How Do Businesses Help during Natural Disasters? A Content Analysis of Corporate Disaster Aid on Twitter

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study explores an understudied area in corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is important for strategic communication practice during crises: corporate disaster aid. Companies mobilize their money, materials, and human resources to participate in different aid activities. Building on existing CSR communication literature, this study investigates 128 disaster aid tweets from 41 companies and 951 replies to analyze the patterns of corporate disaster aid and communication strategies on Twitter between August 1, 2017, and March 1, 2019. Corporate giving and third-party involvement are the most frequently mentioned activities on companies’ Twitter accounts. Still, companies in this sample have yet to harness the full potential of social media in communicating their corporate disaster aid efforts. For instance, many companies do not engage publics in their tweets, indicating companies’ perception that Twitter is a one-way information delivery tool. In terms of publics’ responses, the numbers of retweets, likes, or comments are significantly associated with corporate disaster aid types and message features. For instance, the results reveal that corporate giving brings more retweets and more comments, and video use will have a positive impact on the number of likes and comments. By introducing a new context for CSR, this study is among the first to shed light into strategic communication of corporate disaster aid.