corresponding to 59,83 normal pages of 2.200
characters, not including abstract.
Abstract
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has in last decades become an important part
of many companies’ corporate communication.
Focus in society at large is increasingly on the sustainability of the environment, on the ethical 5
treatment of people, on healthy and freshly produced products and so on. It is “in” to be socially
responsible – both as a person and as a company. With growing interest in CSR comes a growing
demand for companies to communicate about their commitment to CSR. This is welcomed by many
companies, as they know that communicating about CSR offers a unique possibility to brand both
products and company. 10
Choosing the right strategy for communicating about CSR can improve the corporate image, but
companies need to consider how they communicate. Consumers have also become increasingly
sceptical towards corporate communication and with the popularity of the internet came an
explosion in the information available to common man. Information has become available about the
companies, which is both by the company itself, by pro-company reporters and by con-company 15
reporters like NGOs and watch-dog organisations. The latter are very active and often raise doubt
about the credibility of companies. As a natural result, this poses a requirement for companies to
consider how they do business, but also a requirement for incorporating credibility in the
communication strategy.
20
Companies also have to compete for the attention with thousands of competitors. On this issue,
companies have various communication tools at hand. One of them is telling a good story that
captures the essence of a company’s identity and values about a given CSR issue – also known as
storytelling.
Using storytelling in the communication of values also calls for a need to establish credibility. 25
Without credibility and coherence with the corporate image, the story will not live up to its full
potential. Storytelling can at the same time also be used in the actual process of establishing
credibility
This thesis explores how Sainsbury’s, the biggest retailer of fairtrade products in the U.K., employs 30
storytelling in the process of building up credibility in its CSR communication on fairtrade
4
involvement. The empirical material that is examined is the transcript of a fairtrade branding video
that is found at Sainsbury’s page on fairtrade.
To answer how Sainsbury’s employs storytelling in the process of building up credibility, relevant
theory is presented. With the research question in mind, there is a need for two analysis models. 5
One that explores storytelling on a general level and one that explores the same piece of storytelling
on a very detailed level in order to find out how the text is marked for the purpose of establishing
credibility.
Firstly, it is necessary to define and discuss the theory behind the concept storytelling. The model 10
and theory chosen for this thesis is by Algirdas-Julien Greimas. Greimas is one of the most
dominant scholars within storytelling. His works are based on those of Russian scholar Vladimir
Propp, who studies the elements of narrative structures in folktales. Greimas developed further on
Propp’s model and made what is known as the actant model. The definition and discussion takes
point of departure in the way scholars Fog. et. al. and Bronwen & Ringham present it. 15
Secondly, in order to answer the other side of the thesis research question, the concept of credibility
is also defined and discussed. Lund & Petersen’s notion on corporate and organisational identity is
discussed as an introduction to the topic and as background information on the importance for
companies to work hard at establishing and maintaining a credible image.
The point of departure for this part of the assignment is theory by Lund & Petersen (1999) 20
supplemented with notions by Holm & Norlyk (2006), McCroskey (1999), Hoff-Clausen (2002)
and others. These scholars have slightly different views on the process of establishing credibility in
corporate communication, but the key analysis model is based on the model of ethos virtues by
Lund & Petersen. This model mentions the three virtues competence, character and presence which
individually can be seen as elements for the marking of ethos in e.g. text. 25
The results of the two analysis showed that Sainsbury’s efforts as to building up credibility through
the storytelling part is highly focused on establishing a picture of a genuinely socially responsible
company that communicates with clarity and confidence in its actions and a belief that it is making
a difference to a small part of the world by engaging in fairtrade on many levels – both in relation to 30
doing business and in relation to doing purely good deeds. Sainsbury’s also emphasises its humane
5
qualities by not taking the full credit for the positive results its involvement in fairtrade bring, but
passing on the positive karma credit to Sainsbury’s customers.
The communication has the potential to create a credible corporate image, but there is no way of
securing that it will in fact obtain this with stakeholders – the constant challenge of communicating 5
about corporate social responsibility involvement when you are a profit-company.
Characters: 4,397
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 9
1.1 AIM ...................................................................................................................................................................... 11 1.2 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................. 11 1.3 STRUCTURE ...................................................................................................................................................... 13 1.4 STRUCTURE IN DETAILS .............................................................................................................................. 15 5
1.5 EMPIRICAL MATERIAL AND FOCUS ........................................................................................................ 16 1.6 DELIMITATION ................................................................................................................................................ 17
2. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) ................................................ 18
2.1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AS A CONCEPT ................................................................... 18 2.2 CSR INVOLVEMENT EQUAL TO A GOOD CORPORATE IMAGE? .................................................... 19 10
2.3 CREDIBILITY IS IMPORTANT ...................................................................................................................... 21 2.4 CRITIQUE OF CSR COMMUNICATION AS A CONCEPT ..................................................................... 21
3. CORPORATE BRANDING AS A CONCEPT ............................................................... 24
3.1 CORPORATE BRANDING .............................................................................................................................. 24
4. STORYTELLING .................................................................................................................................... 27 15
4.1 THE SEMIOTIC APPROACH – BASIS FOR STORYTELLING MODEL ................................................ 27 4.1.1 The three levels of semiotics ...................................................................................................................... 27
4.2 STORYTELLING AS A BRANDING TOOL ................................................................................................. 28 4.3 THE REAL STORY OR A REPRESENTATION OF VALUES ................................................................... 29 4.4 THE PRIMARY FUNCTIONS OF STORYTELLING ................................................................................... 30 20
4.5 STRENGTHS OF STORYTELLING ............................................................................................................... 31 4.6 WEAKNESSES OF STORYTELLING ........................................................................................................... 32 4.7 STORYTELLING IN PRACTISE ..................................................................................................................... 33
4.7.1 The message ................................................................................................................................................. 34 4.7.2 The conflict .................................................................................................................................................... 34 25 4.7.3 The plot ......................................................................................................................................................... 35 4.7.4 The roles ........................................................................................................................................................ 35
5. GREIMAS’ ACTANT MODEL ................................................................................................... 36
5.1 THE SIX ACTANTS .......................................................................................................................................... 38 5.1.1 The sender .................................................................................................................................................... 38 30 5.1.2 The receiver .................................................................................................................................................. 38 5.1.3 The subject .................................................................................................................................................... 38 5.1.4 The object ..................................................................................................................................................... 39 5.1.5 The helper ..................................................................................................................................................... 39 5.1.6 The opponent ................................................................................................................................................ 39 35
5.2 DISCUSSION OF GREIMAS’ ACTANT MODEL ...................................................................................... 40
6. CREDIBILITY IN CORPORATE COMMUNICATION .................................... 41
6.1 CREDIBILITY .................................................................................................................................................... 41 6.2 IDENTITY, IMAGE AND ETHOS .................................................................................................................. 42 6.3 ORGANISATIONAL AND CORPORATE IDENTITY – NOT THE SAME THING ............................... 43 40
6.3.1 Organizational identity ................................................................................................................................. 43
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6.3.2 Corporate identity......................................................................................................................................... 44 6.4 ETHOS – AN ELEMENT OF PERSUASION ................................................................................................ 45 6.5 COMPETENCE, CHARACTER AND PRESENCE – THE LUND & PETERSEN MODEL.................. 47
6.5.1 Lund & Petersen’s model of ethos virtues ................................................................................................ 47 6.6 PRESENTATION OF THE MODEL ................................................................................................................ 48 5
6.6.1 Competence .................................................................................................................................................. 51 6.6.1.1 Appearing secure and confident ............................................................................................................... 51 6.6.1.2 Third-party endorsements ......................................................................................................................... 52 6.6.1.3 Consistent and clear language .................................................................................................................. 53
6.6.2 Character ....................................................................................................................................................... 54 10 6.6.2.1 Open and honest ....................................................................................................................................... 54 6.6.2.2 Displaying humane qualities ..................................................................................................................... 54
6.6.3 Presence ........................................................................................................................................................ 56 6.6.3.1 Level of language ...................................................................................................................................... 56 6.6.3.2 Lively and engaged communication .......................................................................................................... 57 15
7. ANALYSIS OF CORPORATE WEBSITES .................................................................... 58
8. EMPIRICAL MATERIAL IN DETAIL ............................................................................... 60
8.1 CRITERIA FOR THE EMPIRICAL MATERIAL ......................................................................................... 60 8.2 SAINSBURY’S .................................................................................................................................................. 61
8.2.1 Introduction to Sainsbury’s ......................................................................................................................... 62 20 8.2.2 Sainsbury’s website – fairtrade .................................................................................................................. 63 8.2.3 Fairtrade ........................................................................................................................................................ 64 8.2.4 Introduction to the Sainsbury’s branding video ....................................................................................... 65
8.2.4.1 Details about the fairtrade video .............................................................................................................. 66
9. ANALYSIS BY USE OF THE ACTANT MODEL ..................................................... 68 25
9.1 SAINSBURY’S EMPLOYMENT OF STORYTELLING .............................................................................. 68 9.1.1 Subject ........................................................................................................................................................... 68 9.1.2 Object ............................................................................................................................................................. 70 9.1.3 Sender ............................................................................................................................................................ 70 9.1.4 Receiver ......................................................................................................................................................... 71 30 9.1.5 Helper ............................................................................................................................................................. 72 9.1.6 Opponent ....................................................................................................................................................... 72
10. ANALYSING SAINSBURY’S ONLINE COMMUNICATION FOR CREDIBILITY .................................................................................................................................................. 74
10.1 ANALYSING FOR COMPETENCE MARKERS ........................................................................................ 74 35 10.1.1 Analysis of the branding video ................................................................................................................. 75 10.1.2 Third person endorsements ...................................................................................................................... 76 10.1.3 Clear and secure......................................................................................................................................... 77 10.1.4 Level of language as competence marker .............................................................................................. 80
10.2 CHARACTER .................................................................................................................................................. 82 40 10.2.1 Openness and honesty .............................................................................................................................. 83 10.2.2 Humane qualities ........................................................................................................................................ 84
10.3 PRESENCE ....................................................................................................................................................... 86 10.3.1 Engagement and liveliness ....................................................................................................................... 86 10.3.2 Speaking to emotions ................................................................................................................................ 87 45 10.3.3 Personal pronouns ..................................................................................................................................... 88
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11. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 90
SUMMING UP ................................................................................................................................................................ 92
12. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................. 94
Appendices: Please see enclosed report 5
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1. Introduction
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication has increased rapidly in importance over the
past decade. Focus in society is increasingly on the sustainability of the environment, on the ethical
treatment of people, on healthy and freshly produced products and so on. 5
Even now, in times of global, economic crisis conditions, expectations from consumers are not
decreasing. On the contrary; a recent survey from the independent, global public opinion and
stakeholder research firm “GlobeScan Incorporated” has shown that over a period of approximately
10 years, consumer expectations as to the commitment of corporations to CSR issues have grown. 10
In the same survey, it also became evident that corporations may face serious trust issues along with
the rising consumer expectations. Consumers’ belief in the fact that corporations are actually doing
what they can to do good and are sincere – i.e. what the survey terms “the CSR industrial
performance”, has fallen drastically.
15
Issues of responsibility are becoming more and more important to consumers – both in terms of
making the right decisions themselves, but also in terms of demanding more from the products they
purchase and from the manufacturers of these products. CSR involvement is no longer an option – it
has become a demand from consumers and from society at large.1
20
Through the communicating of CSR initiatives and standpoints, the company has the possibility to
brand a company as being a responsible company that is interested in interacting ethically correct
with the surroundings – both in the local areas and in the world.
By talking to the consumer through CSR communication, a company’s values become evident in a
less obvious, yet perhaps more credible way than communicating it through regular advertising for 25
products in e.g. magazines ads.
The communication of the corporate identity happens through all of a corporation’s written
material, visual material, actions when business is conducted, and so on. Ideally, it is communicated
through everything a corporation says and does. Still, scholars Holm and Norlyk (2006) and many
others, who do research within the field of using CSR communication as branding, have pointed out 30
1 Source: See appendices – 3.b Corporate social responsibility (Sharon Norris)
10
that communicating the ideal way can prove very difficult (Holm & Norlyk 2006: 194). There is a
need for action behind the words – otherwise the consumer credibility will not be present which is
the most important element necessary for the success of the communication and the branding (Holm
& Norlyk 2006: 193).
This raises the question of how a company most effectively ensures the establishment of credibility. 5
Different companies and businesses call for different approaches regarding communicative
strategies. Still, any company needs to take into consideration that their existence is not isolated
from what happens in the outside world (Balmer & Greyser 2003: 17).
There are many measures which a company can use in the struggle for maintaining a positive 10
corporate image. They include: openness and clarity, honesty, choice of appeal style in
communication, consistency through communication, and so on.
Employing different types of communication may also bring something to the credibility of the
communication. The element of storytelling can prove to be effective. Roughly, storytelling in a
company is using the “good story” to build up brands, differentiate a company, a product or a 15
service or adding elements in the communication which illustrates the corporate values in a tangible
way (Fog et. al. 2004: 30-32). It could in fact be argued that the concept of CSR communication is
in itself storytelling.
However, no matter what the company may believe CSR communication to be, it is a way for a way
for the company to “tell the good story”; about the things the company does for the good of the 20
immediate environment and in society at large.
On the operational side of establishing credibility and communicating “vividly” about CSR,
companies have different ways of reaching the optimal. Being aware of the appeal forms (logos,
ethos and pathos) and being conscious about the many available tools connected to this, may equip 25
the company with the means to create texts and other types of communication that are designed
directly for a specific kind of consumers for to a specific element of awareness. The appeal forms
can to a high extend be viewed as a way of making the issue of psychological consumer
communication tangible.
30
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1.1 Aim
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how corporations according to theory can establish
credibility around their communication of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) with a specific
focus on communication about CSR initiatives. The concept of storytelling will be yet a pivotal 5
point for the analysis of empirical material. The storytelling approach is not a brand new tool, yet it
certainly still has its validity in today’s communication. Storytelling can make CSR communication
“come alive” and personalise it – just as using specific appeal forms in communication material can.
Therefore, the link between storytelling and credibility will be an interesting one to dive into, as
they seem to be able to complement each other, yet also to be able to pull in a negative direction in 10
relation to corporate image.
The above stated purpose shall be reached by answering the following research question:
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1.2 Methodology 20
The thesis consists of both a theoretical part and an empirical part.
A prerequisite for carrying out any kind of analysis will be to define central concepts and present
relevant theory. The theoretical part will primarily elaborate on the concepts of storytelling,
corporate social responsibility (CSR), credibility and branding. Especially in terms of the overall 25
subject of CSR and in relation to the main topic for the chosen empirical material, storytelling, it is
recognised that not all theorists agree on appropriate models and details within the subject matter.
Therefore, the theory discussed will be by both communication and marketing scholars such as
Algirdas-Julien Greimas, Lund & Petersen, McCroskey, Aristotle, etc. The discussions will aim at
presenting a diverse perspective of the concepts. 30
CSR will be subject to critique as will the employment of storytelling in relation to building up
corporate credibility in online communication.
How does Sainsbury’s employ storytelling in the process of building up credibility?
12
As mentioned, the main subject for analysis will be employment of storytelling in relation to
building up credibility. The theoretical foundation for the analysis models will partly be based on
Algirdas-Julien Greimas’ actant model and partly on Lund & Petersen’s model for competence,
character and presence. 5
The two separate analyses will be continually linked together and related to the goal of establishing
and building up corporate credibility.
The empirical part of the thesis will form the second part. It will be an empirical study of
Sainsbury’s website communication on CSR issues and it will be conducted in a qualitative manner.
The qualitative method of analysing text includes going into detail with specific elements, e.g. 10
choosing to focus on finding markers of credibility creation and relating them to the introduced
theory. The qualitative analysis will attempt to establish what Sainsbury’s has considered important
to convey to the reader of the website and anchoring this in the theory on both image and credibility
creation.
Sainsbury’s is the leading food retailer in the U.K. On its website Sainsbury’s describes itself as 15
being committed to being a responsible retailer in relation to social, environmental and ethical
concerns2.
Especially on the subject of fairtrade, Sainsbury’s elaborates that it was the first major supermarket
in the UK to offer fairtrade food products3. Sainsbury’s appears to consider storytelling as a very
useful tool in its corporate communication. The fairtrade pages do not stand alone; also the pages on 20
animal welfare4 and working with suppliers in Britain5 are extensively marked by the employment
of storytelling.
The reason for concentrating on the fairtrade pages will be given in the delimitation which can be
found on page 16.
