It gets more and more important for companies to get involved in Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, when stakeholders now are more aware of the responsibility companies should take. Through their communication companies show how they take responsibility. Reflected by their goals by which they want to achieve acceptance and understanding through an open dialogue. The paper examines this issue. CSR is an abbreviation for Corporate Social Responsibility which is engagement in responsibility for companies and organisations. When working with CSR in an organisation you take responsibility for the business’s social, economical and environmental sustainable progress.

This paper examines how the communication of CSR can influence the target group’s relation to a trademark and how the communication in that context can be designed. The paper also examines how CSR is communicated and which channels that is effective. But first and foremost what relation that causes to the company and if you can create value for the company out of CSR communication. To get a particularistic perspective a case study is used to collect data to the research. IKEA and their environmental competition, The Great Tealight Hunt, is the case study in this paper. The communication that is used in The Great Tealight Hunt and the target group’s interpretation is examined by a quantitative survey.

The research shows that a fourth part experience that their interpretation of the trademark have changed in a positive way after the participation in The Great Tealight Hunt. More then 70 percent of those believe that IKEA takes a very big or big responsibility in environmental issues and see a very big or big credibility in IKEA’s work with environmental and social responsibility. A changed relation to the trademark as a consequence of CSR communication is rooted in responsibility- and credibility values. By that means CSR communication can have an influence on the target group’s relation to the trademark, then responsibility and credibility is values for a company’s trademark. But to be value generating CSR have to be communicated in the right manner. One has to adjust the communication to the target group’s knowledge of the company’s commitment in the issues of CSR to be able to increase the responsibility sense and meet the need of the market to increase credibility. Collaboration with other organisations does also have an influence on the target group’s relation to the trademark in a positive way and should be a part of the CSR communication to strengthen the trademark. In collaboration with other organisations the company’s channels are effective to communicate through, but generally in CSR communication PR-channels are the most effective channels.