scholarly journals Reviewing corporate social responsibility communication: a legitimacy perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 492-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Ellerup Nielsen ◽  
Christa Thomsen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to answer the call for CSR communication research to develop and substantiate outcomes that may better explain CSR communication strategies and practices. The paper takes the research a step further, exploring the role of legitimacy in CSR communication research. Design/methodology/approach A literature collection methodology, combined with directed content analysis, was used to identify central themes in the literature. Findings The following categories of studies were identified: perception, impact and promotion studies; image and reputation studies; performance studies; and conceptual/rhetorical studies. Addressed from a legitimacy perspective, the study found that the most important types of legitimizing communicative practices articulated in the four types of studies were related to: seeking knowledge about stakeholders through perception, impact and promotion activities; monitoring and controlling the environment through image and reputation activities; creating stakeholder value through collaboration and engagement; and persuading and convincing stakeholders through rhetorics, CSR models and concepts. The study also found that practices and activities related to perceiving stakeholders’ expectations, needs and requirements are assumed to be most effective for corporations aiming at building or maintaining legitimacy. Originality/value The key contribution of the paper lies in exploring how corporate legitimacy is anticipated and extrapolated in the CSR communication literature, including which pinpointed CSR communication strategies and practices are assumed to be more effective than others in bridging stakeholders’ perceptions of corporations’ social and environmental actions. Until date, no reviews exist of the role of legitimacy in CSR communication research.

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angie Chung ◽  
Hua Jiang

Purpose Based on the framing theory and the associative network theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that examines the impact of employing corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication in apology statements after negative publicity. Specifically, this study examines the role of CSR fit and CSR history in reducing anger and negative word-of-mouth (NWOM). This study also examines whether perceived CSR motivation and skepticism toward the apology statement mediate the effect of CSR fit and CSR history on anger and NWOM. Design/methodology/approach This study was a 2×2 between-subject design manipulating CSR fit (high or low) and CSR history (long or short). Findings The findings of this study suggest that strategically employing CSR communication in an apology statement after negative publicity may reduce negative consumer reactions. Originality/value The effects of CSR history and CSR fit have been studied in different contexts, but the effects of mentioning the two components in terms of apology statements had been understudied. This paper fulfills an identified need to study how employing CSR communication in apology statements after negative publicity can mitigate negative audience reactions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 2129-2148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Kucukusta ◽  
Mariia Perelygina ◽  
Wing Sze Lam

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how hotels practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication through social media, including which content type and media type receive the highest level of engagement. Two major aspects are considered, namely, CSR communication activity and stakeholder engagement. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is conducted for Forbes four-star to five-star hotels in Hong Kong. Facebook data are extracted from the property pages of the sample hotels by Netvizz, which is a Facebook data extraction application. The data analysis includes three steps and combines qualitative and quantitative approaches. Findings The results indicate that the type of information has a significant influence on engagement and has even more of an affect than the message strategy. Although the number of CSR-related posts is significantly lower than marketing-oriented posts, they achieve a comparable level of popularity and engagement. Posts encouraging CSR practices show the highest level of engagement among CSR-related posts. In terms of media and content types, video achieves the highest engagement, and posts related to discounts achieve the highest engagement. Originality/value This study fills the gap in the current literature by conducting a comparison between marketing and CSR communication strategies on social media. It also provides insights on how to draft more effective CSR messages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (3) ◽  
pp. 92-106
Author(s):  
Inna Khovrak

Communication on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be based on unilateral communication, in which stakeholders are “passive listeners”. However, more effective is a bilateral interaction that engages stakeholders in the communication process while developing and implementing a CSR strategy, enabling establishment of the dialogue. That is why the objective of the study is to reasonably expose the impact of the communication toolkit of implementing the CSR strategy on establishing dialogue with stakeholders. The author develops an algorithm for organizing a stakeholder communication process that takes into account communication barriers at each stage: creation, encoding, transmission, receiving, decoding and responding. The internally-oriented, externally-oriented and universal communication tools of CSR strategy implementation are characterized. The functions of the communication toolkit of CSR strategy implementation are systematized: informational, contact, educational, interpretative, emotional, holistic, mobilizing, strategic, preventive. The author compared CSR communication strategies (one-sided, two-way asymmetric and two-way symmetric) according to the following criteria: the achievement of communication ideal: transfer and joint creation of CSR meaning, stakeholder needs, the role of stakeholder, method of determining CSR priorities, strategic goals for establishing communications, third-party approval of the CSR strategy. Much attention is paid to specifying forms of indirect and direct communication, as well as to the analysis of their relevance to the main CSR communication strategies. It is established that the identification of stakeholders is an important part of CSR communication, which is why the author summarizes main forms and the result of interaction with them. It is justified that effective interaction with stakeholders holds a dialogue capable of identifying existing problems and jointly formulating ways to solve them.