25
2 Source: See appendices – 2.a Sainsbury’s Our Approach 3 Source: See appendices – 2.b Sainsbury’s Fairtrade 4 Source: See appendices – 2.b Sainsbury’s Animal Welfare 5 Source: See appendices – 2.b Sainsbury’s Best of British
13
1.3 Structure
Model: Structure of thesis 5 Part 1: Introduction, thesis statement and Methodology 10 15 Part 2: Theoretical discussion and development of model 20 for analysis 25 30 35 40 45
Introduction
Methodology
Definition of storytelling
Storytelling as a corporate
branding tool
Greimas’ actant model
Definition of credibility
Structure
Delimitation
CSR as a concept
Critique of CSR as a concept
Storytelling and credibility
Critique of Greimas’ actant
model
Identity, image
and ethos
Competence, character and
presence
Analysis model – Lund and Petersen
14
Part 3: Case: The company 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Part 4: Conclusion 45
Introduction to Sainsbury’s
Analysis of empirical material - storytelling
Summary on case results/relating it to thesis aim
Conclusion
Empirical material and
delimitation of the same
Analysing corporate websites
Criteria and insight
The thesis analysis model
Introduction to Sainsbury’s
Fairtrade Site
Analysis of empirical material - credibility
Summary on case results/relating it to thesis aim
15
1.4 Structure in details
The thesis will consist of a theoretical part and an empirical part. The theoretical part is found in
chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and together they will form the foundation for the empirical part which
consists of two analyses that will be related to each other and to the thesis aim. The empirical 5
parties found in chapters 9 and 10. A final conclusion in chapter 11 will sum up the thesis.
Firstly, the thesis will, as mentioned, concentrate on identifying relevant theoretical terms that must
be introduced in order to create the best overall picture. Then, the thesis proceeds with identifying
the theory behind storytelling and later on the theory behind establishment of credibility in
corporate communication. The presentation and discussion of the theories will result in two analysis 10
models – one concerning storytelling and another concerning establishment of credibility. The
analyses using these two models will be summed up in an effort to answer the thesis aim – how
does Sainsbury’s employ storytelling in the process of building up credibility.
Chapter 2 will start off with an introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a concept 15
and a critical discussion of CSR will be provided as well. The concept of CSR will be put into
perspective in relation to the present financial crisis which is a reality all around the world – i.e.
how does this affects expectations in relation to corporate communication and what role has
credibility played and will credibility continue to play in this context.. CSR will be introduced to
give the reader relevant knowledge of the discourse, in which the thesis is situated. 20
Chapter 3 will introduce the concept of branding.
Chapter 4 and 5 will focus on storytelling. The theory behind Algirdas-Julien Greimas’ actant
model as proposed by Fog et. al. (2004), Bronwen & Ringham (1999) and Elkan (website), 25
respectively, will be elaborated with the purpose of providing the theoretical foundation for
analysing the empirical material. The notion of storytelling as a tool for branding a company within
the frames of credibility will be an important part of the chapter, as this will serve as a supplement
to answering the thesis aim, namely how does Sainsbury’s employ storytelling in the process of
building up credibility in their CSR communication on fairtrade. 30
16
Chapter 6 will focus on the creation of credibility in corporate communication trough the
employment of Lund & Petersen’s model entailing the three ethos virtues competence, character
and presence. In this, a discussion of organisational versus corporate identity and the relationship
between this and the concept called image is also found. The introduction of an analysis model that
is focused on the three ethos virtues should be seen as a vital supplement to Greimas’ actant model. 5
Whereas Greimas’ model operates on the superficial level, Lund & Petersen’s model for ethos
virtues offers the opportunity to go into detail with the textual level and the purpose of the choices
that are made through the text.
Chapter 7 and 8 is where the empirical material is firstly presented, along with criteria put up for the 10
analysis material and then analysed.
Chapter 9 will analyse the empirical material on the basis of the model by Algirdas-Julien Greimas’
called the actant model. It will be done on a detailed level.
15
Chapter 10 features the analysis of the same empirical material by the application of the model of
the three ethos virtues by Lund & Petersen.
Chapter 11 will round off the thesis with a complete conclusion.
1.5 Empirical material and focus 20
The focus of this thesis will be on corporate CSR communication and more specifically on selected
texts on fairtrade. The choice of empirical material for analysis in this thesis has landed on
Sainsbury’s which is one of Great Britain’s leading food retailers. Sainsbury’s is a good example to
analyse when the purpose is to illustrate the establishment of credibility and specifically the 25
establishment of credibility through the employment of storytelling.
Sainsbury’s declares that it is the biggest retailer of fairtrade products in the UK. It was also the first
mover in UK, as it in 1994 was the first supermarket in the UK to offer fairtrade products.6 Now,
the Sainsbury’s fairtrade product line ranges from bananas and coffee to t-shirts and flowers.
On the communicative side of Sainsbury’s, the company is, through its corporate website 30
communication on fairtrade, extensively using storytelling as a communicative strategy. It is
6 Source: See appendices – 2.b Sainsbury’s Progression against our 2008 targets
17
estimated that this strategy both aims at both creating awareness, speaking to the emotions of the
reading audience, establish credibility, etc. All of this demands that the company considers the
choice of phrasing, the angles, imagery, plot and other details carefully.
In this thesis, focus will be on the external communication, where a company uses storytelling as a
means of corporate branding. 5
A more detailed presentation of the empirical material will be provided in chapter 6, as this is where
the analysis of the material will take place and it will be most relevant to go into details with the
material there.
10
1.6 Delimitation
In this thesis, the empirical material will consist of selected parts of Sainsbury’s online
communication. Sainsbury’s does also express its CSR commitment through advertising material in
newspapers and on TV, but the deliberate choice to focus on online communication is made on the 15
basis of the present importance of this medium. The internet is used for company information
search more than ever in history before (Hoff-Clausen 2002: 26-28). Consumers are now more
prone to visiting a corporate website for information than requesting a company brochure or similar.
Consumers of all ages are increasingly becoming more accustomed to using the internet and the
online communication can in many cases also be a more cost efficient medium than print and 20
television advertisement (Hoff-Clausen 2002: 11-13). The thesis is delimited to considering
storytelling as a means for corporate branding and for building up credibility in the CSR
communication on fairtrade in relation to customers and will therefore not consider the use of
storytelling as a means for branding the company internally through telling the stories about the
company. Still, it is acknowledged that what the company is expressing outwards will also be 25
interpreted internally since employees themselves may also be customers in their everyday life.
Therefore, the thesis will also make a point of explaining that a consistent image across all channels
is necessary. The company needs to assure that there is a distinct correlation between the
organisational identity and the expressed corporate identity (Balmer & Greyser 2002: 75).
Furthermore, the thesis will not include considerations on visual elements such as picture 30
interpretation, colours, etc. The thesis will therefore only take a linguistic approach to empirical
material; based on theory centred on the establishment of credibility and on storytelling.
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2. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
This chapter describes and presents the concept of corporate social responsibility.
To give an understanding of what corporate social responsibility is, this thesis shortly presents the
concept on a general level and in relation to the establishment of credibility in corporate 5
communication. Additionally, the concept will be subject to a critical presentation as well, since the
concept does has both proponents and opponents. Corporate social responsibility will hereafter also
be referred to with the abbreviation CSR.
2.1 Corporate Social Responsibility as a concept 10
Corporate social responsibility has over time been described by various scholars. One of the
definitions of CSR is offered in “Corporate social responsibility. Doing the most good for your
company and your cause” by scholars Kotler and Lee:
15
“Corporate social responsibility is a commitment to improve community
well-being through discretionary business practices and contributions of
corporate resources”. (Kotler & Lee 2005: 3)
CSR is by Kotler and Lee presented as the process of a corporation using “corporate resources” for 20
“improving community well-being”. Roughly, Kotler and Lee define CSR as a purely non-profit
action which is taken with the benefit of society in general in mind and not for the benefit of the
company.
Yet, as it could be expected in the time of critical consumerism, NGOs and extensive media
coverage of everything corporations “say and do” (and perhaps more importantly “say and do not 25
do”), this definition is not accepted without reservations (Chaudhri and Wang 2007: 235).
CSR as defined by scholar Irene Pollach, acknowledges the fact that CSR can also be an extremely
effective marketing and positioning tool, when applied appropriately (Pollach 2003: 278). CSR can
be used to enhance the corporate reputation, or image, and possibly safe guard the company in the
case of public criticism (Pollach 2003: 278). Still, if there is no action behind the words a company 30
projects in its CSR communication, it can instead have a fatal outfall in relation to the corporate
19
image7. Actually, companies can foresee this by having a logical look at the information structure in
today’s society. Consumers have access to all kinds of information and not least to scrutinizing
material on the company both through the news media, but especially through the internet. It is
therefore no longer easy for a company to write information about its CSR initiatives that it is not
backing up with actions at all. Partnering companies that participated in the aforementioned 5
GlobeScan survey8 pointed out that right now (cf. the global economic crisis), it is ill-advised for a
company to engage in CSR communication, if it has not got the necessary willingness to involve
itself and the entire business 100% in the work that needs to be done. According to Janet Blake,
Head of Global Corporate Social Responsibility at British Telecommunication plc., making a half-
hearted attempt to include CSR in a company’s business profile will, at this point in time, most 10
likely result in the death of these companies9.
2.2 CSR involvement equal to a good corporate image?
Despite the fact that CSR involvement and communication about the same has become an 15
expectation with consumers and society in general, a company can, in principle, choose whether or
not to be concerned with corporate social responsibility issues. There is, in most countries, no law
dictating that companies must donate money to charity, incorporate fairtrade initiatives into their
business practices or that companies must publish reports to tell about their initiatives (Grayson
2004: 8), but as it has already been elaborated on, times have changed. From mainly focusing on the 20
result on the bottom line, in the form of how much revenue can be generated, companies have
realized that investing resources in formulating a stand on corporate social responsibility issues can
have a positive effect on the corporate image and a good corporate image is of crucial importance to
the company’s existence (Kotler & Lee 2005: 3).
A good corporate image can help the company stay afloat during a crisis and can generate a positive 25
attitude towards the company’s products or services. A company simply cannot afford to keep out
of CSR involvement; not if it wants a market share on the global market.
Any profit generating company will have an interest in holding a favourable image with a
stakeholder group. Especially in relation to the stakeholder group comprising a major impact on the
company’s bottom line, the customers and potential new customers, it is crucial to come across as 30
7 Source: See appendices – 3.a GlobeScan survey 8 Source: ibid 9 Source: ibid
20
credible. This stakeholder group can be highly interested in learning that the company, with which
they are doing business, is operating as a morally responsible actor in the line of business in which
it operates.
Stakeholder groups will receive information about the corporation from incredibly many sources.
Each of these channels contributing to the overall corporate image which the stakeholder will form 5
in his or her mind. Local and global news coverage will reveal different things, personal
experiences with the corporation will additionally add to the perception and communication directly
from the corporation itself will give more input to the image (Manheim & Pratt 1986: 15). It is
therefore of crucial importance that a corporation understands the correlation between the corporate
identity, the corporate image and the corporate ethos and the total effect on the corporate credibility 10
as experienced by the stakeholders (Lund & Petersen 1999: 129).
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2.3 Credibility is important
Communicating about CSR initiatives can be a valuable step to take, although difficult. A company
should strive to come across as being a credible sender that does not plays on the emotions evoked
in customers by boasting and marketing its initiatives, but instead rely on providing facts in a 5
credible manner.
A key issue for CSR communication is namely that for it to be successful, i.e. in order to be able to
get a message across to a target audience (e.g. consumers), the company needs to establish
credibility. An audience needs to be able to trust that what the company communicates is the truth,
otherwise they will not be as willing to consider the messages presented through CSR 10
communication as reliable (Holm & Norlyk 2006: 18, 138). Holm and Norlyk (2006) has
illustrated this dilemma which most companies face when deciding to communication about its
CSR involvement, namely:
“is it at all possible for the consumer to trust that the company is being genuine in its 15
communicated devotion to humane behaviour, when the company first and foremost
exists by producing and selling a product” ? (Holm & Norlyk 2006: 128).
This dilemma is according to the two scholars resolved through the company choosing the right
ethical area which the company would like to profile itself on in CSR and through a consistent, 20
considered linguistic strategy. In addition to the notion of a linguistic strategy, this is also what
Lund & Petersen emphasises in relation to the establishment of credibility in corporate
communication (Lund & Petersen 1999: 121 – 146). Lund & Petersen has as the pivotal point of
their ethos-theory the importance of the three virtues of ethos – competence, character and
presence. Lund & Petersen’s theory will later on in the thesis form the basis of an analysis model 25
and will therefore be explained in detail in chapter 6.
2.4 Critique of CSR communication as a concept
Doing good for others – how could that ever be a controversial topic? 30
22
Nevertheless, focusing on corporate “good-doing”, Non-governmental organisations (NGOs),
media and consumers in general are increasingly critical towards corporation’s communication on
corporate social responsibility issues.
CSR is increasingly seen as something the corporation has to do. It is an unspoken demand from 5
society.10 Many corporations of course acknowledge the fact that with acting on CSR provides a
powerful tool for branding a corporation or a product. Still, so does everybody else, including
consumers. That is why a corporation must be extremely careful as to what it chooses to say in its
communication. Critical readers will relentlessly judge what is said – based on personal experiences
with the corporation and/or on what image they hold of it. Claire Fauset, a corporate structures 10
researcher, has written a report on the dilemmas and the problems that are linked to companies
communication about corporate social responsibility today. She puts out the claim that companies
week to engage with stakeholders through CSR, but that they do so in a way that is basically to be
considered as a cleaver public relations exercise. She believes that companies “claim credit for
positive, or simply less harmful actions, without taking on any obligation” (Fauset 2006: 9). 15
Fauset believes that many companies are riding the popular wave of CSR communication that has
been rolling for the past decade or more and that they are misusing the term responsibility and
trading on its positive connotations (Fauset 2006: 9). Fauset exemplifies this through the paragraph
below:
20
“For example, corporate and government definitions invariably make reference to the
idea that CSR means actions taken by companies which go beyond legal requirements –
in other words actions which they have no obligation to carry out. The scope of a
company's 'responsibility' is therefore selfdefined and not socially defined. Also it cannot
be measured, so value can be assigned arbitrarily”. (Fauset 2006: 9) 25
Fauset even claims that companies gain more from CSR than society does.
Now, it is also important to bear in mind that Fauset has written her report for the organisation
called Corporate Watch which is an anti-corporate movement that monitor and take a critical view
on companies around the world. Fauset has written her report as a contribution to the debate in 30
relation to Corporate Watch’s project called the Corporate Structures project. A definition of the
project is found on the Corporate Watch website:
23
“This new project aims to look into the legal basis of corporate structures,
rights and duties, in order to analyse how legal rights and obligations
influence corporate behaviour and what changes must be made to corporate
structures (or what structures must replace corporations) in order for 5
corporate social responsibility to become a reality instead of a PR
buzzword”. 11
Much of the criticism of CSR may really originate in a lack from the corporation’s side to establish
the needed credibility – both on screen and in real life. Many other factors will of course influence 10
the situation as well, but credibility in texts and the correlation between what the company says and
does, is something that the corporation is able to control and is therefore something that must be
given optimum attention.
The next chapter will shortly present the concept of corporate branding. When a company engages 15
in CSR and afterwards chooses to communicate about how and why it is involved, it can be seen as
an attempt to brand the company.
10 Source: See appendices – 3.b Corporate social responsibility (Sharon Norris) 11 Source: See appendices – 3.c Corporate Watch. About us
24
3. Corporate branding as a concept
This chapter presents the concept of corporate branding. This has been included in the thesis
because of the assumption that when a company is engaging in CSR and furthermore is
communicating about it, it does so with the aim of branding the company. The company brands 5
itself through the values which can be expressed through telling an audience about the good things
the company has chosen to be involved in (Pollach 2003: 278). The chapter is based on theory by
Lis Holm and Birgitte Norlyk (2006), who has constructed the text producer’s guiding star. Many
aspects of the star can be directly related to theory by Lund and Petersen (1999) and works by these
scholars on ethos establishment in corporate communication will be elaborated on in a later chapter. 10
The Lund & Petersen theory will form the basis of an analysis model of the thesis.
3.1 Corporate branding
The text producer’s guiding star is a model made by scholars Lis Holm and Birgitte Norlyk (2006) 15
in order to illustrate the different aspect which a company should take into account when producing
texts that are meant to be branding the company or a company’s products or services (Holm &
Norlyk 2006: 137-138). The graphical representation of the model is as seen in the figure below:
20
25
30
(Holm & Norlyk 2006: 138)
The text producer
Target group
Ethos
The purpose of the text
Medium
Genre
Branding
25
The model above points out that the establishment of ethos, or credibility, is an important aspect to
the creation of a branding text. It is equally as important as considering the target group or the
purpose of the text and the guiding star also includes the dimension that a company must consider
how to establish ethos in relation to the target group, the purpose of the text, etc.
Based on the scope of this thesis, ethos and the purpose of the text will be the two aspects from the 5
guiding star which will be elaborated on. Although the other elements are of equal importance in
the relation to corporate branding, it is evaluated that putting these two elements as described by
Holm & Norlyk (2006) into perspective is of greater importance in the context of answering the
thesis question and sub questions.
