Corporate Social Responsibility Messages Research Articles

Social media: the Wild West of CSR communications

Purpose– This paper aims to posit the central argument that traditional media of old presented a clear, ordered world of communication management for organisations to extol their corporate social responsibility (CSR) credentials. In contrast to this, new Web 2.0 social media is increasingly being used by activists and hactivists to challenge corporate communication CSR messages and does so by highlighting instances and examples of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) (Joneset al., 2009; Tenchet al., 2012).Design/methodology/approach– The paper reports on research data from the European Communication Monitor, 2010, 2011 and 2012 (www.communicationmonitor.eu/) and draws on work already published in this area (Tenchet al., 2009; Verhoevenet al., 2012; Zerfasset al., 2010, 2011) to illustrate the unruly, unregulated Web 2.0 social media communication landscape in Europe. A range of literature is drawn on to provide the theoretical context for an exploration of issues that surround social media.Findings– In late modernity (Giddens, 1990), communication comes in many guises. Social media is one guise and it has re-shaped as well as transformed the nature of communications and the relationship between organisations and their stakeholders.Originality/value– Communicating CSR in the Wild West of social media requires diplomatic and political nous, as well as awareness and knowledge of the dangers and pitfalls of CSI. The data reported on in this paper well illustrate the above points and set out scenarios for future development of corporate communication of CSR through and with social media.

A stakeholder approach to corporate social responsibility, reputation and business performance

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate business managers’ assessment of stakeholders’ influence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The key stakeholders included “employees” and “unions” as internal and “public”, the “media” and the “government” as external stakeholders. The purpose was to estimate the influence of stakeholders that managers perceive as important. Moreover, the study sought to identify association between the CSR construct and corporate reputation and in turn whether this influences business performance.Design/methodology/approach– This study uses a mail survey with a random sampling of senior managers sourced from Dun & Bradstreet’s Australian business database, focusing on large organizations (i.e. minimum $10 million p.a. reported sales and minimum 100 employees) as the selection criteria. A conceptual model was developed and tested using structural equation modeling.Findings– The results identified that “employees” and the “public” are perceived to be the influential stakeholder groups in CSR decision-making. There was evidence of a positive relationship between the CSR construct and reputation, which in turn influenced market share, but not profitability.Research limitations/implications– This study examined a cross-section of organizations using Dun & Bradstreet’s database of Australian businesses and may not fully represent the Australian business mix. The effective response rate of 7.2 per cent appears to be low, even though it is comparable with other research in the CSR area. There may have been some self-selection by the respondents, although there were no statistically significant differences identified in the corporate characteristics of those invited to participate and those responding with usable questionnaires.Practical implications– Managers can adopt a stakeholder-influenced CSR strategy to generate strong corporate reputation to improve business performance. It is important to ensure that the interests of “employees” and “public” stakeholders are addressed within organizational strategy. Respondents were less concerned about government stakeholders and thus government involvement in organizational CSR may need to be revisited.Social implications– The major concern that emerges from these findings is the absence of the perceived importance of regulatory stakeholders on firms’ CSR activities. Regulatory controls of CSR messages could reduce or eliminate inaccurate and misleading information to the public.Originality/value– The analysis explains the perceived relative influence of stakeholders on CSR decisions. It also provides an understanding of the link between organizational CSR reputation and organization’s performance.

An examination of corporate social responsibility and processing fluency in a service context

Purpose– This study aims to examine the joint effect of processing fluency and service quality in a service context. In recent years, companies have become increasingly interested in supporting corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. While most prior research focus on the positive effect of CSR initiatives on consumer behavior, the current study identifies a new boundary condition – processing fluency – for the positive impact of CSR messaging. In addition, this examines its impact across two situations – a successful service delivery and a failure.Design/methodology/approach– This study used a 2 (processing fluency: high vs low) × 2 (service delivery: failure vs success) scenario-based experimental design. A total of 152 adult consumers participated in this study.Findings– The results show that in the service failure condition, participants exposed to a CSR message with high processing fluency exhibited more positive attitudes and higher repurchase intentions, as compared to their counterparts in the low processing fluency condition. However, in a successful service delivery condition, participants showed similar level of attitudes and behavioral intentions across the two fluency conditions.Originality/value– No previous research examined the interplay of processing fluency and CSR. This paper fills this gap in the service literature.

