THE REPRESENTATION OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) IN AMERICAN BANK SLOGANS

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of a sizable collection of American bank slogans in light of Dahlsrud’s five dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), aiming to assess the degree to which these slogans align with the CSR model. The study is motivated by the observation that while banks frequently emphasize their CSR initiatives on their websites, many customers’ interactions with financial institutions are confined to basic transactions, often leaving them unaware of these corporate responsibilities. Given that slogans serve as a primary means of communication between banks and the public, conveying positive messages about their operations, we investigate their potential to reflect CSR dimensions. The focus of this analysis is on the United States of America, leveraging an online index encompassing nearly five thousand banks, from which a database of about sixteen hundred slogans was compiled. The methodology, detailed in the initial section of the study, employs empirical research and content analysis. The findings indicate that the nature of banks’ core activities, which primarily occur behind the scenes, restricts the portrayal of CSR dimensions in slogans to primarily economic, social, and stakeholder concerns. Conversely, environmental and voluntariness dimensions are notably underrepresented in these communications.