10
Linking the facts presented by Holm & Norlyk together with the scope of this thesis, Sainsbury’s is
attempting to establish ethos in many ways throughout the chosen focal empirical material (text
with focus on communication of the CSR topic of fairtrade). As Holm & Norlyk (2006) point out:
“When the reader can sense the human being behind the text, he/she is more 15
inclined to perceive the text as being credible”
(Holm & Norlyk 2006: 193)
This statements goes hand in hand with what Lund & Petersen (1999) demonstrate in their model of
the ethos virtues (competence, character and presence) which will be the theoretical foundation of 20
the analysis for credibility markers in CSR communication by Sainsbury’s later on in the thesis.
Holm & Norlyk (2006) have obviously been inspired by Lund & Petersen’s credibility theory. Both
scholars-couples agree to the basic principle that everything the company or the employees of the
company express and do should be consistent with the overall corporate identity and image (Holm
& Norlyk 2006: 194, Lund & Petersen 1999: 122). When all of this together forms a unified image 25
of the company, the customer will experience a genuine commitment and a sincere interest in e.g.
doing good in society (Holm & Norlyk 2006: 194).
Most scholars agree that the corporate identity is a pivotal point in the construction of both the
traditional branding genres such as advertising, websites, etc. and in other genres in the company 30
(Holm & Norlyk 2006: 137). To put it briefly, the identity of a company lies in the history, the
values, the culture, etc. of the company. The identity is mirroring the inherent culture within the
company and the official corporate identity should therefore be consistent with the organisational
26
identity – i.e. the inherent culture (Lund & Petersen 1999: 122 - 126). This topic will be described
further later on in the thesis in connection to the presentation of theory and analysis model for
figuring out how British retail store Sainsbury’s establishes credibility in its online CSR
communication.
5
The next chapter will mark the beginning of the central theoretical part of the thesis. The first
chapter will handle the theory on storytelling and include the first of two analysis models that will
be applied to the chosen empirical material in the process of answering the thesis research question.
27
4. Storytelling
This chapter will concentrate on the concept of storytelling. The starting point will be a presentation
of theory by scholar A. J. Greimas as it is interpreted and presented by scholar Fog et. al and
Bronwen & Ringham. Fog et. al have produced a model for the analysis of storytelling in texts that 5
is based on the actant model by A.J. Greimas.
The strengths and weaknesses of employing storytelling in corporate communication will be
commented on with the purpose of presenting the concept in a way that includes more than just the
opinion held by proponents of storytelling.
The chapter will contain both an introduction and a critical view on Greimas’ actant model which 10
will form the first of two analysis tools that will be applied to the chosen empirical material in the
quest of answering the thesis question: how does Sainsbury’s employ storytelling in the process of
building up credibility.
The chapter will be initiated by placing Greimas’ actant model within theory of science.
15
4.1 The semiotic approach – basis for storytelling model
The semiotic approach to narrative text analysis operates with different levels of meaning which
differs from more traditional literary approaches (Bronwen & Ringham 1999:148). One of the
dominant scholars is A. J. Greimas. In the next paragraphs, the concept of semiotics will explained. 20
The concept of semiotics is included as background information and will not be explained in great
detail. The presentation will serve as an explanation of the origin of Greimas’ actant model
4.1.1 The three levels of semiotics
25
Semiotics operate with 3 levels.
The first level is the discursive level which is the level where the grammatical structures or choice
of specific words are examined (Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 8). Any analysis of a story will begin
at this level in order to determine which discourse the story is situated in (Bronwen & Ringham
1999: 148). This will make it possible to understand the other levels of the story better. 30
28
The second level is the narrative level which is also viewed as a more abstract level. This is where
the story grammar or the surface narrative syntax is in focus (Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 9). It is
also in the narrative level that (you will) find the actant model which originates from the Russian
scholar Propp and has been modified by A.J. Greimas into the fairy tale model or the actant model
(Fog et. al. 2002: 38; Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 10). At this level, the story structure is examined. 5
The model can be applied to an entire story or to units of a story. The choice whether to consider
the entire or parts of a story depends on the goal of analysing the story (Bronwen & Ringham 1999:
156 – 157).
The third and last level is the deep or abstract level (Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 12). This is the 10
level, where an in dept analysis is carried out. By analysing on the third level, it will be possible to
reveal the inherent values which the sender is attempting to communicate through a text (Bronwen
& Ringham 1999: 161 – 163).
4.2 Storytelling as a branding tool 15
Storytelling is not a new concept. Through all time, people have been telling stories. In ancient
time, we told stories in order to hand down myths and legends about gods and ancestors and in
order to pass on knowledge and experience to the younger generations (Fog et. al. 2004: 16).
According to Fog et. al., sharing stories which then live on forever through generations to come 20
helped shape identity, and helped establish a reputation among other tribes (Fog et. al. 2004: 16).
This easily translates into modern day use of storytelling in corporations. Today, storytelling is
extensively used in companies. It is used both internally and externally. Holm & Norlyk (2006)
refer to storytelling as:
25
a management tool
a communication tool
a branding tool (Holm & Norlyk 2006: 71)
Through this thesis, focus will be put on the use of storytelling as a branding tool. Branding through 30
storytelling allows a company to try and position itself in a unique way in relation to competitors
(Holm & Norlyk 2006: 77). Companies use storytelling in the battle with other companies for
29
capturing and maintaining consumer attention. Storytelling becomes a branding discipline which
intertwines internal and external identity creation and value communication.
Telling stories have become a popular tool because it makes a company able to communicate
complex situations without including a lot of technical data, facts, and so on (Holm & Norlyk 2006:
71). Through the sometimes entertaining, dramatic form and the immediate comprehensibility 5
which a story is able to provide, telling a story, rather than writing a 20 page CSR report with facts
and numbers, the story has the potential of surprising, entertaining and at the same time still be
informative (Holm & Norlyk 2006: 71).
Telling a story often appeals to the reader’s emotions and has the potential of “going behind our
intellectual and critical defence mechanisms by speaking to our subconscious and emotions” (Holm 10
& Norlyk 2006: 72).
Consumers might even not realise that the company is in fact has branding as a goal for telling the
story, because they are so smitten with the good story (Fog et. al. 2004: 30-32).
Still, the critical consumer with a trained eye may soon find out that the stories are not just told for
our pleasure. 15
4.3 The real story or a representation of values
Fog et. al. are occupied with the importance of the company basing its storytelling efforts on the
company core story/telling (Fog et. al 2002: 60 - 120). Fog et. al. (2002) believes that basing it on 20
authentic material will make it much easier to create solid storytelling that communicate what the
company wants it to do (Fog et. al 2002: 98) . Still, Fog et. al. also acknowledge that it is by far not
a prerequisite that the story is real, i.e. that it has actually happened the way it is communicated
(Fog et. al 2002: 98). The advertising business offers many examples of just that. One is a video
made by the Shell company called the “Eureka film”. The film is part of the large Shell Real Energy 25
Campaign which has been employed to both its website, in newspaper advertisements, in television
advertisements, etc. The film is an approximately 9 minutes long warm, human story of how the
snake oil drill was invented by an engineer watching his son drink a milkshake through a bendy
straw12. Yet another example is the myth of the Marlboro man that was a part of the advertisement
12 Source: See appendices – 3.d Shell.com “Eureka Film”
30
for Marlboro cigarettes and quickly became an icon known all around the world. The Marlboro Man
was introduced around 1955.13
In a situation where the company is using storytelling as a means of corporate branding and
attempts to establish credibility in the communication, it is obvious that the best approach is to keep 5
in touch with reality and base the storytelling effort on an actual story. As has been mentioned, vast
interest groups focus on making companies accountable for what they say and what they do – so if
anything is revealed as a lie or decorative fluff, it would not be a positive contribution to the
corporate image. An audience will most likely expect that the company has some sort of purpose
and goal to obtain by telling stories (Elkan – web)14. 10
4.4 The primary functions of storytelling
Elkan elaborates on the functions of employing storytelling. According to him, storytelling has
three primary functions: 15
As justification – i.e. argumentation, persuasion, justification, documentation or
accusation.
As entertainment – e.g. about the grotesque, amazing, surprising, odd,
misunderstandings and other types of deviations. 20
As portraying personal capabilities or qualities – i.e. where the narrator
enhances inner positive qualities of his/her/its own or of others.15
Adding to Elkan’s thoughts on the functions of storytelling, an important aspect to note is that
storytelling has the ability to establish a common bond between the storyteller and the listener. It is 25
assumed an important purpose of telling stories is to tell about a situation which must either make
someone view the situation or the company in a continuously good way, or change the image to the
better16. A story may reaffirm a consumer that the company does in fact live up to its corporate
image and his or her expectations.
13 Source: See appendices – 3.e The Marlboro man 14 Source: See appendices – 3.f Elkan, Virksomheder kan jo ikke fortælle 15 Source: ibid. 16 Source: ibid.
31
A company can use storytelling to generate the vision behind the corporate brand17. Strengthening
the corporate brand through storytelling may prove very effective, but not without the corporation’s
full commitment to securing a clear, consistent message across communication channels and its
ability to communicate the corporate values in a trustworthy manner.
It is a common factor in almost all scholars’ suggestion on how a branding story can be constructed 5
that it contains the element of creating a structural framework. However, what many scholars fail to
do, is to take the deeper layers behind storytelling into consideration. They do not take notice of the
possibilities for the linguistic and visual layout, the different levels for formation of meaning which
are the focal point for semiotics, etc.
In relation to the thesis aim, only using Greimas’ actant model to analyse the empirical material has 10
been considered not to be sufficient. The model will be able to reveal actors in the story and
relationships between them, but a more detailed analysis with the goal of being able to answer how
the company in question, Sainsbury’s, employs storytelling in the quest for building up credibility
will require some tool that goes more into detail with how things are put. Therefore, Lund &
Petersen’s theory on ethos virtues will supplement Greimas’ model and in that way add to the value 15
of analysing with this model in the first place.
With any given theory, there will always be positive and negative attitudes. The next paragraphs
will shortly present and discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of storytelling.
4.5 Strengths of storytelling 20
Storytelling is a very effective way for a company to brand its products, communicate corporate
values and corporate identity all at the same time. Many sources underline that one of the strengths
of storytelling is the fact that building up a story and creating some sort of context, in which the
company, its products or its services are presented to an audience, equals good product placement in 25
a consumers’ mind (Holm & Norlyk 2006: 76 – 77 and Fog et. al 2004: 152-153). Stories simply
make it easier to remember an advertisement or similar corporate communication (Holm & Norlyk
2006: 72). Storytelling is a way for the company to for example tell the stories about the way, in
which the company’s efforts in and commitment to CSR has done well for a community or
individuals. It is a way of branding the company as being socially responsible, by telling 30
stakeholders what exactly has changed for the good after it started focusing on the specific group in
17 Source: See appendices – 3.g Corporate branding; NOT just a company (Hatch & Schultz)
32
question. Storytelling can be a way of communicating in a manner that is perhaps easier to relate to
and get personally involved in as a consumer than when it is told in an annual report.
4.6 Weaknesses of storytelling
5
Where the discipline of storytelling can be a positive tool for telling the good stories about a
company’s CSR efforts and in that way brand itself in a positive way, this exact angle can also be a
weakness of storytelling. As has been mentioned many times in this thesis, today’s society attaches
high importance to honesty and openness and consists of extremely critical consumers, media and
external stakeholders. Everything a company says and does is subject to scrutiny from at least one 10
part of the surrounding environment, and telling the positive stories may therefore be very difficult.
The nature of storytelling is very much concerned with speaking to the reader’s emotions and sub-
conscious (Holm & Norlyk 2006: 72), so that poses the demand that companies employing
storytelling must really focus on establishing credibility with the intention of building a foundation
with consumers that makes it possible to actually use storytelling in a branding situation and not be 15
met with scepticism about the company’s sincerity in e.g. its CSR involvement.
In order to be able to present storytelling theory in a manner that makes it possible to analyse some
empirical material, the topic will now be presented in details. The next paragraphs will include the
four elements of storytelling and later on Greimas’ actant model will be thoroughly explained. 20
33
4.7 Storytelling in practise
According to Fog et. al., storytelling is based on four elements which – if all are present in the story
– will help produce a good story; i.e. a successful story. They are basic elements which can be
mixed according to the context and the purpose of the story (Fog et. al. 2002: 31). 5
10
15
20
(Fog et. al. 2002: 31)
In relation to storytelling being used by companies as a branding tool and thereby also with the
purpose of establishing credibility with customers, the essence of the tool is “speaking to the heart
of stakeholders”. This should not solely be understood in the sense that the company produces 25
almost melodramatic communication, aimed at making stakeholders reach for their wallets on the
basis of feeling obligated to do something (Fog et. al. 2002: 48-49). It is also to be interpreted as
being the process of creating a narration that appeals for example to the human ideal of freedom, to
a sense of belonging, to a sense of personal fulfilment as to doing something good for others, etc.
(Fog et. al. 2002: 48). Storytelling can be used to brand the entire company – i.e. on corporate brand 30
level, or to brand an individual product or service - i.e. product brand level (Fog et. al. 2002: 49).
Also, a good story that succeeds in affecting the right stakeholders can facilitate a greater bond
34
between the two parties, and hence result in greater brand loyalty, greater sales and/or in a stronger
corporate image – which again has positive side effects.
Returning to the four elements of storytelling, a short introduction to them will follow in the next
paragraphs. 5
4.7.1 The message
The use of storytelling on a corporate brand level will primarily have the aim of positively
improving the corporate image (Fog et. al. 2002: 32). A company which communicates about its 10
efforts in relation to CSR by means of storytelling will seek to create a central message of justifying
its existence and/or demonstrate its role as a socially responsible company through e.g. telling about
its donation of money, time and know-how to developing countries – anchored in a story about a
specific project.
15
4.7.2 The conflict
“It is the conflict that drives the plot of the good story. No conflict, no story” (Fog et. al. 2002: 33).
A conflict in relation to corporate storytelling differs slightly from conflicts that can be found in
old-fashioned fairy tales. Where a fairy tale is often a presentation of archetypes with a fictional 20
content and a moral, a conflict in relation to corporate branding will mostly take its of departure in
real life stories and will seek to illustrate e.g. a company’s stand on different CSR issues by means
of a story that the reader must interpret on his/her own.
Conflicts should not be understood as “conflicts” per se, where two parties are disagreeing on
something. In the case of storytelling, conflicts are to be understood as “something or someone that 25
disturbs the peace”. It is often the conflict that makes a story exciting and which makes it suitable
for use in branding purposes. Through proving its abilities in the sense of solving a conflict, the
company can show its worth and, in relation to the thesis aim, for example justify why and how it
engages in CSR.
30
In order to have a conflict, there is a need for “the good guy” and “the bad guys” (Fog et. al. 2002:
39). The term “guys” has here been put in quotation marks, as e.g. the negative forces (the bad
35
guys) may be other things than a human being. It can be a thing, an intangible threat or even a
psychological barrier which triggers a conflict within one of the people in the story (Fog et. al.
2002: 39).
In relation to the scope of this thesis, the fact that a good story requires that we are able to identify 5
with the persons and especially with the hero of the story (Fog et. al. 2002: 42) does not seem to be
as important as the demand that we are able to identify and sympathise with the story itself and the
values which are communicated through it.
4.7.3 The plot 10
The action of a story is comprised by a beginning, middle and an ending (Fog et. al. 2002: 42-44).
This is evident to even the shortest piece of storytelling. An audience will have a certain expectation
as to for example the structure of a fairytale. The story will be divided into different stages and be
subject to a fairly predetermined structure of its flow (Fog et. al. 2002: 42-44). Firstly, the situation 15
will be presented, next comes the introduction of a conflict which then will escalate and finally be
resolved. This will mark the ending of the story (Fog et. al. 2002: 42). In relation to a piece of
branding storytelling such as the one that will be included in this thesis, the structure will be in the
same way be commenced with something interesting that grabs the attention of the audience,
20
4.7.4 The roles
Fog et. al. have developed their own”actant model” which can be used when developing a story.
As this model will in fact be the basis for an analysis of empirical material from Sainsbury’s later
on, the notion on roles will not be further elaborated on at this point. Greimas’ actant model will be 25
subject to discussion in the following chapter.
36
5. Greimas’ actant model
The model chosen for the analysis of the storytelling efforts in this thesis, is from the structurailst
literary criticism.
The actant model is based on works by Russian Vladimir Propp, who studied the elements of 5
narrative structures in folktales. Scholar A. J. Greimas developed Propp´s model further into what is
now known as the “Fairy tale model” or “the actant model” (Fog et. al. 2002: 38; Bronwen &
Ringham 1999: 10). Greimas defines six facets or actants (Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 10).
