The Engagement of Stakeholder Interactions on Social Media Platform Promoting by CSR-Related Content in China

Abstract

AbstractIn recent years, many scholars and managers have discovered that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not just a simple topic, but could constitute the business model for companies to establish sustainable successful development, by helping companies consider the concerns of stakeholders. The promotion of CSR-related information also helps to trigger public participation, enhance the company's CSR influence, and accelerate the company's business success. Thus, the importance of disseminating CSR-related content is emphasized. In the era of web 3.0, a large number of applications of social media platforms have enabled companies to be contacted and explored, and have also advanced the promotion of CSR-related information and activities by companies. Many scholars have studied the methods that companies use to promote stakeholder engagement through online social activities, but the research is mainly based on Western business content, while relevant research in China’s specific context has been neglected. Therefore, to bridge the research gap, we choose six companies in the fast-moving consumer goods industry (FMCG) as sample companies and Weibo as the selected social platform to explore which types of CSR-related topics and the message formats can trigger stakeholder participation. Through the Poisson regression of different variables, we found that publishing topics consistent with the company's business may not necessarily trigger public participation. Topics that are more worthy of attention are related to education, health, environment/energy, and public policy, and those contents in the formats of links, graphics, and videos could get more likes, comments, and shares.KeywordsCorporate social responsibilityStakeholder engagementCSR content topicCompany-cause fitMessage formatSocial media platform