Open Access

Tobias Schaller

• This thesis addresses the relationship between sustainability action and firm competitiveness. Through the analysis of literature and by conducting a survey on consumer demands and preferences, the question whether sustainability action can help companies in the consumer electronics sector gain a competitive advantage is answered. This thesis comes to the conclusion, that sustainability action can yield many advantages for companies, when executed properly. In general, companies with a strong sustainability performance reduce their production cost, have easier access to capital and labor, show financial and stock performance on the same level or higher than less sustainable companies, reduce stakeholder risk and gain consumer goodwill which can materialize into a competitive advantage. Regarding the consumer electronics sector, this thesis shows that most consumers would prefer more sustainable products over less sustainable ones and would be willing to pay a price premium. What seems to be a big issue in the consumer electronics market is, that even though companies like Apple already act on the issue of sustainability, they are either doing a bad job or having a hard time communicating their sustainability initiatives to consumers.