MNEs’ CSR Communication Intensity in Host Countries through Social Media: An Abstract

Abstract

Social media has been increasingly used by multinational enterprises (MNEs) to diffuse CSR initiatives due to its timeliness, extensive coverage, and high public engagement. The effectiveness of CSR communications is crucial for MNEs in establishing legitimacy and improving business performance in host countries, especially when they are operating in a weak institutional context. However, studies on the effectiveness of MNEs’ utilization of social media in their host countries are surprisingly scant. Most research on CSR communication via social media fails to distinguish between different stakeholder groups and simply treat them as the “general public”. In addition, MNEs face diverse stakeholders’ expectations shaped by the institutional complexities when operating across nations; yet, extant literature on this topic is either based on one single Western country or studying the difference between two distinct countries in delivering CSR messages. Little attention is paid to the effectiveness of different CSR communication intensity levels and how CSR communication intensity should differ across nations based on both the formal institutions (such as political and economic freedom) and the informal institutions (such as culture). Particularly, it is unclear whether higher CSR communication intensity on social media in a host country will lead to an MNE’s higher reputation, a critical dimension that reflects the effectiveness of all CSR efforts. On one hand, previous research found that there is a positive relationship between CSR intensity and reputation. If so, higher communication intensity on social media in a host country will increase an MNE’s reputation in that location. On the other hand, intensive CSR communications may put an MNE’s reputation at risk, given that the two-way interactions on social media may invite public engagement and raise unexpected public criticism. As an initial attempt to fill these gaps in the extant literature, we develop testable propositions by drawing on Institutional Theory and Stakeholder Salience Theory. Although multiple types of stakeholders exist, we primarily discuss consumers as the target audience because they are the major participants on social media and directly involved in an MNE’s production and consumption activities. We propose that the power of consumers in host countries, along with the institutional distance between the home and the host country, is a critical factor when MNEs consider whether and to what extent they communicate CSR on social media. Specifically, the greater the institutional distance between the home country and host country and the greater the power of consumers in the host country, the higher the CSR communication intensity through social media should be in the host country. Contingent on CSR communication fit, communication intensity through social media may also allow the MNEs to gain a more favorable reputation in the host country.