Communication Analysis on Environmental Sustainability in the Imaginary of the Spanish Energy Sector

Abstract

Nowadays it is common to hear the terms climate change, sustainable development and green consumption in the advertisements of different brands or in social networks. In fact, organizations and individuals continuously express a concern for the protection of the planet, so that citizens also demand a commitment to sustainability from companies. Therefore, starting from the dimension of environmental sustainability, this research analyzes the corporate discourse of Spanish traditional energy companies in order to know how they express their environmental sustainability and commitment to climate change mitigation. It also seeks to know the factors that influence customers when contracting their services. To achieve the objectives, a content analysis of the corporate discourse is applied through a review of sustainability reports and websites; as well as an analysis of advertising spots; the selected sample corresponds to 2019. In addition, an online survey was applied in Spain in order to know the vision of users. With these data, the imaginary that exists about environmental sustainability is constructed. The study considered three companies: Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy, which are of Spanish origin, are part of the IBEX 35 and, according to the Brand Finance ranking (2020), represent 5% of global investment in the energy sector.