Greimas’ model can be applied to a single paragraph or to a whole text (Bronwen & Ringham 1999:
10). The model can be used to analyse any text – real or fictional – to define the personage in a 10
story, define their relations and define the context and the content of the story (Bronwen &
Ringham 1999: 9). In the actant model, it is not necessarily so that e.g. “the opponent” (cf. the six
actants) is a physical, personified obstacle or opponent which puts up a stop for the progress or for a
person in the story (or the goal). The “opponent” might just as well be a psychological barrier
within a character in the story and instead of persons, the storytelling might be about a company and 15
its competitors (institutions), etc. (Søderberg 2003: 12).
The six actants form three binary oppositions which are as follows:
Subject vs object
Sender vs. receiver 20
Helper vs. opponent
The model looks as follows:
25
30
(Based on: Fog et. al. 2002: 38)
Sender Object Receiver
Helper Subject Opponent
37
According to Winfried Nöth’s explanation of the binary oppositions, a subject wants an object,
encounters an opponent, finds a helper, obtains the object from the sender and “gives” it to the
receiver (Nöth 2003: 372).
Translating this into e.g. a fairy tale context, the sender is the King, the receiver and the subject is
the prince on the white horse, the object is the princess, the opponent can be a dragon, a troll or 5
something more conceptual such as a injustice or misuse of power – either way it is something that
works against the subject/receiver and prevents him or it from reaching the goal; in the case of the
fairy tale - getting the princess. The helper can be a fairy godmother, an “assistant” to the subject
such as a trusty side-kick or it can be an inanimate concept like a the prince’s ability to figure things
out on his own, the courage of the prince, or something similar (Fog et. al. 2002: 38). 10
The six actants that Greimas operates with are described in bullet points below. The terms will be
employed as it is done by Greimas himself (Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 10-11). Scholars Fog et. al.
have attempted to simplify the terms even further than Greimas did when he further-developed
Propp’s model, but this thesis will stick to the original terms, as Fog et. al.’s terminology relates 15
even more to the analysis of fairy tales than anything else. Considering the scope of this thesis, it is
more useful to keep the terminology as neutral as possible, as the analysis model will be applied to
corporate communication and not to a fairy tale.
The actants are as mentioned earlier in this thesis: 20
a sender
a receiver
an object
a subject 25
a helper
an opponent
Going into detail with the six actants, the next paragraphs will be used to explain about and relate
each part to the story. The theory will be related to the situation where storytelling is used as a part 30
of corporate communication. In this way, the result of an analysis of the chosen empirical material
based on Greimas’ model in a later chapter combined with the analysis for credibility with Lund &
38
Petersen’s model that is carried out in chapter 10 will present both a situational level and a detailed
level.
5.1 The six actants
5
5.1.1 The sender
- can be a person, an idea, etc. that motivates an act or makes something happen (Bronwen &
Ringham 1999: 10). Some theorists have labelled the sender with different terms because it can also
be an intangible thing, a state of mind, a situation (Søderberg 2003: 12-13)18. Through this thesis, it 10
has been chosen to keep the traditional terminology, as the different variations of the term “sender”
will be exemplified in this paragraph and the details of the particular sender in the empirical
material that will be analysed will be described through this analysis.
The sender is in direct relationship with the receiver and together they are following an aim or
working towards a goal (Søderberg 2003: 12-13). The sender can be a person, a concept, a company 15
or even an idea (Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 10). The sender will most often be the actual company,
but will in many cases also found in other roles (Fog et. al. 2002: 87).
5.1.2 The receiver
20
The receiver is the person or persons that benefit when the subject reaches or achieves something
from the object. The receiver-actant is often the same as the subject-actant (Søderberg 2003: 12).
5.1.3 The subject
25
- and the relationship with the object is considered the most fundamental of the three binary
oppositions (Søderberg 2003: 12, Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 10). The subject is, as mentioned
above, e.g. the prince on the quest for getting the princess (object).
18 Søderberg uses the term “power” instead of sender
39
The notion of subject in relation to corporate fairtrade communication could for instance be
manifested as the poor farmer in Africa19, who is struggling with the maintenance of his production
or his struggle for bring food on the table for his family. In e.g. corporate communication or in a
news article, there need not necessarily just be one subject (or object). Again relating to corporate
fairtrade communication, the subject might – alongside with the poor farmer-subject – be the 5
company which through financial means or knowledge sharing helps the farmer.
5.1.4 The object
- is what the subject is in search of. The object can be something concrete, such as a person or a 10
thing, or something abstract like knowledge, love, the truth, etc. (Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 10).
The object is the case which the company is fighting for and relating this to the example of how the
notion of subject was described in relation to the corporate fairtrade communication, the object
could be more money, better working and living conditions for the farmer, etc. (Fog et. al. 2002:
87). 15
5.1.5 The helper
- is a person or a thing that helps the subject reach or achieve the object. The helper is in a
relationship with the opponent and for example the combination could be that money is the helper 20
that for example the poor African farmer needs in order to reach the object (better working and
living conditions) and the opponent could be something that prevents the farmer (the subject) from
actually reaching his object – for example a drought, flooding or attack on crops by pests (Fog et.
al. 2002: 87).
25
5.1.6 The opponent
- is as defined above something or someone preventing the subject from reaching or achieving the
object. As such, the opponent need not even be addressed or appear in the story, but can be
something or someone that is commonly accepted as an opponent or the like (Fog et. al. 2002: 87). 30
19 Although stereotypical, the example should be relatable to the reader, as it is not a new angle to be seeing in corporate communication.
40
5.2 Discussion of Greimas’ actant model
When applying a model for analysis, it is important to delve into both the pros and cons for the
particular model that is chosen. In this thesis, the structural actant model of A.J. Greimas was
chosen for the analysis of employing storytelling on corporate communication; particularly in 5
relation to corporate communication with a branding purpose. The first analysis of empirical
material based on Greimas’ actant model will be carried out with the purpose of establishing the
framework of the storytelling employed on Sainsbury’s branding video and with the overall purpose
of answering the thesis aim – how does Sainsbury’s employ storytelling in the process of building
up credibility. Therefore, the more detailed discussion of the storytelling employed in the branding 10
video will actually be done through the revealing of credibility markers of various kinds in the
second analysis and the results of the first and second analysis will of course be summed up.
Some critics have put forward that analysing on the basis of Greimas’ actant model does not offer a
sufficiently detailed overview, as the model is concentrating on defining the actants apparent on the 15
surface of the story. (Søderberg 2003: 38). It can be argued that to a certain degree the model does
in fact also take into account the complexity of a text. The model not only reveals which actants are
present in the text, but also identifies objects and institutions, and the like as being for example
“opponents” in a story. Furthermore, the model also makes it possible to account for the
interrelations between persons, objects, etc. as according to Winfried Nöth’s explanation of the 20
binary oppositions (Nöth 2003: 372).
Greimas’ actant model is not sufficient when attempting to prove how storytelling is employed in
the process of establishing credibility. The model is not detailed and would require the analyst to
conclude on things that the model in itself does not take into account. 25
Greimas’ actant model does not entail notion on establishing credibility in corporate communication
and can therefore not be used as the sole analysis model, given the scope of this thesis. Therefore,
the next chapters will carry on with introducing and discussion the concept of credibility.
30
41
6. Credibility in corporate communication
This chapter describes and presents theory on the establishment of credibility, or the establishment
of ethos, in corporate communication. The chapter will present scholars Lund and Petersen’s theory
on the three ethos virtues competence, character and presence. The chapter will result in the 5
presentation of a model by Lund & Petersen which will be altered in accordance with other
scholars’ view on the three virtues. The alterations will be carried out to make the model suitable
for the analysis of the chosen empirical material.
6.1 Credibility 10
Communicating the corporate social responsibility initiatives of a corporation has, as mentioned,
become an increasingly popular activity. Some scholars even claim that it has been taken a step
further than merely being a communication activity to being a branding activity instead (Holm &
Norlyk 2006: 127-129). Corporations recognise the potential benefits related with telling the world 15
about its social and ethical standpoints.
With the potential for branding comes a lot of work. The communication must be trustworthy and
not just produce a glittery image of a corporation (Holm & Norlyk 2006: 18, 138, 193). Trustworthy
communication of the commitment of a corporation to corporate social responsibility will have the
potential to positively rub off on the corporate image. Any corporation with the ambition of making 20
a profit will go a long, long way in order to secure a good corporate image. A good corporate image
equals the positive attitude of a consumer group and hence, it can very well equal sales (Lund &
Petersen 1999: 120 - 123). This is of course to a much higher extent valid in connection with
purchasing of products that are not commodity products (i.e. milk, toilet paper or similar products
for everyday use). 25
That being said, inconsistency between the corporate images and the actual perception held by
various stakeholder groups – either e.g. intertextually in the communication on a corporate website
or for example from web-communication to real life actions – can be catastrophic to the corporate
image. Inconsistency can be described as a state where disharmony exists, be it where there is
inconsistency between a company’s communicated ideals and its actions or where there is 30
inconsistency in the things communicated on the different pages of a corporate website.
42
Often, holding a favourable (credible) image with the stakeholder group consisting of buyers of the
company’s products or services will be of the utmost importance; or at least so it should be (Mark-
Herbert and von Schantz 2007: 4-6). This is the group which comprises the company’s bottom line
existence. It is of crucial importance to come across as credible. This stakeholder group can be very
interested in learning that the company is acting as a socially responsible player on the market. 5
6.2 Identity, image and ethos
10 15
Source: Lund & Petersen (1999), p. 129 20
Taking a point of departure in Lund & Petersen’s model of credibility, it is necessary to delve into
the subparts. It is important to understand the difference between the three parts that comprise this
model. Each part calls for different actions on the part of the company and it is important for a 25
company to realise the factors that are related to identity, image and ethos. Being aware of the
factors makes the company able to plan and design its output communication in a way which seeks
to unite the three parts as perfectly as possible. (Balmer & Greyser 2002: 75)
In the following paragraphs, the concepts of organisational and corporate identity, image and ethos 30
in relation to Lund & Petersen’s model will be elaborated on. This will serve as exemplification of
how the creation of credibility is not an isolated activity which is only done through e.g. what is
written in a corporate website text. As the elaboration will show, companies have the possibility of
changing some of the aspects, but there are also aspects which they have no control of whatsoever.
35
Credibility
Identity
Ethos
Image
Competence (secure, consequent, clear) Character (open, honest, humane, modest, humorous) Presence (involved, genuine, attentive, and alive)
43
6.3 Organisational and corporate identity – not the same thing
6.3.1 Organizational identity
Organizational identity in itself is a rather holistic concept. It is not tangible in any way, as the 5
aspects of organizational identity are rarely put into writing. It is best summed up as “the spirit of a
company”. It can be hard to put into words what the spirit of a company is.
By telling a story of the company's heritage it may be possible to approximate a clarification of
what the organisational identity is. But often, even that will be an almost impossible task.
Organizational identity is the company’s inner values which are present at all times. Often, you will 10
need to be a part of the daily routines in a company in order to be able to really grasp what the
organizational identity in fact is.
Instead, the essence of the organizational identity should be used by the company to be mirrored in
the corporate identity communication which is what a company does through e.g. its 15
communication of standpoints in corporate social responsibility issues, in the description of
mission, vision and values, etc.
When attempting to define the organizational identity, the company is ultimately answering the
question: “who are we?” 20
The notion of this question originates from a model by scholars Balmer and Soenen. The model
(Balmer & Soenen 1999:82) is a conceptual model of the 4 different faces of identity:
The Actual Identity, what the organization is, 25
The Communicated Identity, how the organization is perceived by its stakeholders and how
the organization communicates,
The Ideal Identity the optimum positioning of the organization in its market or markets taking
cognisance of its strengths and abilities in addition to environmental considerations,
The Desired identity: the identity which the chief executive and management board wish to 30
acquire.
44
(Balmer & Soenen 1999: 82)
In later writings, Balmer has extended this model with yet another dimension, namely:
Conceived identity which refers to ‘the perceptions of the company – its multi-attribute and 5
overall corporate image and corporate reputation – held by relevant stakeholders’ (Balmer et. al
2007: 8)
All of these identities are, according to Balmer et al., present in any corporate entity (Balmer &
Greyser 2002: 73). By adding this aspect, Balmer makes the model even more applicable to a real 10
life situation, where the company’s identity communication is not isolated from what happens
outside of the company walls. The initial model did not really include any views on the fact that
outside stakeholders perceive a company in s specific way, based on the many ways, in which
he/she encounters it. Conceived identity refers to concepts such as corporate image, corporate
reputation and corporate branding and is relating to the fact that companies communicate their 15
identity through everything it says and everything it does; not exclusively through what it may
communicate through its corporate website (Balmer & Greyser 2003 :17)
With this model being introduced, a transition to elaborating corporate identity is natural. Hence,
the next paragraph will elaborate further on Balmer and Soenen’s model and the concept of 20
corporate identity.
6.3.2 Corporate identity
According to the model of Balmer and Soenen, identity cannot be viewed as an isolated term. 25
Corporate identity is influenced by the mentioned five “versions of identity” and ultimately, the
corporate identity is a multifaceted term that includes both external views and internal desires of the
company as to how to be perceived (Balmer & Greyser 2002: 75).
Therefore, the best investment a company can make, as to establishing and maintaining a favourable
image overall with stakeholders is to manage the different types of identity in the best way. This 30
means that the company should make sure that consistency is present among the five versions of
identity. “Managing identities so that they are broadly consonant with each other” (Balmer &
45
Greyser 2002: 75) and at the same time being observant as to the trends of the business and
adjusting the identity to shifting demands is a way for a company to be aware of and prepare for
possible critique and crisis situations (Balmer & Greyser 2002: 75 - 76).
6.4 Ethos – an element of persuasion 5
Persuasive writing has been defined by many scholars, all leaning towards the original scripts by
Greek philosopher, Aristotle, on the elements of persuasion. Although the scripts were concerned
with a situation where a speaker addresses an audience, the theories are also applicable to situations
of persuasive writing. One definition reads: 10
“Persuasive writing is meant to sway readers’ feelings, beliefs, or actions.
Persuasion normally appeals to both the mind and the emotions of readers”20
Persuasive writing is, according to the quotation above, the attempt to influence a reader’s attitude 15
or actions. In relation to textual communication about corporate social responsibility, the persuasive
element lies in the attempt to communicate about activities in a manner that can have an impact on
the reader’s image of a corporation, preferably to the better.
Persuasive writing will play on an emotional and ethical appeal, whereas e.g. informational writing
will concentrate on a factual and logical appeal. Yet, there are many pitfalls connected to persuasive 20
writing as well. As has been mentioned a few times in the thesis at this point, readers – or
consumers – are not gullible fools. They are more often highly sceptical and extremely well-
informed people, who know how to see through the hidden agenda in corporate social responsibility
writing; the agenda being a wish from the company’s side to portray itself in the best possible way.
25
The means of achieving an end product that is persuasive and has the potential to influence readers’
attitudes are numerous. It can be useful to study the works of the writers, who have interpreted the
Greek philosopher Aristotle’s theories on rhetorical elements.
Scholar Kenneth Burke has noted that even Aristotle applied the greatest importance of all to the
persuasion element of ethos, i.e. the appeal of credibility (Quesenberry 2006: 82). Burke quotes 30
Aristotle by saying:
20 Source: See appendices – 3.h Glossary of Terms for Literary Analysis
46
“For though Aristotle considers at some length the appeal to the emotions, and prides
himself on his great contributions to the logical aspects of proof, he says that an
audience’s confidence in the speaker is the most convincing proof of all”
(Burke 2006: 335) 5
A company that seeks to establish good ethos on its website must, according to Aristotle,
incorporate the following in its communication:
1. Phronesis (wisdom) 10
2. Arête (moral character)
3. and Eunoia (sympathy towards the audience)
(Hoff-Clausen 2002: 40)
These terms have according to Lund & Petersen survived in a more usable form under the virtues: 15
competence, character and presence (Lund & Petersen 1999: 125-130).
Evaluating on the relevance in accordance to the thesis aim, these translated virtues may be used in
an effective analysis of the empirical material. Each virtue can be used as a basis for analysing the
given CSR communication to reveal the use of measures for establishing ethos. For instance, the
questions that must be asked in order to clarify what the term competence covers may serve to 20
elaborate on the important factors to concentrate on when a company wishes to inform a target
audience about what it is capable of doing (Lund & Petersen 1999: 131).
Communication about CSR and aiming at using it to brand and differentiate the company from
competitors really justifies spending a lot of time and money on creating credible communication 25
that can facilitate the creation of a credible corporate image. If credibility is not present, then the
concept of CSR loses its foothold and becomes just words on a website; words that are potentially
harmful to the reputation of the company if they are not in sync with the corporate image that
consumers get by reading about the company and/or interacting with it in some way (Holm &
Norlyk 2006: 18, 138, 193). 30
In the following paragraphs, an elaboration of the ethos element of Lund & Petersen’s model of
credibility will follow. The reason for this lies in the aim of the thesis research question.