How did the Recession Change the Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities?

One key objective of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities is the enhancement of relationships with stakeholders such as consumers. However, in order for firms to enhance stakeholder relationships, individuals must be made aware of firms' CSR activities. As a result, firms dedicate considerable resources to CSR-related advertisements. The current research proposes that, during recessionary periods, managers alter their CSR communications in response to perceived consumer retrenchment to purchase criteria such as price and quality. Using sensemaking as a framework, we predict that managers used cues from consumers during the recent recession, to alter their CSR communications strategies accordingly. We test our hypotheses through a content analysis of over 4000 print advertisements from 2006 to 2010. Our findings demonstrate that instead of lower levels of CSR communications during the recession, the odds of an advertisement containing CSR messages actually increased during the recession. However, the content of this advertising did change in concert with the sensemaking hypotheses. Specifically, during periods of economic decline, CSR messages were more likely to be integrated into “mainstream” advertising. We also find that the use of self-oriented appeals (e.g., cost savings due to energy efficiency) sharply increased during the period of economic decline. We highlight how managers can use these findings to increase the probability that CSR communications will deliver the expected relational benefits with consumers.

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Information Richness on Trust

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that describes the relationship between company and society. The way a company portrays corporate ethics and social initiatives can evoke strong positive reactions among consumers. The emergence of Internet creates a new communicating culture and gives an idea for a company to deliver their CSR message. Applying Media Richness Theory (MRT) in CSR message is believed could facilitate trust among consumer. Thus, this study aims to examine the impact of different level of CSR information richness with consumers trust towards the company. This study divides trust into three components that are competence, benevolence and integrity. An experimental design consisting of different levels of CSR information is selected (rich CSR information, lean CSR information and no CSR information as a control condition). The finding shows that rich CSR information has impacted on competence and integrity but not on benevolence. Result from this study is believed can assist companies in setting up their CSR communicating strategy in engaging consumers’ trust.

Stakeholder Theory, Meet Communications Theory: Media Systems Dependency and Community Infrastructure Theory, with an Application to California’s Cannabis/Marijuana Industry

The object of this article is to demonstrate how stakeholder theory can be enlarged and enhanced by two communications theories, media systems dependency (MSD) and community infrastructure theory (CIT). The stakeholder perspective is often represented by a diagram in which a firm is centrally positioned, surrounded by stakeholders. However, relationships between stakeholders are given relatively little attention, the various groups theoretically encompassed by the term “community” remain relatively undefined, and other marginalized stakeholders often go unrecognized. MSD and CIT can enable us to conceptualize the stakeholder model more clearly, to develop research projects that more adequately capture the dynamic quality of stakeholder relationships, to tailor management strategies to particular stakeholder characteristics, and to understand corporate social responsibility messages. As an example, stakeholder theory, combined with MSD and CIT, is applied to California’s cannabis/marijuana industry.

한·미 기업 페이스북 CSR 포스팅에 나타난 메시지 전략 비교연구 : 홀/홉스테드의 문화이론을 중심으로

한·미 기업 페이스북 CSR 포스팅에 나타난 메시지 전략 비교연구 : 홀/홉스테드의 문화이론을 중심으로

The Impact of Interactive Corporate Social Responsibility Communication on Corporate Reputation

Companies increasingly communicate about corporate social responsibility (CSR) through interactive online media. We examine whether using such media is beneficial to a company’s reputation. We conducted an online experiment to examine the impacts of interactivity in CSR messages on corporate reputation and word-of-mouth intentions. Our findings suggest that an increase in perceived interactivity leads to higher message credibility and stronger feelings of identification with the company, which also boost corporate reputation and word-of-mouth. This result implies that using interactive channels to communicate about CSR can improve corporate reputation. Our results also show that the detrimental impacts of negative user evaluations on corporate reputation are much higher than the favorable impacts of positive evaluations. This finding suggests that, despite the effectiveness of interactive communication channels, firms need to carefully monitor these channels.

