Facebook and sustainable development: a case study of a French supermarket chain

Purpose - Over the past decade climate change has become an inescapable aspect of social responsibility for the major retail chains who have sought to incorporate the environmental considerations into their communication strategies. The purpose of this paper is to look more closely at communications campaigns based on environmental theme through social networks. Design/methodology/approach - In this respect, social media can be considered a direct communication tool conducive to the promotion of sustainable development. Therefore, the paper is based on a year-long study of one group's official Facebook page. Findings - The conclusions highlight the need for retail chains to strengthen the perceived consistency of their communication strategies on this subject, in order to retain their credibility. Practical implications - Encouraging consumers' contributions via Facebook may be considered as a relevant practice for greening retail, on the condition that internet users are convinced of the value and interest of this process, as examples of a company's concrete actions, which provide hard evidence of its stated commitments. The authors also point out the implications of the results in the emerging context of omni-channel retailing. Originality/value - This paper provides two kinds of added value. First its explore retailers' practice on the subject of green marketing. Second, it provides significant learnings regarding the potential impact of communication in social media.