CSR Communication Through the Lens of New Media

Abstract

In the age of new media, communication still remains the missing piece in the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Traditional media (ruled by one-way communication processes) have failed to promote an open and interactive communication process with different groups of stakeholders. Previous research has also shown that corporate websites have been poorly employed as strategic communication resource for CSR. However, new media (e.g., social media) have changed how people interact and collaborate with each other. For instance, people are empowered through social media to demand more transparency about corporate operations that can impact society and environment. Today more than ever, thanks to the popularization of social platforms, companies must effectively communicate CSR with the purpose of building stakeholder relationships. But are companies ready to engage in CSR communication through new media? In other words are they ready to invest in relationships? This chapter proposes a theoretical framework for CSR online communication (both through corporate websites and social media platforms) based on an extensive theoretical review in the area of CSR and Internet communication. This framework was applied through the implementation of a content analysis to 50 corporate websites of Fortune companies and 50 social media official profiles (Facebook and Twitter) of Fortune companies. Results of this analysis showed that companies were not employing these platforms to promote feedback and interactivity regarding CSR.