Prøveforelesning og disputas - master i ledelse, innovasjon og marked Sarah Lisa Arnesen

Later, at 12.15 she will defend her thesis titled:

«From Pride to Progress: Promoting Sustainable Fashion Consumption Through Strategic Framing"

 Associate Professor and Vice-Dean for Innovation, Industry Collaboration, and Ph.D. education Petter Gullmark will lead the defense.

Popular Science Summary: 

The fashion industry faces growing criticism for its negative environmental and social impacts, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable practices and responsible consumption. Although many consumers express positive attitudes toward sustainability, these attitudes often do not translate into actual behavior. This disconnect, known as the attitude and behavior gap, poses a critical challenge for change. This thesis investigates how pride can be activated through strategic framing to promote sustainable fashion consumption and help bridge the gap between attitudes and behavior. Three experimental papers form the basis of this thesis, drawing on survey data from nearly 1,300 participants. Paper 1 shows that positive feedback in sustainable purchases increases authentic pride, which enhances willingness to buy and word-of-mouth endorsement. Paper 2 demonstrates that concrete sustainability claims build trust, which fosters authentic pride and boosts sustainable consumption intentions. Paper 3 finds that exclusivity-framed feedback in new luxury fashion purchases evokes hubristic pride, increasing word-of-mouth, whereas sustainability-framed feedback shows no significant effect in either new or secondhand luxury contexts. Overall, the thesis contributes to understanding how emotional and rational responses can be influenced through strategic communication. It offers practical insights for marketers and policymakers, emphasizing the importance of context in message design. By distinguishing between authentic and hubristic pride, the thesis provides new perspectives on how emotion shapes sustainable consumer behavior across different fashion contexts.

Evaluation Committee:

• Professor Karin M. Ekstrøm, Høgskolen i Borås, Sverige (1. opponent)
• Associate professor Jakob Utgård, Oslo Met (2. opponent)
• Professor Kåre Skallerud, HHT, UiT, (internal member and leader of the committee)

Supervisors:

• Professor Nils Magne Larsen, HHT campus Harstad, UiT
• Professor Valdimar Sigurðsson, Reykjavik University, Iceland
• Professor Anders Hauge Wien, HHT campus Tromsø, UiT

Streaming:

Both defense and trial lecture will be streamed and recorded:

• Trial lecture
• Defense

Thesis:

The thesis is available in Munin