47
6.5 Competence, character and presence – the Lund & Petersen model
In the following paragraphs, the theory behind Lund and Petersen’s model of ethos virtues will be
presented, discussed and put into context in relation to the analysis which will later be carried out in
order to answer the thesis aim. 5
6.5.1 Lund & Petersen’s model of ethos virtues
Scholars Lund and Petersen operate with three aspects that mark what credible corporate
communication consists of. Their model and analysis guide is roughly based on scholar 10
McCrosky’s two dimensions of ethos creation that split up the important aspects into two parts: one
being competence and the characteristics of a corporation and the other being the ability of the
corporation to communicate composure, sociability and extroversion (Lund & Petersen 1999: 125).
The model of Lund and Petersen varies from McCrosky’s model in the sense that their model
concentrates on the combination of corporate identity, corporate image and corporate ethos in an 15
attempt to obtain optimum credibility, or ethos, as Lund and Petersen mostly put it. The theory of
Lund and Petersen deals with three virtues: competence, character and presence (Lund & Petersen
1999: 129). The model is a modernization of the theory on ethos as it was presented by Aristotle,
though in his works it is presented as: intelligence, character and goodwill (McCroskey & Teven
1999: 90). 20
McCroskey and Young’s analysis suggest that only two dimensions are able to stand alone
(McCroskey and Young 1981: 33) – namely competence and character. As they state in their
analysis,
“The perception of the source’s intention (i.e. goodwill or presence] is dependent on 25
perceptions of that source’s character [i.e. the credibility]”.
(McCroskey and Young 1981: 33)
The notion of presence is by McCroskey and Young seen as related to the perception of “the
person” rather than the perception of credibility. The theorists argue that the last dimension will not 30
be able to add any useful information about the notion of credibility, simply because no scales
48
against which credibility can be measured and detected in e.g. text have been created (McCroskey
1999: 91).
Yet, scholars have continued to include this third dimension (Hoff-Clausen 2002). It appears that
theorists do not agree on whether or not presence should be seen as a measure of credibility. Yet, it
can be argued that the third dimension does have its justification as a credibility marker. As was 5
established in the paragraph “Ethos – an element of persuasion “, Aristotle names this third
dimension Eunoia and he argues that the sympathy towards an audience (i.e. Eunoia) together with
communicating honestly and openly should be considered to be of the highest importance in the
company’s efforts to building up credibility (Hoff-Clausen 2002: 40). Eunoia is connected to
building up trust towards a person, or in this case a company, because we as people are inclined to 10
trust a person or a company that displays an amount of humanity and not only give the impression
that money is all that matters (Lund & Petersen: 127). Therefore, Lund and Petersen’s
argumentation for including the presence virtue in their model and not excluding it like McCroskey
and Young do, seems to be that it does add to the credibility of a company that consumers get an
insight into the values and moral standpoint of the company as they will get through the company 15
telling about e.g. its CSR engagement.
6.6 Presentation of the model
Each of the three virtues can be used as a basis for analysing the CSR communication to reveal 20
markers for establishing ethos. As was mentioned earlier, the questions that may be asked in order
to clarify what, for instance, the term competence covers, may serve to elaborate on what is
important to concentrate on when a company wishes to inform a target audience about the
company’s abilities (Lund & Petersen 1999:131).
In order to later on be able to analyse the empirical material, an overview of the virtues and an 25
elaboration of the elements related to them are presented below:
Competence
- Which competences does the sender
seek implicitly or explicitly to signal?
Secure – How does the sender seek to appear secure?
Consequent – does the sender seek to signal internal
agreement within the organisation, e.g. in relation to
attitudes and decision making processes?
Clear – Does the sender seek to appear competent by
49
means of clear decision making and direct and clear
communication in general?
Third person endorsements – does the sender include
opinions, explanations, etc. by people not directly linked
to the company?
Character
- Which character-related virtues does
the sender seek to argue for and claim to
possess?
Open – does the sender implicitly or explicitly emphasise
openness, e.g. by means of laying out reasons for a
specific action/decision?
Honest – Does the sender seek to appear as being honest,
e.g. by means of phrases like: “let me be honest”?
Humane – Does the sender manage to signal that other
things than the economic bottom-line are important to
him/her/the company?
Modest – Does the sender signal the ability to be self-
critical?
Presence
- Is the sender present in the
communication in a way which
increases the power of conviction?
Engaged – Does the sender possess an infectious level of
commitment?
Real – Does the sender appear naturally present in the
communication, or does it seem like a feigned role?
Present – Is the sender present in the communication
through engaging presence?
Lively – Does the sender communicate in an
understandable and catchy manner, so that the receiver
feels involved in the communication?
(Based on: Lund & Petersen 1999: 130)
Lund and Petersen’s model has been added some extra dimensions and a few has been deleted as
well. 5
The notion of a third-party endorsement has been added to the section under competence markers.
The reason for doing so is based on theory by Wang (2005). Wang argues that third-party
50
endorsements have become a major factor in brand reputation (Wang 2005: 402). Wang believes
that consumers are likely to gather and accept third-party endorsements about e.g. a product;
especially now that it is possible to do so in an easy way (cf. the vast amount of information
available on the internet). He sees third-party endorsements as a tool for companies to improve their
public relations and image and a possible way of establishing credibility around the company or the 5
products (Wang 2005: 402). Good, positive endorsements will have the potential of triggering
consumer interest and if, upon testing a product or interacting in some way with the company, the
consumer agrees with the positive reviews, the tool of endorsements has fulfilled the job of
establishing credibility.
However, companies do have to realise that consumers will most likely not accept a third-party 10
endorsement as the gospel truth. “I do believe the third-party endorsement is overrated. Most
people are smart enough to realize the blatant promotion that goes along with strategically sending
out endorsements…” says PR educator from University of South Carolina, Lynn M. Zoch
(McCleneghan 1981: 35). This observation specifies some of the difficulties related to employing
third-party endorsements, but in general, having the product or the company itself endorsed by 15
someone from outside the company can contribute to the image and credibility of the same (Wang
2005: 402).
The dimension humoristic has been deleted from the model. Taking the topic of CSR
communication into account, this dimension seems inappropriate, as the communication about a 20
company’s CSR is and should be treated with respect, as it often deals with serious topics.
In the following paragraphs, elaborations and exemplifications of the three aspects will be provided.
This elaboration will later on serve as a guide for the analysis of credibility markers in the web texts
of Sainsbury’s. Emphasis will be put on presenting examples of the given ethos virtue in a concrete, 25
detailed manner. The examples that will serve as illustration of the theoretical explanations given by
mainly Lund and Petersen will be purely hypothetical at this point of the thesis. Later on, in the
analysis part of the thesis, purposely selected texts will be analysed by means of the tools that are
developed through the next paragraphs.
30
51
6.6.1 Competence
The virtue of competence is centred on a wish to make a company appear in control. As can be seen
in the depiction of part of Lund & Petersen’s model in paragraph 6.6 the competence aspect is
where, in this case, a company demonstrates a consistent, clear and secure appearance. 5
6.6.1.1 Appearing secure and confident
Competence in texts is seen in the company’s attempt to communicate with self-confidence. This
can e.g. be detected in the way the company describes its position in the business in which it 10
operates (Lund & Petersen 1999: 129-131). Is the company weaving around words that do not really
reveal anything as to its position, or is the communication straightforward and gives the impression
that the company is confident it is the best player on the scene? The company must be precise it its
choice of words and for example not be too generalizing and offering no explanations as to why the
company is the leading provider of a product, how it plays a role in the business, or similar (Lund & 15
Petersen 1999: 129-135).
An illustration of a correct employment of the competence aspect in corporate communication
could be as in the following hypothetical sample text:
20
“Company X is the leading provider of organic vegetables to the Swedish market.
With a market share of in total 75% and as the preferred brand of more than 85% of
Swedish consumers (based on market research by Intersearch ®), Company X is the
most successful in the Swedish market for organic vegetables.”21
25
As the text above here states, “Company X” is the leading provider of organic vegetables to the
Swedish market. The mere fact that a company states that it is the market leader speaks for the self-
confidence which must characterise the company. Had this been an isolated statement, the
competence of the company may have been evident, but at the same time, Company X would risk
appearing pompous and too self-confident as well (Lund & Petersen 1999: 126-127). The growing 30
21 Source: Fiction
52
scepticism in the world today means that although a company may actually be telling the true story
and be occupied with providing factual information, readers may not consider it the “gospel truth”.
6.6.1.2 Third-party endorsements
5
In this hypothetical example in the paragraph just above, the company is attempting to meet the
adverse situation where growing consumer scepticism makes it difficult to establish the needed
credibility by clarifying how big a market share it has and by including research information from
an impartial source. The hypothetical sentence explains how a survey has proved that “Company X”
is also the preferred brand among consumers. 10
Providing specific facts like the percentage of market share and not only saying “we are among the
leading companies that…” and especially endorsing statements by including third-party persons
speak highly for the company. Supporting claims with factual information and information from
impartial parties can serve perfectly as markers of credibility - given that these impartial parties are
quoted correctly (Wang 2005: 402). 15
According to theory by Lund & Petersen, the acknowledgement of the corporate achievements by
the corporation itself does communicate competence. If anyone should think highly of the company
and its actions, it should naturally be the company itself. However, this attempt of building up a
certain image of a company must without exception be supported by a strong corporate identity that 20
entails what is being said and an actual behaviour that supports the identity claim. It is not enough
to think that telling about it is enough (Lund & Petersen 1999: 122).
The expression of a company’s awareness of the responsibilities it has, both the ones referring to
the general business conduct, but also in a more overall sense in relation to its justification for its 25
existence and actions in the world, also falls under the virtue of competence. This is where a
company communicates its vision for the future and signals security in the sense of being in control,
thinking ahead and doing what it can to stay in the forefront of developments. Competence is
underlined in the way that the company expresses that tough decisions have been made in order to
meet changing demands, to be at the forefront of developments and to e.g. help secure the actual 30
survival of a company (Lund & Petersen 1999: 140-145).
53
6.6.1.3 Consistent and clear language
Competence is also textually marked a use of a strategy that focuses on clear, well-formulated and
sometimes formal language (Lund & Petersen 1999: 130-140). Clear and stringent communication
is characterized by a rational presentation of facts and by the creation of consistent chronology 5
through a text and a website. When a company is direct and clear in its communication, the
receivers' perception of the company as being competent is enhanced (Lund & Petersen, 1999: 133).
An example of this consistent and clear construction of text would be a text about company X’s
history:
10
“Company X was founded in 1919 by Mr. Smith in Stockholm.
In 1940 the company was sold to the consortium Swedish Organic Vegetables Ldt., but
still functions under the brand Company X.”22
On a more detailed level, clear language also means keeping communication in a tone of voice that 15
is suitable in a given situation. Online corporate communication will be read by both investors,
media and consumers, so using a general, light tone of voice and for example avoiding using heavy
sentence constructions, passives, very formal terminology and ways of addressing the reader is
advisable (Lund & Petersen 1999: 130-135). Considering all possible readers of the communication
means a lot of work for the company, but it is worth it when the message is understandable to 20
everybody.
22 Source: Fiction
54
6.6.2 Character
The ethos creation that is related to the virtue of character is centred on the corporate goal of
appearing to possess the quality of being a conscious and honest player within the business it
operates. 5
6.6.2.1 Open and honest
Character is for example marked by means of disclosing almost everything that happens within the
company, but by commenting on what is happening outside the company which in some way can be 10
linked to the business conduct of the company – both the positive news and the potentially harmful
news to the company (Hoff-Clausen 2002: 56-58, 82-84 and Lund & Petersen 2000: 125-130).
A truly credible company will not see the disclosure of negative news as a potential threat, since it
is doing its best to be and to appear credible and responsible at all levels at all times. Instead, the
company will acknowledge the positive aspects that can be derived from being open and honest and 15
allowing scrutiny.
As mentioned earlier, scrutiny may in today’s society be carried out by NGOs, media, stakeholders
themselves (in the process of making up his/her own mind as to how he/she perceives the company;
i.e. what image is held of the company) whether the company likes it or not, so for the company
itself to open up to the external stakeholders by disclosing information can be exchanged into 20
credibility points.
Again, the problematics concerning stakeholders’ pre-determined perception of the company will of
course play a part in the success of disclosing everything.
6.6.2.2 Displaying humane qualities 25
Lund & Petersen (1999) refers to humane conduct as the way a company is able to communicate
that there are things that matter to the company besides making a profit. This makes a lot of sense,
taking the discourse of fairtrade into consideration. Being humane is, or should at least be, the
essential background for a company to be engaging in fairtrade initiatives. Displaying humanity can 30
be done through the use of graphic descriptions on how the company’s commitment to a certain
case is doing good for an individual, a group, a business, etc. Humane qualities can be established
55
through the company telling about what it does on a voluntary basis for example in the local
communities, in which it trades.
56
6.6.3 Presence
Hoff-Clausen has chosen to include the dimension of presence, or goodwill, as it is termed by
Aristotle, although some scholars argue that the third dimension has not directly got something to
do with the notion of credibility (McCroskey and Young 1981: 33) 5
6.6.3.1 Level of language
Presence can for instance be reflected in the use of language to express a presumably genuine
interest and feelings on the behalf of a company towards various parties (Lund and Petersen 1999: 10
140). It will of course always be like balancing on a knife’s egg for a company to express “feelings”
in relation to any kind of corporate communication.
Additionally, the company can prove its engagement in its customer in the way it address them and
in the way that the company uses language to create a bond to them. It can demonstrate a
commitment to wanting the customers to understand and get personally involved with the topic in 15
question. Through the appeal to emotions via both factually and emotionally loaded text, the
company can attempt to establish a relationship with consumers with the purpose of getting the
messages of credibility across more easily. When the company manages to involve the consumers
on a more personal level, the consumers will be more likely to be receptive of the message that the
company attempts to get across (Lund & Petersen 1999: 121 – 135). 20
The result of a company expressing itself through the use of adjectives and other elements of the
language that can make it more colourful can vary. However, staying within the context of
credibility, it can without doubt be argued that the stakeholder’s perceived image of the company in
question plays an extremely important role. As was already mentioned, the way in which a
stakeholder perceives a company can place high demands on the design of the communication. 25
Their predetermined perception colours the attitude towards what is being said or written.
A stakeholder with a negative perception of the company may be more reluctant to accept what is
said and the fact that a company might choose to use as strong an instrument as colourful language
could mean the end of the support of this stakeholder group. It can simply be too much and be
perceived as blunt propaganda or improper justification of something the company does or has 30
done, because it is perceived as untruthful information or a melodramatic attempt to speak to
stakeholders emotions.
57
6.6.3.2 Lively and engaged communication
Who is most likely to catch and hold the attention of an audience – the professor, who sits down
behind the desk, going through his theoretical class step by step without the use of slide show, black 5
board or similar or the professor, who is moving around the room, changing his tone and volume of
voice, including real life examples in his class and only using his slide show as a support for the
actual message he so enthusiastically want to convey? In the vast majority of cases, the second
professor will be the one, who students remember best, simply because engagement in the topic is
infectious (Lund & Petersen 1999: 128). 10
Engagement and liveliness are two of the dimensions found under Lund & Petersen’s presence
virtue and is often very hard to accomplish through written corporate communication. Engagement
and liveliness is difficult to transfer on to written material, but if a company decides to include for
example a pod cast, a video or similar to its communication online, the potential is still present. The
spokesperson(s) can then transmit the passion through voice and body language (Lund & Petersen 15
1999: 128).
20
25
58
7. Analysis of Corporate websites
A corporate website is a company’s own channel for marketing themselves. It is the place where a
company is 100% in control of what is said and promised. On a corporate website, the company can
enhance the qualities of the company it wishes to underline and to some extent downplay what is 5
not as flattering as it could be – or at least make an effort to try and put a positive spin on it. A
corporate website can be designed to target specific audiences and in that way be a successful
marketing tool. A corporate website has, to a higher extent than ever, become a tool in the image
and reputation building activity (Hoff-Clausen 2002:63). Creating and maintaining a good, or
positive, corporate image is fatal to the survival of a company. 10
At the same time, a corporate website can also fail horribly at conveying a useful message (Hoff-
Clausen 2002: 7-8). This is for example evident if a website is poorly constructed and the reader
experiences difficulties when searching for specific information, if the website is written in a way
that is either too complex or too simple for the target audience to understand, or, specifically in 15
relation to the thesis research questions, if there is an evident gap between the ideals of the company
(mission, vision, values, or any other kind of stated corporate attitude on various topics) and the
actions it take in real life (Hoff-Clausen 2002: 8). When elaborating on the last statement, the key
word for corporate web communication seems to be credibility.
