Mapping networks in corporate social responsibility communication on social media: A new approach to exploring the influence of communication tactics on public responses

2022 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 102143
Author(s):  
Yangzhi (Nicole) Jiang ◽  
Hyojung Park
Author(s):  
Yuming Zhang ◽  
Fan Yang

Companies use corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures to communicate their social and environmental policies, practices, and performance to stakeholders. Although the determinants and outcomes of CSR activities are well understood, we know little about how companies use CSR communication to manage a crisis. The few relevant CSR studies have focused on the pressure on corporations exerted by governments, customers, the media, or the public. Although investors have a significant influence on firm value, this stakeholder group has been neglected in research on CSR disclosure. Grounded in legitimacy theory and agency theory, this study uses a sample of Chinese public companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to investigate CSR disclosure in response to social media criticism posted by investors. The empirical findings show that investors’ social media criticism not only motivates companies to disclose their CSR activities but also increases the substantiveness of their CSR reports, demonstrating that companies’ CSR communication in response to a crisis is substantive rather than merely symbolic. We also find that the impact of social media criticism on CSR disclosure is heterogeneous. Non-state-owned enterprises, companies in regions with high levels of environmental regulations, and companies in regions with local government concern about social issues are most likely to disclose CSR information and report substantive CSR activities. We provide an in-depth analysis of corporate CSR strategies for crisis management and show that crises initiated by investors on social media provide opportunities for corporations to improve their CSR engagement.


2015 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Stohl ◽  
Michael Etter ◽  
Scott Banghart ◽  
DaJung Woo

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina B. Curley ◽  
Nadia Abgrab Noormohamed

Todays customers are marketing representatives, product designers, intimate and privileged friends of the company, and de facto managers sitting in at a corporate retreat; they are major stakeholders who bring the concept of corporate social responsibility to the forefront. Since sustainability, connection with community and serving society are expectations consumers require from companies from which they buy, work, and invest; companies must continually look for innovative methods to communicate their alignment of socially responsible policies into their strategic plan. While such concepts are rooted in a collaborative mission, social media marketing is a natural platform for cultivating and instilling such corporate messages.


2022 ◽  
pp. 264-292
Author(s):  
Mansour Alraja ◽  
Mohamed Hamdoun

This study aims to explore the ways in which targeted consumers engage with corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on social media platforms, specifically when discussing their opinions and experiences regarding the CSR activities of their favorite brands. Therefore, the variable moral norms were integrated in the theory of reasoned action. The study data about consumers' engagement (CE) in corporate social responsibility communication (CSRC) over social media (SM) platforms—electronic word of mouth, or e-WoM—was collected from 290 actual engaged consumers in online ordering and involved in social media groups. The findings confirmed that the antecedent factors (consumers' attitudes, subjective norms, and moral norms) have a positive influence on consumers' intention to use e-WoM, while no effect was found on CE in CSRC in SM. Furthermore, e-WoM was found to have direct significant impact on CE in CSRC in SM as it mediates the relationship between the antecedent factors and CE in CSRC in SM.


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