2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Dutot ◽  
Eva Lacalle Galvez ◽  
David W. Versailles

Purpose – Publics are becoming responsible customers that urge firms to improve society. By using social media, corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions could influence organization’s commitment and e-reputation. The purpose of this paper is to look at the influence on e-reputation of communication strategies (i.e. corporate ability and CSR) on social media. Design/methodology/approach – Four international companies (Danone, Renault, Orange and BNP Paribas) were studied and a content analysis was performed: Leximancer for the social media content (between 25 and 50 pages for each company) on a six-month period; and Social Mention for the measurement of e-reputation. Findings – Results show that there is a link between CSR communication strategies and e-reputation. More precisely, by using a corporate ability strategy (focus on product quality or innovation R & D), a company can increase its e-reputation better than on a common CSR communication strategy. Research limitations/implications – This study is based on only four companies (from four different industries) and would profit from a larger base for analysis. Second, the content the authors analyzed was generated by the company on their own social media. Originality/value – This exploratory study is one of the first to look at the influence of CSR communication strategies on e-reputation and tries to see how companies’ action on social media can change the way they are perceived by their customers. It completes the current literature by defining how CSR communications strategies should be declined for in order to influence customers.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oyindamola Abiola Ajayi ◽  
Tsietsi Mmutle

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how the communication of corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributes towards a favourable corporate reputation. It explores the communication strategies and channels organisations deemed reputable by stakeholders use to achieve an effective CSR communication.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve this, a qualitative content analysis using the directed approach was conducted on the textual CSR communication materials of ten reputable organisations in South Africa based on the 2018 South Africa Reptrak survey.FindingsResult showed that seven out of ten organisations use both self-serving and society-serving motive in their CSR communication, while the other 3 use only the society serving motive. The informing strategy was also more evident in the CSR communication materials than the interactive strategy. In terms of the communication channels, the study found that organisations mainly utilise controlled channels for CSR communication.Originality/valueThe literature reviewed and the findings of this study reveal a gap between the theory and practice of CSR communication. This drives the need for organisations to research and tailor CSR communication based on stakeholders' unique characteristics and preferences. The paper also contributes to improving the knowledge on the role different CSR communication strategies and channels play in CSR communication.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Schröder

PurposeThis study aims to explore how banks practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication on two popular social media sites (SMSs), Facebook and Twitter. Furthermore, this study examines CSR communication strategies on SMSs, including the levels of communication direction and communication balance.Design/methodology/approachData were extracted from Facebook and Twitter over a five-year period (2015–2019), and content analysis was performed. The research setting was the German banking industry.FindingsThe results indicate that the number of banks using SMSs to communicate CSR-information increased over time. Although the majority of banks’ messages were not related to CSR, the most-referenced (least-referenced) CSR-theme was “society” (“human rights”). On Facebook, banks employed an interacting CSR communication strategy more often than an informing one when communicating CSR activities; on Twitter banks used a balanced mix of communication strategies. In terms of stakeholder engagement, social media users interacted with banks more frequently on Facebook than on Twitter, and banks made efforts to engage in two-way symmetrical communication.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the sample comprised the most relevant banks in Germany, it was limited to a single national context. Thus, the results may not be generalizable.Originality/valueThis study makes a significant contribution to the limited literature on banks’ CSR communication via SMSs, provides new empirical evidence on the use of CSR communication strategies and extends prior research on the direction and balance of communication. Recommendations are provided for banking communication practitioners.


