How and Why Organisations (Under)Communicate the Sustainability of their Practices

Abstract

As demands for transparency in sustainability marketing communication intensify from stakeholders such as consumers, regulators, and investors, organizations face a growing challenge in effectively disclosing their sustainability practices in a manner that is both credible and strategically safe. They are confronted with a delicate balancing act: communicating too little can create perceptions of secrecy, irresponsibility, or deception, whereas over-communication can expose operational weakness, invite criticism, or erode brand equity. This thesis investigates the complex dynamics of sustainability communication, focusing on hospitality and luxury fashion industries, to understand how and why organizations under-communicate their sustainability practices. In doing so, it highlights the role of marketing communication in shaping how sustainability practices influence consumer engagement.
The research adopts a multi-method approach, integrating three interconnected studies. The first study offers a critical literature review of sustainable hospitality, analysing 71 articles to evaluate the intention-behaviour gap in consumer sustainable consumption decisions. It reveals that conventional behavioural frameworks applied in the literature are often inadequate to account for the tensions between consumers’ stated intentions and their actual behaviour in hospitality settings. It highlights the need for more context-sensitive models and the integration of emerging technologies to bridge this gap. These findings underscore the potential role of under-communication in contributing to the intention-behaviour gap and emphasize the importance of examining how sustainability practices are communicated within organizations.
The second study empirically explores greenhushing, the deliberate downplaying or avoiding of sustainability communication, through a content analysis of 300 hotel websites, third-party sustainability rankings, and over 56,000 Facebook and Instagram posts. The study uncovers pervasive greenhushing patterns, with social media identified as a critical platform for such under-communication. Subsequent semi-structured interviews with 16 service marketers reveal that greenhushing is primarily driven by the fear of greenwashing accusations and a lack of organizational confidence in the robustness of sustainability practices. Consequently, many organizations rely on third-party certifications while limiting direct consumer communication about their sustainability practices.
The third study examines the tension between transparency and perceived brand exclusivity in the luxury fashion sector, focusing on TikTok as a dynamic communication platform. Through a content analysis of 5,565 posts, an online experiment with 230 consumers, and expert interviews (n = 3), the study shows how luxury brands strategically employ selective, narrative-driven transparency to maintain symbolic value when signaling their sustainability practices. Findings indicate that marketing communication emphasizing transparency in production processes enhances perceived transparency and boosts engagement, whereas social impact transparency can reduce perceived brand exclusivity and lower consumer engagement.
Overall, the thesis offers four theoretical contributions by highlighting context-specific dynamics of the intention-behaviour gap, revealing how consumer-facing platforms like social media shape greenhushing and sustainability communication practices, extending signaling theory to multi-party contexts, and uncovering the strategic risks and trade-offs between transparency and brand positioning. Practically, it offers guidance on overcoming greenhushing through evidence-based communication strategies, designing adaptive, data-driven social media communication, and balancing exclusivity and transparency in luxury fashion contexts.

Date of Award	8 Apr 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Portsmouth
Supervisor	Marta Nieto-Garcia (Supervisor), Giampaolo Viglia (Supervisor) & Diletta Acuti (Supervisor)