Me gusta o te sigo: análisis de la comunicación de prácticas de responsabilidad social corporativa a través de los medios sociales

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be defined as a responsible way of doing business and the impact these operations have in the economy, the society and the environment. Nowadays, companies use different avenues to communicate CSR initiatives. Social Media platforms are one of the important resources to communicate CSR. This paper performs an empirical analysis of frequency, content, and feedback of CSR messages presented on social platforms (Facebook and Twitter) of 50 companies from the Fortune Magazine. Results showed that in spite of the great resources available for CSR online communication, companies are still in its infancy in promoting a two-way communication process. In order to resolve this problem, this paper proposes a theoretical framework for CSR communication through social media.

Striving for Legitimacy Through Corporate Social Responsibility: Insights from Oil Companies

Being a controversial industry, oil companies turn to corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a means to obtain legitimacy. Adopting a case study methodology, this research examines the characteristics of CSR strategies and CSR communication tactics of six oil companies by analyzing their 2011–2012 web site content. We found that all six companies engaged in CSR activities addressing the needs of various stakeholders and had cross-sector partnerships. CSR information on these companies’ web sites was easily accessible, often involving the use of multimedia technologies and sometimes social media platforms. Furthermore, to boost the credibility of their CSR messages, these companies utilized a variety of tactics, such as factual arguments and two-sided messages. In sum, this research unveils the interconnectedness among business strategy, CSR practices, and CSR communication in oil companies’ attempt to gain legitimacy in an environment of controversy. The article ends with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the research findings.

Sector-dependent framing effects of corporate social responsibility messages: An experiment with non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications can be paradoxical in their effect on consumers attitudes and skepticism toward an organization, buying intentions and the organization's reputation. In this research, we investigated the effects of sector dependence and the framing of CSR messages. A 2×3 between-subjects experiment was used with six advertisements for two fictional organizations: one in the alcohol industry (a so-called socially stigmatized industry) and one in a non-alcohol industry. The experiment included 188 participants. The results show that the framing effects of CSR messages are sector specific: in the non-alcohol sector, CSR messages and frames had a positive effect on consumers, whereas in the alcohol sector, they had a negative effect on consumers.

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility Activities to Public: The Study of Website Publication of Indonesian Companies

Purpose: The paper aims to evaluate the implementation of stakeholder theory including the elements of environment, community, employee, supplier and consumers in social activities of companies. The evaluation of corporate social responsibilities can be traced from the reporting activities on companies’ website. Methodology: A content analysis of companies that listed in LQ45 and some other companies that publish their corporate social activities on website. There are fifteen industries and 101 companies. The industries are Mining & Energy,Telecommunication & Service, Food & Beverage, Construction, Automotive, Banking, Insurance, Pharmaceutical, Non-Cyclical Consumer Goods, Transportation, Broadcasting, Materials, Industrials, Natural Gas, Real Estate. Findings: The percentage of corporate social responsibility activity of mining and energy industry on environment was 16,90%. It was the highest percentage of corporate social responsibility on environment. The magnitude and proportion of corporate social responsibilities that reported on the website is relatively unequal. The highest proportion lies in environment, community, and consumer. The least proportion lies in supplier. Originality/Value: The literature on social responsibility drives the growth of internet tools to promote social business activities. The importance lies in the spreading information of business activities in order the public recognizes what the companies are doing and have accomplished.The website can describe the communication as the e-reputation. The corporate website is used to attain the interest of stakeholders. It is the tool of marketing communication to convey corporate social responsibility message and enhance brand equity. The information disclosure provides public with the activities regarding stakeholder perspectives including environment, society, supplier, consumers.

Perceived Organizational Motives and Consumer Responses to Proactive and Reactive CSR

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has emerged as an effective way for firms to create favorable attitudes among consumers. Although prior research has addressed the direct influence of proactive and reactive CSR on consumer responses, this research hypothesized that consumers’ perceived organizational motives (i.e., attributions) will mediate this relationship. It was also hypothesized that the source of information and location of CSR initiative will affect the motives consumers assign to a firms’ engagement in the initiative. Two experiments were conducted to test these hypotheses. The results of Study 1 indicate that the nature of a CSR initiative influences consumer attribution effects and that these attributions act as mediators in helping to explain consumers’ responses to CSR. Study 2 suggests that the source of the CSR message moderates the effect of CSR on consumer attributions. The mediating influence of the attributions as well as the importance of information source suggests that proper communication of CSR can be a viable way to inculcate positive corporate associations and purchase intentions.