This claim is backed up by the statement of scholars Maignan & Ferrel (2004): 20
“Business cannot hope to enjoy concrete benefits from CSR unless they intelligently
communicate about their initiatives to relevant stakeholders”
(Maignan & Ferrell 2004: 17)
25
A corporate website has with time become more than just a place to display products, a place to
provide investors and other stakeholders with the latest annual report and a place to provide facts
and numbers about the corporation. A corporate website has to a higher extent than ever become a
tool in the image and reputation building activity (Hoff-Clausen 2002:63). This assignment will
focus on the task of establishing ethos in textual communication about corporate social 30
responsibility on corporate websites. Analysis will both be done by means of applying Greimas’
59
actantial model and Lund & Petersen’s model for ethos virtues in order to be able to investigate the
thesis aim – how does Sainsbury’s employ storytelling in the process of building up credibility.
The next paragraphs will start out with a brief overall analysis of the topics which the corporation
has chosen to focus on and subsequently, specific pages are analysed more in depth to exemplify 5
the elements used to establish ethos.
10
60
8. Empirical material in detail
The empirical material for this thesis is based on communication material from British Supermarket
chain, Sainsbury’s. Sainsbury’s claims to be the biggest player on the scene of super market chains
that act responsibly. 5
The empirical material that will form the basis for this thesis is a branding video from the
Sainsbury’s website. This video is dedicated to communication about corporate social
responsibility; more specifically the communication about Sainsbury’s support of fairtrade. The
topic is listed under “Sourcing with integrity” which is one of the five key commitments that make 10
up Sainsbury’s values.23
Fairtrade has in the last decade become a real buzz word – both with media and with the consuming
public. It has become an important factor for consumers to buy ethically sound products. In relation,
buying organic has been booming as well. Consumers put emphasis on the quality, rather than 15
quantity – more within some product categories than others. Some buy fairtrade for the sake of
settling their own conscience, others to stage themselves as being conscious about acting socially
and ethically responsible. The popularity seems to have grown in the last decade and the selection
of products and the categories of products that offer fairtrade labels have been booming. In fact,
recent surveys have shown that U.K. consumers have not stopped buying or estimating that they 20
would consider buying fairtrade products even though the entire world economy is a the moment in
a regular crisis.24 So obviously, something makes the fairtrade brand and the values and image
related to the brand trump even a strained wallet.
8.1 Criteria for the empirical material 25
The text that has been chosen as the focus of the analysis for employment of storytelling had to
meet with certain criteria. Evidently, the text should be characterised by communication which
attempts to tell a story.
23 Source: See appendices – 2.f Sainsbury’s Our key commitments 24 Source: See appendices – 3.a GlobeScan Survey
61
In relation to the scope of the thesis, the topic that is handled in the chosen text should be within the
CSR discourse.
In order to delimit the assignment further, some overall criteria for the corporate website pages from
Sainsbury's have been chosen. These are: 5
- Must be actively communicating about the company’s CSR commitment in relation to fairtrade
- Must have elements of storytelling embedded
- Must be directed towards the consumer audience, but it is not required that it only addresses the
consumer audience. 10
Ultimately, a text within the fairtrade communication was chosen.
What is also important in the delimitation of text to analyse is that the text should involve notions
on Sainsbury’s corporate values and actions which the company has participated in. The analysis of
storytelling as a source for establishing credibility in Sainsbury’s corporate communication has as a 15
preset goal to identify the usability of storytelling in the corporate branding process and therefore,
the criteria for the text to express something relating to the corporate values is optimal.
8.2 Sainsbury’s
20
In this chapter, the branding video on the fairtrade commitment of Sainsbury’s online will be
analysed. The analysis will take its point of departure in the guidelines from chapter 5 on Greimas
actant model with the purpose of exposing how Sainsbury’s employ storytelling on the chosen
websites and to give an estimate of the effect of employing storytelling.
25
Later on, an analysis of the same video will be carried out in order to expose how Sainsbury’s
attempts to establish credibility. A conclusion will sum up the results and give an overview of how
Sainsbury’s employs storytelling in the process of building up credibility.
62
8.2.1 Introduction to Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s is one of Britain’s leading food retailers. It dates back to 1869, where the first of a total
of 509 supermarkets and 276 convenient stores all over the UK.25 Key words such as highest
quality, safety, local and global responsibility and ethical business forms the core of Sainsbury’s 5
corporate value set and hereby the corporate identity as the company wishes to portray itself.26
Sainsbury’s communicates on its website that it is dedicated to being a socially and ethically
responsible company and that this commitment and the values the company acts by, is what make it
different.27 10
In relation to fairtrade which is the pivotal point of the thesis, Sainsbury’s declares that it is the
biggest retailer of fairtrade products in the UK. It was also the first mover in UK, as in 1994 it was
the first supermarket in the UK to offer fairtrade products.28 Now, the Sainsbury’s fairtrade product
line ranges from bananas and coffee to t-shirts and flowers.
As it is in the nature of the fairtrade initiative, Sainsbury’s offers farmers, i.e. suppliers, a fair price 15
for their products which is at least a guaranteed minimum price. In some cases Sainsbury’s adds a
cash bonus to the price of e.g. each case of bananas.29
Sainsbury’s has additionally created what it calls a “Fair development fund” that aims at:
20
“...[helping] more farmers and growers in the developing world to sell their
produce as fairtrade”30.
Sainsbury’s realises that some farmers who are interested in becoming fairtrade suppliers may have
to restructure their productions in order to be able to meet the fairtrade standards, and many may not 25
have the necessary financial means to do so. Therefore, the Sainsbury’s “Fair development fund”
can grant development projects with money, and that way seek to heighten the local communities.
25 Source: See appendices – 2.g Sainsbury’s Company overview 26 Source: See appendices – 2.h Sainsbury’s A great place to work 27 Source: ibid. 28 Source: See appendices – 2.e Sainsbury’s Progression against our 2008 commitments 29 Source ibid 30 Source: ibid
63
The CSR communication at Sainsbury’s website is thoroughly filled with examples, pictures,
videos, and other ways of illustrating the good the company presumably is doing for the suppliers
and the local supplier communities. CSR is very much used as a branding tool that is designed for
aiming at the “common reader” – i.e. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who may not be looking for descriptions
of the technical aspects of what fairtrade means to Sainsbury’s, but instead may be looking for what 5
benefits they themselves get from buying fairtrade products and how they contribute to improving
e.g. living conditions by buying fairtrade.
Explaining why and how CSR is so important to the company is seen in the vast amount of
information on namely the company’s CSR initiatives.
Through the website, hints show that social and ethical responsibility seems to be close-knit in the 10
corporate identity. The catch phrase of Sainsbury’s indicates this strongly, as it reads:
“Our values make us different”31
8.2.2 Sainsbury’s website – fairtrade 15
Sainsbury’s has chosen to dedicate a big part of its corporate website to the communication of its
CSR efforts, stand and so on. The introductory site is found at http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/cr/
under the term “responsibility” in the top link bar.
20
31 Source: See appendices – 2.h Sainsbury’s A great place to work
64
This sub-site offers detailed information on Sainsbury’s five key commitments: Best for food and
health, Sourcing with integrity, Respect for our environment, Making a positive difference to our
community and A great place to work32.
In this thesis, the empirical material has been chosen from the sub page “Sourcing with integrity”
and more specifically from the paragraph on fairtrade which is found among the appendices and at 5
http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/cr/index.asp?pageid=36.
8.2.3 Fairtrade
The online space dedicated for telling about Sainsbury’s fairtrade commitment is concentrated on 10
one main page, but there are more on fairtrade on the customer site found at:
http://www2.sainsburys.co.uk/food/foodandfeatures/suppliers/fairtrade/fairtrade.htm
The main fairtrade page consists of body text, a branding video, pictures, information boxes with
quotes from farmers and for some of the many products that Sainsbury’s offer under the fairtrade 15
label. All of the elements are of course centralised around the topic of fairtrade, but the
communicative strategy varies in focus from one element to another.
The body text which is the text on the main page that is situated between the information and
advertisement boxes, are informative texts about what Sainsbury’s is dedicated to, what it is
supporting, etc. 20
The text lists and describes new areas of products that Sainsbury’s have introduced under the
fairtrade label or will be working towards adding in the following years33. The text also addresses
the Sainsbury’s Fair Development Fund34.
The construction of content in the fairtrade page is divided into an introductory, an overall text on a
topic and is followed by the video, an information box or more of the mentioned elements. In this 25
way the construction is as follows:
32 Source: See appendices – 2.i Sainsbury’s Corporate responsibility 33 Source: See appendices – 2.b Sainsbury’s Fairtrade 34 Source: ibid.
65
1.a Introduction to the issue of fairtrade and Sainsbury’s stand and engagement in it
1.b. Branding video
2.a Information box on what 100% fairtrade products Sainsbury’s carry 5
2.b Text about the fairtrade product range at Sainsbury’s and future products
mixed with a text about Sainsbury’s commitment to paying banana farmers
a premium price for their products
2.c Information box – case study on one of the projects which Sainsbury’s is
involved in, in the Dominican Republic. 10
2.d Information box – Testimonial from a project in Kenya
3.a Text about how Sainsbury’s seeks to involve its employees regarding the
issue of fairtrade
3.b Information box – telling about the employee competition “local hero” and 15
the winners’ trip to St. Lucia
4.a Test about the Sainsbury’s Fair Development Fund
4.b. Information box – case study on the Fair Development Fund
20
8.2.4 Introduction to the Sainsbury’s branding video
As mentioned above, Sainsbury’s has one page on its website that is dedicated to fairtrade. The 25
main page is found at http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/cr/index.asp?pageid=36.
The page contains a general introduction to fairtrade as well as contents about Sainsbury’s
corporate stand on the issue. More importantly, the page also contains a branding video and
small case descriptions relating to Sainsbury’s involvement in fairtrade around the globe. 30
66
The scope of this thesis is to establish how Sainsbury’s employs storytelling in the process of
building up credibility and the branding video is a good example of how many of the company's
stand points are illustrated.
The video is four minutes and 28 seconds long. It is as mentioned found at http://www.j-5
sainsbury.co.uk/cr/index.asp?pageid=36 but has also been transcribed and is found among the
appendices. The content of the video will now be described in detail.
8.2.4.1 Details about the fairtrade video
10
The video starts off by introducing the viewer to the situation. A speaker tells about Sainsbury’s
engagement in fairtrade and carries on with explaining that Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury’s, has
visited the Windward Isles in the Caribbean – more specifically the island of St. Lucia. At this
island, Sainsbury’s buys a considerable amount of the fairtrade bananas which are the only type
of bananas that are sold in the Sainsbury’s stores in the United Kingdom. 15
Hereafter, Justin King is filmed while talking about the benefits of selling only fairtrade bananas.
He explains it from both the farmers’ and Sainsbury’s point of view. Justin King is a lively
spokesperson, who communicates in a catchy manner which seems to be permeated with a great
amount of enthusiasm and a genuine passion for the issue in question.
Justin King also talks to some of the local banana farmers and one of these farmers, Rennicks 20
Doxilly, explains how the premium prices he receives from Sainsbury’s for his bananas help him
better his business and e.g. also have helped him to be able to fix up his shed.
A speaker then tells the viewer about the fairtrade fund which Sainsbury’s is a huge facilitator of
and the interview with school principal Germane Lubin at St. Peter’s infant school in a town 25
called Dennery. The fund has helped make it possible for the school to open an IT resource
centre. Justin King was there for the opening of the centre and talks to some of the young pupils
while the principal tells about how this is a major contribution to the community and a useful
supplement to the everyday classroom teaching.
30
67
Justin King also visits a hospital in Dennery, where economic support from the Sainsbury’s fund
has made it possible to buy an auto enclave. An auto enclave is a piece of sanitary equipment
which allows for easy sanitization of surgical equipment.
The video is rounded off with the speaker emphasizing that the work Sainsbury’s is able to do in 5
the communities at the Windward Isles is made possible by the help of Sainsbury’s customers.
68
9. Analysis by use of the actant model
Recapturing the essential elements of Greimas’ actant model, the analysis will look for a sender, a
receiver, a subject, an object, a helper and an opponent (Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 10). As
mentioned in the theory chapter on storytelling, the different actants need not be people (Søderberg 5
2003: 12-13).
The different actants are in a proportional relationship with another actant, so the sender is vs. the
receiver, the object versus subject and the helper versus the opponent.
Given the fact that this story is a branding tool for Sainsbury’s, it is possible to analyse with 10
Greimas’ actant model on both an overall communicative message level and on the more detailed
story level. Even within the detailed story level, there is for example more than one receiver which
the following analysis will also reveal.
9.1 Sainsbury’s employment of storytelling 15
Sender: Sainsbury’s
Receiver: Farmers, growers, local community initiatives (schools, etc.)
Subject: Farmers, banana growers, the community on St. Lucia
Object: Better revenue, better conditions for the community, 20
Helper: Sainsbury’s, the buyers at Sainsbury’s, who buy fairtrade bananas, economic funds
Opponent: Other banana buyers than Sainsbury’s, who are not interested in paying the premium
price for bananas and who are not contributing financially to the farmers’ community.
9.1.1 Subject 25
Through analysing the branding video35 by applying Greimas’ actant model in the more detailed
story level – i.e. reading the actual words being communicated (or in this case, listening to the
words) – it is assumed that the subjects are multiple. The farmers represent the subjects, who are
seeking a better price for their bananas in order to generate better revenue (a representation of on of 30
more objects which will be elaborated on later in the chapter)
69
The story in this video is told by a range of actants, but ultimately the story board of the narration is
made by Sainsbury’s and the entire communicative and visual message should therefore be seen as
originating from the company. Even though the farmers (Rennicks Doxilly) and the school principle
Germane Lubin express what seems to be their own opinions, the company has of course chosen to
edit out anything that is not in perfect balance with the message it intends to send across. This is not 5
to say that the company is manipulating reality, but that a branding video is a piece of marketing-
and/or PR material like anything else and this of course means that effort is being put into sculpting
the material (in the case of the video – the story board). Especially in the case of communication on
“emotionally loaded” issues, such as CSR and in this case fairtrade, it is essential to think of the
layout and the goal of appearing credible both before, during and after producing the branding video 10
(Holm & Norlyk 2006: 138).
Evaluating on the more linguistic details, the fact that the subject consists of multiple actants – the
farmers, the banana growers and the general St. Lucia community – is supported in the construction
of the communication. From early on in the video, the intention of Sainsbury’s commitment to 15
fairtrade at the Windward Isles is underlined. In the first utterance in the video, the speaker says:
“Over 6 years ago, we began buying fairtrade bananas from the Windward Isles
to help secure that farmers and producers were paid a fair and stable price”.36
20
In the excerpted text, Sainsbury’s expresses why it only buys fairtrade bananas now at the island –
to help secure farmers and producers’ making a fair amount of money on their products.
The entire branding video is dedicated to portraying how the area has benefited from receiving help
through Sainsbury’s commitment – how the help has made a difference in many people’s lives and
the viewer of the video is indirectly expected to have compassion with the farmers. This is done in a 25
sober way and not in an overly emotional way. Sainsbury’s could have chosen to show e.g. worn
out schools that need help and underline it with utterances like “if Sainsbury’s was not committed to
acting socially responsible and investing resources in fairtrade, this could be the reality for the
children of St. Lucia” – utterances that would be so characterised by an obvious agenda for abusing
the emotional appeal elements to gain sympathy and admiration for the company’s engagement in 30
the topic.
35 Source: See appendices – 2.b Sainsbury’s Fairtrade
70
9.1.2 Object
According to the depiction of the story according to the Greimas’ actant model, the object is
constituted by better revenue, better conditions for the community, etc. This means that the object in 5
this case is not a person, but rather a concept, as it was also explained by Bronwen & Ringham
(1999) in the theory chapter on storytelling (Bronwen & Ringham 1999: 10). The object can be seen
to be a kind of target for the subject which a helper is assisting in reaching or achieving (Fog et. al.
2002: 87).
10
In Sainsbury’s fairtrade branding video, the object is something that is actually facilitated by the
sender and the helper (in this situation Sainsbury’s takes up the role of both actants). The subjects
are the banana farmers and the local communities around them, who have chosen to manufacturing
bananas that meet the requirements for fairtrade bananas and therefore are able to sell them and get
their object, the better price, by trading with Sainsbury’s. In this story, the object (i.e. the premium 15
prices for bananas and the Sainsbury’s Fair Development Fund) only exists because Sainsbury’s is
present in the Windward Isles. Without the sender (Sainsbury’s) there would perhaps not be any
object. It is of course possible, that another company would be interested in buying fairtrade
bananas from the same farmers and another company may also donate money for a fund, but there
is not guarantee that another company would take an interest in this exact area. 20
9.1.3 Sender
By applying Greimas’ actant model, it can been established that in connection with the more
detailed story level, the sender is seen to be Sainsbury’s as a company. The sender is Sainsbury’s as 25
a caring “company” that is interested in the well-being of the farmers, and of the general community
in the Windward Isles. The sender is often portrayed as the person or the thing that facilitates the
subject and is therefore also in many cases closely linked to the helper actant; sometimes the sender
and helper actant are even one and the same person or thing (Fog et. al. 2002: 87).
