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Sustainability in Business Communication: An Overview

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Nachhaltigkeit in der Wirtschaftskommunikation

Part of the book series: Europäische Kulturen in der Wirtschaftskommunikation ((EKW,volume 24))

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the field of sustainability in business communication by looking at it from five very different angles, which nevertheless form a comprehensive view of the field. The first part investigates how the use of lexical items which express the sustainability idea have developed in business communication. The second part looks at the development of sustainability communication within employer branding. Part three focuses on current trends of sustainability in marketing and advertising and finds that sustainability is not quite as frequently used here as it is in reporting, employer branding or investor relations communication. In the fourth part, sustainability communication is scrutinized as reflections of the development within investor relations communication. Those historic developments show a very clear increase in the use and the significance of sustainability in business communication. Part five then adds a cultural and a political dimension to sustainability communication and thus broadens the perspective. By investigating those different angles of sustainability in business communication by empirical analyses, exploratory studies, literature reviews and discussions, the article aims at drawing a picture of sustainability in business communication that captures discursive manifestations of sustainability, historic developments and current trends, sustainability communications towards internal and external audiences, and intercultural and political implications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wiesbaden, Deutschland

    Sophie E. Andersen, Marianne G. Ditlevsen, Irene Pollach & Iris Rittenhofer

  2. Department of Business Communication, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Dänemark

    Ass. Prof. Dr. Martin Nielsen

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  1. Sophie E. Andersen
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  2. Marianne G. Ditlevsen
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  3. Ass. Prof. Dr. Martin Nielsen
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  4. Irene Pollach
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  5. Iris Rittenhofer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Communication, Aarhus University, Aarhus V, Denmark

    Martin Nielsen

  2. Wiesbaden, Germany

    Iris Rittenhofer

  3. Wiesbaden, Germany

    Marianne Grove Ditlevsen

  4. Wiesbaden, Germany

    Sophie Esmann Andersen

  5. Wiesbaden, Germany

    Irene Pollach

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Andersen, S., Ditlevsen, M., Nielsen, M., Pollach, I., Rittenhofer, I. (2013). Sustainability in Business Communication: An Overview. In: Nielsen, M., Rittenhofer, I., Grove Ditlevsen, M., Esmann Andersen, S., Pollach, I. (eds) Nachhaltigkeit in der Wirtschaftskommunikation. Europäische Kulturen in der Wirtschaftskommunikation, vol 24. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-03452-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-03452-8_2

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