The Readership of Corporate Websites: A Cross-Cultural Study

This study investigates people’s interest in the content of corporate websites based on a survey of 521 respondents from Asia and Europe. Four main findings emerge from this study: (a) People are primarily interested in recruitment information and product-related information on corporate websites but not in corporate social responsibility messages or financial information; (b) content features on corporate websites are retrieved more frequently out of work-related interest than out of private interest; (c) utilitarian motivations provide more compelling reasons for people to visit corporate websites than hedonic motivations do; and (d) Internet users from Asia visit corporate websites for hedonic purposes to a far greater extent than respondents from Europe do.

The impact of company type and corporate social responsibility messaging on consumer perceptions

Consumer distrust is particularly salient in the context of the current mortgage crisis, and mortgage companies are looking for ways to change their image and regain consumer confidence. This study examines whether advertisements portraying a message of corporate social responsibility (CSR) might help financial institutions in enhancing consumer perceptions of the company. One hundred subjects were randomly selected from among the faculty and staff of a large American university. Subjects were exposed to advertisements, with or without a CSR message, for two well-known service organizations (JP Morgan Chase and Verizon). Results suggest that consumers harbor negative attitudes toward mortgage companies and skepticism about advertising from these companies, but that the inclusion of a CSR message can mitigate these effects, resulting in improved attitudes toward the company. Managerial implications are discussed.

Social Responsibility and the Olympic Games: The Mediating Role of Consumer Attributions

Current literature suggests that corporate social responsibility (CSR) can affect consumers’ attitudes towards an organization and is regarded as a driver for reputation-building and fostering sustained consumer patronage. Although prior research has addressed the direct influence of CSR on consumer responses, this research examined the mediating influence of consumer’s perceived organizational motives within an NGO setting. Given the heightened public attention surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, data were collected from consumers of the Games to assess their perceptions of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) socially responsible initiatives. We hypothesized that consumers of the Games were likely to cognitively elaborate on CSR messages by way of three specific attribution effects derived from the literature. The results show that, contingent on CSR awareness, consumers responded positively to social efforts judged to be values-driven and stakeholder-driven; and a negative response was seen for efforts judged to be strategic. These attribution effects influenced various types of patronage and perceived organizational reputation.

Marketing Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Marriage of Convenience or Shotgun Wedding?

This paper aims to examine the role(s) that the various vehicles of marketing communications can play with respect to communicating, publicising and highlighting organisational CSR policies to its various stakeholders. It will further endeavour to evaluate the impact of such communications on an organisation’s corporate reputation and brand image. The proliferation of unsubstantiated ethical claims and so-called ‘green washing’ by some companies has resulted in increasing consumer cynicism and mistrust. This has made the task of communicating with, and more importantly convincing, an organisation’s stakeholders vis-a-vis its CSR credentials even more difficult. This paper argues that marketing communications tools can play a major role in conveying a company’s CSR messages and communicating a more socially responsible image.

The Influence of Corporate Messages on the Product Portfolio

The authors examine factors that change the influence of corporate messages for forming judgments about products in the company's portfolio (i.e., transfer). Corporate messages transferred more than a product message onto other products in the company's portfolio. However, a product message had more influence than corporate messages for that product. Moreover, a corporate ability (quality) message transferred more to the portfolio than did a corporate social responsibility message. Finally, a competitive product message that preceded a company product message and was positioned similarly to a company product lessened corporate message diagnosticity, reducing transfer. However, this occurred only for a product in the same category but not for a product in a different one. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for corporate brand and product brand managers and suggest directions for further research.

The Influence of Corporate Messages on the Product Portfolio

Abstract The authors examine factors that change the influence of corporate messages for forming judgments about products in the company's portfolio (i.e., transfer). Corporate messages transferred more than a product message onto other products in the company's portfolio. However, a product message had more influence than corporate messages for that product. Moreover, a corporate ability (quality) message transferred more to the portfolio than did a corporate social responsibility message. Finally, a competitive product message that preceded a company product message and was positioned similarly to a company product lessened corporate message diagnosticity, reducing transfer. However, this occurred only for a product in the same category but not for a product in a different one. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for corporate brand and product brand managers and suggest directions for further research.