Relating this to the branding video, this claim is clearly valid, as the sender is Sainsbury’s, who can 30
be seen as being the “sender” or the facilitator of the bigger revenue for fairtrade banana farmers
36 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 9 – 10.
71
(that was mentioned as one of two objects above), but Sainsbury’s is also seen in the role as the
helper that aids the farmers (subject) to achieve better revenue and better working and living
conditions for themselves and the local communities (object).
The fact that Sainsbury’s is seen as the sender is both evident by the fact that the video is posted on
Sainsbury’s web site, but more in relation to the actual story plot, it is also evident from even the 5
introductory frame, where an official fairtrade logo is flanked with the sentence “Sainsbury’s – try
something new today” and from some of the sentences in the video. They for example read:
“We moved to 100% fairtrade. The premium that we will pay next year will be
something like 4 million £, so over half of the total premium going into the 10
Windward Isles is going to be coming from Sainsbury’s and Sainsbury’s customers
buying fairtrade bananas” .37
In this sentence, it clearly says that the premium price that will be paid to the Windward Isles will
come from Sainsbury’s and Sainsbury’s customers. 15
9.1.4 Receiver
The receivers of the object (which was just established above as being better revenue – i.e. more
money for the bananas, and better conditions for the community in the Windward Isles in general) 20
are seen to be the farmers, growers, local community initiatives (schools, etc.). They are the ones
that benefit from the sender facilitating the economic support and the better revenue to banana
farmers.
The sentence that was quoted just above here also illustrates who will benefit from the sender’s
good-doing. In the sentence, the multiple receivers are referred to with description, namely “the 25
Windward Isles”.38
37 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 35 – 37. 38 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 35 – 37.
72
9.1.5 Helper
In the place of the helper-actant, it is again the case that there are more than one representative.
’Here the helper-actant can be interpreted to be Sainsbury’s and the buyers of fairtrade bananas. In
the video, it is even underlined that for example the customers at Sainsbury’s play a tremendous 5
role in Sainsbury’s being able to pay the premium prices for bananas and to post money into the
Fair Development Fund:
“none of these projects would have been possible without the help of our customers
who buy 1000 bananas every minute. The sheer scale of fairtrade bananas sold at 10
Sainsbury’s mean more fairtrade communities can now benefit”.39
Even the actual receivers of the object (better revenue and better conditions in the local community)
acknowledge that Sainsbury’s is helping with their initiatives. The farmer Rennicks Doxilly, says
that: 15
“Since the beginning, I have got $7 more on a box plus I personally was given
[financial support] to be able to fix up my shed”.40
Also the school principal at St. Peter’s infant school has something to say:
20
“Well, the opening represents a new beginning for the children in that more
students now will have access to computers.”
9.1.6 Opponent 25
The opponent-actant is defined as something or someone preventing the subject from reaching or
achieving the object. According to Fog et. al. (2002) the opponent needs not even be addressed or
appear in the story, but can be something or someone that is commonly accepted as an opponent or
the like (Fog et. al. 2002: 87). In the branding video, this is seen to be the case. There is no direct
notion in the video whatsoever of something threatening the farmers in achieving better revenue. 30
39 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.2, line 22 - 24. 40 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 23 - 24.
73
Therefore, the idea of other banana buyers than Sainsbury’s, who are not interested in paying the
premium price for bananas and who are not contributing financially to the farmers’ community like
Sainsbury’s does has been introduced as a possible opponent.
5
74
10. Analysing Sainsbury’s online communication for credibility
In this and the following paragraphs, an analysis of selected material from Sainsbury’s online CSR
communication will be carried out. As has already been mentioned, the aim of the thesis is to
analyse Sainsbury’s employment of storytelling in the quest for displaying and building up 5
credibility. Bearing this in mind, the empirical material for analysis is the branding video which is
found on Sainsbury’s fairtrade page41.
The analysis will not attempt to cover all of the aspects of each of the ethos virtues which seem to
have been employed in the empirical material. Instead, the focus will be on exemplifying the most 10
employed elements within each of the three ethos virtues, competence, character and presence.
A chapter conclusion will be carried out to sum up the findings that were made through the analysis
work of the chosen CSR material.
10.1 Analysing for competence markers 15
These following paragraphs will concentrate on the detection of textual and structural markers of
competence which have been elaborated on in chapter 6 about Lund & Petersen’s ethos model of
competence, character and presence. All are elements that may be seen as the company’s attempt to
establish credibility which is so important to the justification of the company’s existence, to the 20
corporate image and identity and to secure stakeholder support (Lund & Petersen 1999: 122).
Elaborating on the connection between storytelling and the establishment of credibility, more points
can be accentuated. In order for a company’s efforts within storytelling to succeed, it has to be tied
together with credibility. A competent communicator is a trustworthy communicator and credibility 25
must be considered the top priority when employing storytelling in corporate communication.
Without the necessary belief that the story the company is telling is actually true, the result of
telling a story as part of branding the company could be considered pointless (Balmer & Greyser
2002: 75). A story must have the ability to engage others in some way (Loffreda & Cargiulo 2008:
39). 30
41 Source: See appendices – 2.b Sainsbury’s Fairtrade
75
The following is taken from the analysis model depicted in chapter 6, in order to sum up what will
be in focus through the chapter on competence in Sainsbury’s fairtrade communication:
Competence
- Which competences does the sender
seek implicitly or explicitly to signal?
Secure – How does the sender seek to appear secure?
Consequent – does the sender seek to signal internal
agreement within the organisation, e.g. in relation to
attitudes and decision making processes?
Clear – Does the sender seek to appear competent by
means of clear decision making and direct and clear
communication in general?
Third person endorsements – does the sender include
opinions, explanations, etc. by people not directly linked
to the company?
(Based on: Lund & Petersen 2000: 130)
5
In the following paragraphs, an analysis will be carried out in order to establish the way in which
Sainsbury’s demonstrates competence in the chosen empirical material from the company’s online
communication. The analysis will not cover all aspects that are valid under the virtue of
competence, but will instead focus on singling out the most employed elements in order to get a
more precise result of the analysis. 10
10.1.1 Analysis of the branding video
Competence is displayed in many ways and on many levels. Competence is one of the ethos virtues
and has the same goal in sight as the other two (character and presence) – adding to a company’s 15
efforts towards building a strong corporate image and most importantly, accentuating the
company’s positive virtues in a quest for building up credibility and trust with consumers. Through
the ethos virtues, the company tells its story – the story of being credible and trustworthy (Lund &
Petersen 1999: 131).
20
As is seen in Lund & Petersen’s model, the virtue of competence is centred on a wish to make a
company appear in control. As can be seen in the depiction of part of Lund & Petersen’s model, the
76
competence aspect is where, in this case, a company demonstrates a consistent, clear and “secure”
appearance.
10.1.2 Third person endorsements 5
One thing that can bring credibility to a company’s communication about CSR efforts is
endorsements. A company can display competence, and hereby add to the credibility of the
communication by providing third person endorsements. It can be endorsements made by
professionals reviewing the company, by means of an award or by letting customers know e.g. what
the company has helped facilitate for others, as it is the case in the Sainsbury’s branding video. 10
Sainsbury’s makes sure that claims about all the good things that have come from the company’s
presence in St. Lucia, its dedication to paying banana farmers more money for their products and its
contribution to the Fair Development Fund is backed up with third person endorsements. In the
branding video it is done by having German Lubin, principal at St. Peter’s infant school in the town 15
Dennery, tell about how Sainsbury’s contribution to the society through the Fair Development Fund
is “a new beginning for the children in that more students now will have access to computers”42 and
recognizing that not everybody has the privilege of having access to a computer at the isle of St.
Lucia. Although German Lubin does not explicitly say that Sainsbury’s is the contributor, it is
inherent in the way that the video is constructed. Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury’s, is visiting the 20
school and held together with the speaker mentioning that “schools at the heart of the fairtrade
farmer communities have benefited from computer rooms – like the St. Peters infant school in
Dennery”43 it can only be assumed that there is a direct link between the Sainsbury’s Fair
Development Fund and the opening of a IT resource centre at St. Peter’s infant school. It is in fact
expressed in the video that: “Whilst on his visit to the Windward Isles, Justin opened a new IT 25
resource centre”44. Combining this with the fact that it has already been established earlier in the
video that “Justin” is in fact Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury’s45 (as Justin King is interviewed for
the first time in the video, his name and designation of occupation is stated) makes it obvious that
German Lubin is a third person endorser of Sainsbury’s involvement in the issues in her local
community. 30
42 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.2, line 2-3 and 7-11. 43 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, 47 – 48. 44 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 49.
77
Third person endorsement demonstrates both belief in the company’s “self-worth” and knowledge
that Sainsbury’s claim of making a difference in the communities at St. Lucia is backed up with
evidence. Third party endorsements are by many seen as a clear marker of credibility (Wang 2005:
402). This is why many companies also include notions of all the certifications and awards etc. 5
which they have received. An award or a certificate is also a third person endorsement which the
company has obtained for e.g. its work within corporate social responsibility. The same is valid for
consumer endorsements or endorsements from business partners. (Wang 2005: 402). Still, Wang
does point towards the fact that the effect of third person endorsement is to be seen in relation to the
nature of the product, service or company (Wang 2005: 409). In this way, Wang proposes that e.g. 10
choosing a movie to watch on a Friday evening entails very subjective evaluations on the part of the
consumer and the third party endorsement of the movie may not have the same effect on one person
as it has on the other (Wang 2005: 404). The same can be said to be valid in the case of a company
using endorsement as a way of branding the company. Many factors play a role in the consumers’
evaluation of information that is processed through the corporate web site. For example, the 15
consumers’ image of the company plays a big role. If the consumer beforehand has a negative
perception of the company, no amount of positive endorsement may be able to help improve that
image. In fact, it can make things even worse, as it may be experienced as “trying too hard”.
10.1.3 Clear and secure 20
Through the branding video, Sainsbury’s gives the impression that it is a secure (or confident)
company and that it has a clear idea of what it stands for and how its presence in for example St.
Lucia contributes to improving conditions for many people in the local communities.
25
Strong confidence indicators are found in several parts of the text in this transcription of the
branding video. The following examples will demonstrate Sainsbury’s choice to emphasise its own
abilities, but more so it demonstrates the company’s awareness of the branding potential which the
display of the results of the company’s CSR commitment will give.
The following statements serve as very good illustrations. They are uttered by the speaker and by 30
Justin King:
45 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 14.
78
Justin King: “well, there are some benefits that you don’t actually perhaps realise around
different farming. We have been seeing here on the farm today some of the environmental
changes the farmers have made to way that they farm to be certified as fairtrade, so there
are hidden benefits, but the really direct benefits are in the price that we pay for the 5
bananas. We pay a guaranteed price which today is something like 7 dollars a case more
than the world market price on bananas and we also pay what we call a social premium.
That is an extra dollar a case we pay over and above what we pay the farmer. It goes into a
fund which is administered here by the fairtrade organisation to invest in projects in the
communities, where farmers live and work. 10
We moved to 100% fairtrade. The premium that we will pay next year will be something like
4 million £, so over half of the total premium going into the Windward Isles is going to be
coming from Sainsbury’s and Sainsbury’s customers buying fairtrade bananas”.46
15
Speaker: “But it is not just schools that have benefited. The Dennery hospital recently
received a new auto clave to allow surgical equipment to be sanitized”.47
In these examples from the video, Sainsbury’s is listing positive aspects which the sale of fairtrade
bananas in the super market chain has meant for the local communities, where the bananas are 20
purchased. Through a factual listing of projects that have been carried out and benefits which the
local communities at St. Lucia have seen, the company is telling the branding story of a company -
which is that it is socially responsible. It is told directly – simply by offering facts and figures.
Sainsbury’s enhances that it has been buying fairtrade for 6 years and in the following utterance
made by Justin King, it becomes apparent that Sainsbury’s is moving towards 100% fairtrade 25
bananas because the company learned that its customers were very interested in the fairtrade
products. This is an act of competence, because it displays a confidence in the company’s situation.
It demonstrates that the company is responsive towards market reactions.
The sentence can also be seen as Sainsbury’s demonstration of character and hereby also the
corporate identity. Therefore part of the sentence will also be included in paragraph 10.2.1. 30
46 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 26 - 33. 47 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.2, line 16 - 17.
79
Another example of the way Sainsbury’s displays a really secure image is the following from the
introduction of the branding video:
Speaker: 5
“Over 6 years ago, we began buying fairtrade bananas from the Windward Isles
to help secure that farmers and producers were paid a fair and stable price.
Justin visited the Windward Isles to mark our ongoing commitment to fairtrade
and sustainable sourcing”.48 10
This sentence, in particular, demonstrates clearly how Sainsbury’s perceives itself. The sentence
points towards the fact that Sainsbury’s believes that their buying fairtrade bananas at the
Windward Isles is very important and that the company believes that it is fulfilling its corporate
image of being a socially responsible company. The involvement in the Windward Isles is only one 15
of many things that Sainsbury’s is dedicated to under one of the company’s key commitments –
sourcing with integrity.49
The company demonstrates a secure way of perceiving itself as a corporation that in its core
business activities has always done the right thing and has always acted the way a truly socially
responsible corporation should act. The sentence paints the picture of a confident and competent 20
company. According to Lund & Petersen, the appraisal of the achievements by the company itself
communicates competence and confidence (Lund & Petersen 1999: 138 – 139).
However, this attempt to build up a certain image of the company must without exception be
supported by a strong corporate identity that entails what is being said. It is not enough to believe
that telling about it is enough. Sainsbury’s must prove this through its actions as well (Lund & 25
Petersen 1999: 122). Additionally, even when the company follows all guidelines provided through
theory there is no guarantee that it will succeed in building up the necessary credibility.
Delving deeper into the chosen text from Sainsbury’s branding video; even more markers of
competence become evident. The level of language can also be a marker of competence (Lund &
Petersen 2000: 130). 30
48 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 9 - 12.
80
10.1.4 Level of language as competence marker
The level of language used in the video is generally clear and direct. Part of the “text” – i.e. the
parts read aloud by the speaker, have without doubt been constructed beforehand, and so has the
storyboard for the speeches made by CEO Justin King and to some extent probably also the 5
speeches made by Germane Lubin – at least, she could have been asked leading questions by the
producer in order to give comments within the frame of the story that Sainsbury’s aims at telling
through the production of this branding video.
The language used is characterised by a clear terminology which requires little pre-accumulated
knowledge of the topic – i.e. fairtrade. Looking at the choice of terminology, Sainsbury’s is 10
predominantly keeping it at a general level.
There are of course a few exceptions. An example is:
“We pay a guaranteed price which today is something like 7 dollars a case more than the 15
world market price on bananas and we also pay what we call a social premium. That is an
extra dollar a case we pay over and above what we pay the farmer. It goes into a fund
which is administered here by the fairtrade organisation to invest in projects in the
communities, where farmers live and work”.50
20
The term marked in bold here, the social premium, could be difficult to understand to the non-
professional. Therefore, Sainsbury’s chooses to explain the term in the context of the present
discourse, i.e. the branding video portraying Sainsbury’s commitment to and benefits of fairtrade
involvement. The explanation is found immediately after the introduction to the term social
premium and not e.g. in a footnote which must be found on the bottom of a page. This is of course, 25
because the example in question is taken from a video, where the concept of footnotes is not a
possibility, but taking a look at the text that was first introduced in this analysis of competence
markers, we find yet an example:
30
49 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 29 – 33. 50 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 29 – 33.
81
“We moved to 100% fairtrade. The premium that we will pay next year will be something
like £4 million, so over half of the total premium going into the Windward Isles is going
to be coming from Sainsbury’s and Sainsbury’s customers buying fairtrade bananas”.51
Although the language in the example above makes use of a more indirect way of explaining the 5
term social premium, it is still explained with [being] something like 4 million £52, and :4 million £
in St. Lucia would be enough to build 500 new classrooms.53
The example above demonstrates that the company is able to be clear about not only its
communication, but also about its activities. Sainsbury’s confidence in its own role in the situation
of making things better for the local farmers and their communities shines through in the way that 10
e.g. the sentence above is constructed. The sentence states that the financial aid that the company is
providing is fundamental to the economic development of the local communities. Here,
Sainsbury’s demonstrates a clear attitude towards the subject of discourse and is appraising its own
accomplishments – points which according to Lund and Petersen’s model are valid in the quest for
appearing competent (Lund & Petersen 1999: 130). 15
51 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 35 – 37. 52 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 39. 53 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 39.
