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Article published In: Dialogicity in Framing Environmental Discourse
Edited by Marina Bondi and Judith Turnbull
[Language and Dialogue 15:1] 2025
► pp. 6–35

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Gap Inc. and House of Hermès

Effective corporate communication about the planet?

 | University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Published online: 23 January 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00185.cac
Abstract
This paper concentrates on relative communicative transparency and effective corporate communication about sustainability — primarily, the planet — on Gap Inc. (https://​www​.gapinc​.com​/en​-us/) and House of Hermès. [URL]. (1 May 2024). (https://​www​.hermes​.com​/us​/en/). Integrating the lenses of usability research (NN/g), multimodal analysis (Bateman, John. 2014. Text and Image. A Critical Introduction to the Visual/Verbal Divide. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Kress, Gunther, and Theo Van Leuween. 2020. Reading Images. The Grammar of Visual Design. Third Edition. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and models of interaction in writing (Hyland, Ken. 2005a. Metadiscourse. Exploring interaction in Writing. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2005b. “Stance and Engagement: A Model of Interaction in Academic Discourse.” Discourse Studies 7(2): 173–192. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), the study suggests that Gap Inc. makes more effective decisions in the direction of communicative transparency. While adhering more strictly to principles of layout and user interface design, it offers more comprehensive and more readable content. Regarding user involvement and engagement, only Gap Inc. combines subjective naturalist images, also dynamic images that make a strong impression, with a preference for interactional metadiscourse and 1st-person pronouns in the written text.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Corporate sustainability and communicative transparency
    • 2.1Corporate sustainability
    • 2.2Communicative transparency
      • 2.2.1Usability
      • 2.2.2Ideational and interpersonal meanings in text-image configurations
  • 3.Materials and methods
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1(Hyper-)multimodal configurations
    • 4.2Written text
      • 4.2.1Aboutness
      • 4.2.2Simplicity
      • 4.2.3Interlocutive dialogic devices
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (46)
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