Understanding the effect of external levers on issue selling strategies of CSR managers of Dutch garment firms

Abstract

The current fast fashion industry has contributed to all sorts of environmental and social issues globally. To tackle this issues, fashion firms try to adapt CSR policies around various issues, which are not always successfully implemented. The growing literature on issue selling tries to bring understanding in how issues, such as CSR issues, are being sold internally within organizations. However, little attention has been paid to the external levers issue sellers can use to be successful in selling their issues. In this study, data collected from CSR managers of Dutch garment firms is being used to understand what the relation is between internal issue selling strategies and external levers in the form of governmental legislation, stakeholder pressure, shareholder activism, and focusing events. The findings of this study bring new insights about how these external levers are used by issue sellers and how they relate to internal strategies. Furthermore, the findings give suggestions on how issue sellers can adopt successful issue selling approaches.