82
10.2 Character
It was established in paragraph 6.6.2 that the ethos creation that is related to the virtue of character
is centred on the corporate goal of appearing to possess the quality of being a conscious and honest
player within the business it operates. The elements related to the virtue of character are by most 5
theorists considered important dimensions to establishing credibility; especially when we are
talking about CSR communication and corporate communication that has corporate branding as an
aspiration. Further relating this to the scope of the thesis, the elements found in connection to the
character virtue become even more important. Sainsbury’s uses storytelling as a part of the process
of building up credibility in its CSR communication. The nature of CSR communication is that of 10
portraying the company as socially responsible, humane, etc. – hence, the virtue of character should
be prioritised in the company (Manheim and Pratt 1986: 10).
Character
- Which character-related virtues does
the sender seek to argument via and
claim to possess?
Open – does the sender implicitly or explicitly emphasise
openness, e.g. by means of displaying the reasons for a
specific action/decision?
Honest – Does the sender seek to appear as being honest,
e.g. by means of phrases like: “let me be honest”?
Humane – Does the sender manage to signal that other
things than the economic bottom-line are important to
him/her/the company?
Modest – Does the sender signal the ability to be self-
critical?
As it is evident from the excerpt of the larger model, character is communicated through what could 15
be called human characteristics – i.e. modesty, humanity, honesty, etc., each of which can be
applied to the situation of a company as well. But character is also communicated in the way a
company is being open in its communication – i.e. communicating about things that may not in
itself be positive for the corporate image, but because the company chooses to talk about it e.g. on
its own website and provides justification for the situation by providing credible reasons at the same 20
time, it can in fact add to the corporate image anyway, because the company displays openness,
honesty and perhaps humane qualities (Lund & Petersen 1999: 130).
83
10.2.1 Openness and honesty
A definite indication of the company attempting to communicate the character of the company is,
among other things, the company’s willingness to communicate openly about even the most 5
controversial topics relating to its area of business – despite the fact that the company runs the risk
of providing ammunition to NGOs, critical media, etc. Often, the disclosure of delicate information
is done as a defence mechanism. Some information can be of such a critical character that it forces
the company to openly address it. And sometimes it is estimated that the best way to deal with the
situation is to disclose it before anyone else does. In crisis communication theory, it is well-know 10
that being open and honest as a company and facing problems (and accusations) head on can pay
off in the long run with regards to credibility and corporate image. Depending on the nature of the
situation, the result of being proactive54 instead of reactive55 when it comes to communicating about
CSR can vary (Arpan & Roskos-Ewoldsen 2005: 426).
15
Openness is communicated in various ways through the branding video from Sainsbury’s website.
Openness is marked in text by means of e.g. justifying why certain action has been taken and/or
how it has been taken (Lund & Petersen 1999: 130). Openness can also be interpreted as being
transparent – i.e. the effort of a company to be clear and open about both the good and the bad
things that happen in the company. 20
Sainsbury’s demonstrates character in the following sentence taken from the beginning of the video
in the way that it is open about why a business decision has been made:
Speaker: “We saw in the autumn that something like 1 in 3 of our bananas were 25
being bought by our customers as fairtrade and that was a clear indication that
54 Definition: Proactive crisis communication entails the company actively scanning its situation in the business and in society in general to detect any crisis emerging or entails the company to communicate strongly about topics that may be controversial or prone to be subjected to critique by NGOs, media, consumers, etc. (Arpan & Roskos-Ewoldsen 2005: 425 - 432). 55 Definition: Reactive crisis communication entails the company responding to critique. The strategy may be not to respond or to send out press releases, appear on national television, or whatever fits the situation the best (Arpan & Roskos-Ewoldsen 2005: 425 - 432).
84
that was what they wanted us to do, so we have taken the big step now of moving
to 100% fairtrade bananas.” 56
In a sentence like the above quoted, it can be interpreted that one of the major reasons why
Sainsbury’s has switched to 100% fairtrade bananas lies in the popularity which it proved to have 5
with customers. Sceptics may even interpret it as being the reason for the switch. This proves the
point that employing openness and transparency to corporate communication can in principle give a
positive as well as a negative result.
The openness in this sentence is further established through what can be read into the situation
behind the words – namely that there is a willingness to dialogue or at least responsiveness to 10
customers. It demonstrates that the value of openness is deeply rooted in the corporate identity and
not just employed with the intention of branding the company through the communication about the
steps it takes to being responsive.
10.2.2 Humane qualities 15
Openness is just one of the ways to mark the character of the company. Sainsbury’s relies on the
aspect of being humane as well (cf. the model excerpt above). This makes a lot of sense, taking the
discourse of fairtrade into consideration. Being humane is, or at least ought to be, the essential
background for a company to be engaging in fairtrade initiatives. Displaying humanity can be done 20
through the use of graphic descriptions on how the company’s commitment to a certain case is
doing good for an individual, a group, a business, etc.
“This move to 100% fairtrade leads the world and sets the standard for global
sourcing. We will continue to give our customers great choice at the same price, but 25
from now on every customer will know that buying bananas at Sainsbury’s is helping
to make a huge difference to a developing country”.57
The text-bit above is to be read as an indication that the company is committed to something which
in fact is not something that the company will prosper from, but instead is something that will 30
positively contribute to making a “huge difference to a developing country”. Sainsbury’s hereby
56 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 15 – 18. 57 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.2, line 25 – 28.
85
displays humane qualities by making customers aware that Sainsbury’s efforts of providing good
conditions for banana farmers will set standards for other companies in the business and make a
huge difference to the banana farmers. However, Sainsbury’s also offers the positive karma credit
to its customers, rather than it self. Karma credit refers to the concept taken from Hinduism or
Buddhism, where it is believed that any action you make in your life will bring you a good or a bad 5
result, either in this life or in a reincarnation.58
58 Source: See appendices – 3.i Dictionary.com Karma
86
10.3 Presence
Presence
- Is the sender present in the
communication in a way which
increases the power of conviction?
Engaged – Does the sender possess an infectious level of
commitment?
Real – Does the sender appear naturally present in the
communication, or does it seem like a feigned role?
Present – Is the sender present in the communication
through engaging presence?
Lively – Does the sender communicate in an
understandable and catchy manner, so that the receiver
feels involved in the communication?
(Based on Lund & Petersen 1999: 130)
10.3.1 Engagement and liveliness 5
One of the very positive aspects of including the video medium in the communication of
Sainsbury’s is that the company has the chance to put a face with the message, so to speak. It is no
longer just the company communicating behind a screen on a website. However, when including
real people from the company, the company does take a risk. It is immensely important to choose a 10
person that is a good communicator as well as a credible person. The way the spokes person acts,
the things he says and how he says it will reflect on his credibility with consumers and this again
will reflect on the corporate image, as the spokesperson is a representative of the company.
In the branding video on Sainsbury’s fairtrade commitment, it has been chosen to make both a
woman speaker but also Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury’s, the spokespersons and representatives for 15
the company and that is seen to be a very positive choice.
Justin King in particular is a positive attribute to throw into the CSR communication. He is very
lively in his body language (which can of course only be derived by watching the video), and has a
very engaged attitude towards the work that Sainsbury’s is doing in St. Lucia. The fact that a
Sainsbury’s CEO is at all visiting the Isle with the purpose of opening the IT resource centre in the 20
town of Dennery speaks volumes for the company’s commitment to the projects it has on the
Windward Isles, but it has to be considered how much in the video is purely set up for the process
of making the branding video and how much is reality.
87
There is no doubt that Sainsbury’s is contributing to the banana farmers’ improved market
conditions and to the local communities through the Fair Development Fund59, but the actual set up
with the opening of the IT resource centre has perhaps been planned to fit Sainsbury’s schedule for
recording or Sainsbury’s has made the choice to produce the branding video as the event was
announced. 5
Justin King is communicating in an easily understandable way in the sense that he offers an
explanation to difficult terminology to make sure that viewers will understand. As was already
mentioned under competence, the concept of social premium is explained
10.3.2 Speaking to emotions 10
Sainsbury’s appears to have employed a strategy of appealing directly to the consumers and to their
emotions. Given that the chosen text (i.e. the transcript of the branding video) is a piece of CSR
communication, the appeal to emotions does not come as a surprise, as CSR is by many scholars
seen as purely non-profit action which is taken with the benefit of society (Kotler & Lee 2005: 3). 15
Speaker:
“None of these projects would have been possible without the help of our
customers, who buy 1000 bananas every minute. The sheer scale of fairtrade
bananas sold at Sainsbury’s mean more fairtrade communities can now benefit. 20
This move to 100% fairtrade leads the world and sets the standard for global
sourcing. We will continue to give our customers great choice at the same price,
but from now on every customer will know that buying bananas at Sainsbury’s is
helping to make a huge difference to a developing country”.60 25
Through the appeal to emotions via both factual and emotionally loaded text, the company seeks to
establish a relationship with consumers with the purpose of being able to get the messages of
credibility across more easily. Lund & Petersen pointed out that once the company manages to 30
59 Source: See appendices – 2.j Sainsbury’s Case studies 60 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.2, line 22 - 28.
88
involve the consumers on a more personal level, the consumers will be more likely to be receptive
of the message that the company attempts to get across (Lund & Petersen 1999: 121 – 135).
In the text above, Sainsbury’s is underlining the recognition of the customers’ importance to the
success of the company’s fairtrade commitment more than once. The speaker starts out with a
tribute to consumers by saying that non of the projects (meaning the school projects, hospital 5
projects and the project of offering farmers premium prices for their bananas and all of the other
projects which the Sainsbury’s Fair Development Fund is committed to) would be made possible if
the consumers did not buy fairtrade bananas at Sainsbury’s61.
10.3.3 Personal pronouns 10
Perceived caring for the customer can also be displayed through an emphasis on using personal
pronouns instead of the company name. Instead of:
“Sainsbury’s support of fairtrade makes a long-term, positive difference…”, 62 15
where the company name is used to refer to the company, the company may use personal pronouns
such as we, us, etc. in order to make the communication less formal. Sainsbury’s has evidently been
advised well, and chooses to eliminate the company name and replace it with the personal pronoun
“we”. The use of “we” is in fact a recurring element through Sainsbury’s branding video on its 20
fairtrade commitment – actually through the company’s entire CSR site. in fact, the personal
pronouns we, us, our and so on have been chosen have been chosen in most places, but when it
comes to the way that Sainsbury’s addresses its customers, the switch is instead to the use of a more
detached and less direct, involving way of communicating. In many cases, the company writes “our
customers”, etc. and instead of keeping a direct and personal tone of voice, customers are referred 25
to with the pronoun “they” – instead of for example “you”. An example is offered in the top part of
the video:
“The premium that we will pay next year will be something like 4 million £, so over half
of the total premium going into the Windward Isles is going to be coming from 30
Sainsbury’s and Sainsbury’s customers buying fairtrade bananas”.63
61 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.2, line 22 - 23.
89
This gives the reader an inconsistent impression, as the site as a whole is elsewise very dedicated to
communicating on a basic level and on a personal level. The site emphasises the good stories and
the clear structure and language, so it seems out of discourse to keep referring to customers as
“they” and not “you”. 5
It seems that the company could have made this small effort to involve the reader even more in the
messages that they attempt to communicate.
62 Source: Fictional, explanatory rewrite of the original text from branding video 63 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.1, line 35 – 37.
90
11. Conclusion
The purpose of this thesis was to examine how the British retailer Sainsbury’s employs storytelling
in the process of building up credibility.
For the purpose of answering this question, two blocks of theoretical background was included. 5
Firstly, the theory of Greimas’ actant model and more detailed theory on the concept of storytelling
was defined and discussed. Storytelling was furthermore seen as a tool for the company to brand
itself and its products towards a credible corporate image. Greimas’ actant model formed the first of
two analysis models that were applies to the chosen empirical material.
Secondly, theory on the concept of credibility was defined and discussed. This section of the thesis 10
took its point of departure in theory by Lund & Petersen and McCroskey and Young. Lund &
Petersen’s model of ethos virtues, which included the notion of competence, character and presence,
was included as the as the second analysis model.
The two aspects were continuously related to each other and to the thesis aim.
15
How Sainsbury’s employs storytelling
First of all, Sainsbury’s is telling the audience a good story. The company is telling about its
commitment to fairtrade and CSR in general.
Telling a good story is essentially what storytelling is all about. Taking the discourse of CSR 20
communication into account, the purposes of telling a story can be many. Some of them include:
Branding the company in a positive way and illustrates what it does to be a socially
responsible company
Improving or reaffirming a positive, credible corporate image 25
Establishing a bond between the company and its stakeholders by telling a story that speaks
to stakeholders’ emotions and has the potential to make them get personally involved.
Sainsbury’s has singled out a positive story that has the potential to both portray the company as a
socially responsible company that does good on a voluntary basis and give something back to the 30
consumers by underlining that they too play a very important role in the help Sainsbury’s is able to
91
facilitate help in various ways to the local communities, in which the company operates through its
business.
Through the analysis of the empirical material by means of Lund & Petersen’s model of ethos
virtues, it became evident that Sainsbury’s wishes to appear humane and at the same time also
establish a relationship with its customers by for example this sentence: 5
“This move to 100% fairtrade leads the world and sets the standard for global sourcing. We
will continue to give our customers great choice at the same price, but from now on every
customer will know that buying bananas at Sainsbury’s is helping to make a huge difference
to a developing country”.64 10
Here, Sainsbury’s speaks highly to the emotions of its customers and underlines how Sainsbury’s
customers are an important piece of the puzzle when Sainsbury’s is engaging in fairtrade. The
company acknowledges that the fact that customers are buying fairtrade bananas means that
Sainsbury’s is able to help people in developing countries; i.e. through the “Fair Development 15
Fund” which Sainsbury’s is facilitating in the Windward Isles. In the scope of the thesis aim;
establishing credibility, it makes good sense for a company to invest time in establish a relationship
with consumers. Lund & Petersen points out that once the company manages to involve the
consumers on a more personal level, the consumers will be more likely to be receptive of the
message that the company attempts to get across (Lund & Petersen 1999: 121 – 135). 20
Justifying commitment to and communication about CSR
It speaks highly for the general corporate justification for its work and for the communication about
it that Sainsbury’s displays a genuine interest in being involved in a CSR issue such as fairtrade and 25
making a difference in the world. It is made very in the chosen empirical material. An example was
seen with the sentences:
“Over 6 years ago, we began buying fairtrade bananas from the Windward Islands
to help secure that farmers and producers were paid a fair and stable price”.65 30
64 Source: See appendices – 1.a Sainsbury’s Transcription of branding video, p.2, line 25 – 28.
92
and
“This move to 100% fairtrade leads the world and sets the standard for global
sourcing. We will continue to give our customers great choice at the same price,
but from now on every customer will know that buying bananas at Sainsbury’s is 5
helping to make a huge difference to a developing country”.66
However, Sainsbury’s is not trying to play down the fact that the increased sales of fairtrade
products of course have a positive effect on the bottom line and the company also recognise the fact
that the company’s engagement in fairtrade also has the potential to boost the company image. 10
Utilizing storytelling in the process of building up credibility has namely the potential to brand to
company.
Communicating with clarity and confidence
15
Sainsbury’s is through the branding video demonstrating a secure way of perceiving itself as a
corporation that in its core business activities has always done the right thing and has always acted
the way a truly socially responsible corporation should act. This adds immensely to the credible
corporate image as customers get the impression that Sainsbury’s knows what it is and stands for
and according to Lund & Petersen, the appraisal of the achievements by the company itself 20
communicates competence and confidence (Lund & Petersen 1999: 138 – 139).
Lund & Petersen does also underline, that for the company to benefit from this, the company must
without exception support this by doing what it claims to do. It is not enough to believe that telling
about it is enough. Sainsbury’s must prove this through its actions as well (Lund & Petersen 1999:
122). 25
Summing up
Summing up, Sainsbury’s employs storytelling in the process of building up credibility by means of
especially emphasising the humane qualities. It does so by including the video medium, which 30
offers the company a very good channel for communicating its passion and its commitment in a
65 Source: See enclosure Sainsbury’s: transcription of branding video, p.1, line 9 - 12. 66 Source: See enclosure Sainsbury’s: transcription of branding video, p.2, line 25 – 28.
93
lively manner. Having CEO of Sainsbury’s Justin King appear as a spokes person in the storytelling
video and flavouring the video with third person endorsements is directly in tune with the ethos
virtues that Lund & Petersen proposes in their model as being some of the key ingredients for
establishing credibility in corporate communication.
5
Sainsbury’s efforts regarding its CSR communication has got the potential to create a credible
corporate image, but there is no way of securing that it will in fact obtain this with stakeholders.
This really sums up the constant challenge of communicating about corporate social responsibility
involvement when you are a profit-company. 10
94
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5
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