Humanomics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Khaleel ◽  
Shankar Chelliah ◽  
Sana Rauf ◽  
Muhammad Jamil

Purpose This study aims to find out how corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are perceived by pharmacists and how it influences employees’ organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and role of perceived supervisor support in the study. Design/methodology/approach Pharmacists of different hierarchical levels from five multinational pharmaceutical industries in Pakistan were selected as study samples. Data were collected from 136 pharmacists working in Punjab Region. PLS-SEM was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results from this study found that CSR was a predictor of affective organizational commitment (AOC) and OCB. AOC fully mediates the relationship between CSR and OCB. While perceived supervisory support did not moderate the relationship between AOC and OCB. Pharmaceutical firms can promote commitment toward organization and OCBs by initiating CSR activities. Research limitations/implications This research is one of the innovative studies that empirically examine the predicting role of CSR and moderating role of perceived supervisory support on employees’ attitude and behaviors in the pharmaceutical companies’ context. Moreover, this research will also help the management by adopting CSR activities as core element in shaping employees attitudes and behaviors. Originality/value It is a significant study shifting the focus of research into organizational behavior context and further influences employee’s attitudes and behavior because of perceived CSR in the pharmacy industry.


2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongqiang Gao ◽  
Wei He

Purpose An increasing number of studies have demonstrated a positive effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on employee organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), but little attention has been paid to the mechanisms and boundary conditions underlying this effect. The purpose of this paper is to propose a trickle-down model and examine the mediating role of supervisor ethical leadership and the moderating role of perceived organizational distributive justice in the CSR-OCB relationship. Design/methodology/approach To test the arguments, the authors collected field data in four companies located in a central city of China. Through a multi-wave data collection design, a total of 187 employees reported their perceptions toward firms’ CSR and organizational justice at Time 1, and reported their direct supervisors’ ethical leadership behaviors, and their own OCBs at Time 2 (four weeks later). Findings Empirical findings demonstrated that CSR had a positive effect on employee OCB, as mediated by supervisors’ ethical leadership. In addition, this mediation effect was found to be moderated by perceived organizational distributive justice such that the mediation relationship was stronger when perceived organizational distributive justice was lower than when it was higher. Originality/value The present study makes three major contributions. First, it contributes to the CSR literature by revealing the underlying mechanism of ethical leadership through which CSR will lead to increased employee OCB in the workplace. Second, the moderation findings of the study add a new piece of empirical evidence suggesting the boundary condition of organizational distributive justice affecting the positive effect of CSR on employee OCB. Finally, the trickle-down theoretical model demonstrates the pivotal role of leadership in transforming CSR into positive employee outcomes, providing valuable insights into future research that examines why CSR motivates in-organization employees at work.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahnoor Zahid ◽  
Hina Naeem ◽  
Iqra Aftab ◽  
Sajawal Ali Mughal

Purpose The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the effect of corporate social responsibility activities (CSRA) of the firm on its financial performance (FP) and analyze the mediating role of innovation and competitive advantage (CA) in the relationship between CSRA and FP in the manufacturing sector of an emerging country, i.e. Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach Data has been collected through an electronic structured questionnaire from 300 middle-level and top-level managers by surveying different manufacturing firms of Gujranwala, Pakistan. The study’s hypotheses have been checked by analyzing the reliability and validity of data and applying confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling through statistical package for the social sciences and analysis of moment structures. Findings Outcomes of this study supported the hypothesized model. It has been found that the CSRA plays a significant positive role in determining the FP of the firm. Furthermore, the CA and innovation have been proved as significant mediators between CSRA and FP. Originality/value The first time examining the intermediation of innovation and CA in the relationship between CSRA and FP is the primary input of this study to the literature. Practically, this study’s findings will help strategy makers of manufacturing firms in emerging countries develop better strategies for implementing CSRA, enhancing innovation, seeking CA and improving FP.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose This study investigated how and when corporate social responsibility (CSR) fosters job seekers’ application intentions. The authors used a “mediated moderation mode” to explore the positive effect of CSR on job seekers’ intention to apply. They considered the moderating role of applicants’ calling and the mediating role of value congruence in the relationship between the person and organization. Design/methodology/approach To test their hypotheses the authors developed a questionnaire and sent it to a sample of 259 college students with a mean age of 22.67 in South Korea. All were either prospective or current job seekers and 55.2pc were female. Two scenarios were developed based on the real-life case of a well-known coffee franchise’s CSR policies. The scenarios were identical except that one had more proactive CSR policies. Findings Results showed that a company’s proactive CSR programs increase job seekers’ intention to apply, which was moderated by their “calling” for the job. The research also demonstrated that “value congruence” between the applicant and the organization fully mediated the interaction between CSR and calling. The results, the authors said, suggested that engaging in active CSR could attract job applicants, providing a potential competitive advantage. Originality/value The authors said their study contributed to the literature as it took the job seeker’s perspective whereas most previous research on calling focused on employees. They said it was the first study to empirically demonstrate the interaction between a sense of calling and CSR.


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