Corporate social responsibility engagement and communication by Chinese companies

Premised upon the centrality of relationship management in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and public relations functions, and the growing momentum toward CSR in China, this study reports survey results of corporate communication/public relations executives in Chinese companies on aspects of CSR accountability and transparency. Responses to four key topical areas – drivers for CSR engagement, areas of practice, importance of CSR communication, and preferred channels for communication – suggest a strong concern for corporate image and culture in pursuing CSR, an overwhelming emphasis on disaster relief despite the recognition of a much broader array of societal priorities, and the Chinese companies’ current reliance on in-house and Internet media for CSR communication.     

Corporate responsibility in U.S. corporate websites: A pilot study

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an essential component in the management of companies around the globe. Any key strategy used for CSR administration must reflect strong and effective communication channels to show CSR efforts. This study analyzes how the top 50 American profitable corporations from the Fortune 500 of 2009 communicate their CSR initiatives to different stakeholders through their corporate websites. To do this, an evaluation framework has been designed to examine features presented in CSR corporate websites.     

Corporate social responsibility attribute rankings

This research presents the findings of a rank order evaluation of corporate social responsibility attributes by a target public (N = 72) of a contemporary corporate social responsibility campaign. The results indicate that publics value corporate honesty above other corporate social responsibility behaviors.     

The influence of customer use of corporate websites: Corporate social responsibility,trust, and word-of-mouth communication

This study investigates the potential of organization websites from the customer's perspective. The findings include significant direct effects of customers’ use of corporate websites on their perceptions of a company's corporate social responsibility and their trust in the company, and indirect effects of their use of corporate websites on positive word-of-mouth through trust. The results also indicate a close link between perception of corporate social responsibility and trust.     

Corporate social responsibility as a legitimate concern for Chinese enterprises: An analysis of media depictions

This study interprets rationales for greater corporate attention to societal needs, as outlined in the mediated public discourse in China. Findings suggest that (1) there are multiple lines of reasoning regarding the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and (2) social involvement is advocated because CSR constitutes an ideal topic for the articulation of faith in what means success in business ventures. This study offers a culturally informed explication of the instrumental and ethical arguments for CSR.     

Corporate social responsibility and the oil industry: Theory and perspective fuel a longitudinal view

To gain an in-depth theoretically-grounded understanding of managing corporate social responsibility (CSR), the current study offers four key propositions for CSR theory development: (1) Living corporate social responsibility from the inside out, (2) Earning trust of the public and the media, (3) Giving back as a community citizen, and (4) Accepting that we’re all in this together, but still unique. Also offered are five best practices for public relations in the oil industry. All emerged during in-depth interviews with three senior public relations managers of a leading independent US oil company; executives who have navigated CSR decision making and practices through nearly five decades (1966-2010) at different points in time. In the wake of two massive 2010 oil spill crises in North American waters that garnered extensive media attention, findings are particularly relevant for advancing CSR theory and for providing complex insider perspectives less traveled in the public relations literature.     

Dimensions of disclosures: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting by media companies

In this study, we examined the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and disclosures of major media companies in the United States. We conducted content analysis to analyze five dimensions of CSR disclosure: environment, community relations, diversity, employee relations and human rights, as well as their media CSR activities. Our findings showed that nine of the ten companies have engaged in different types of CSR activities. These companies’ CSR initiatives differ by the types of the company, and the size of the company also has influence on the reporting of CSR initiatives.     

America's most admired companies: A descriptive analysis of CEO corporate social responsibility statements

This study analyzes the CEO corporate social responsibility statements (N = 50) of Fortune magazine's America's Most Admired Companies. The results find that CEOs describe corporate social responsibility primarily in performance and shareholder driven language. The implications of the findings are discussed and compared to previous research in the communication and business disciplines.     

Public relations’ place in corporate social responsibility: Practitioners define their role

Qualitative responses from 173 PR practitioners were used to analyze their roles and contribution to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Practitioners identified five roles for public relations in CSR—significant management, philanthropic, value-driven, communication, and none. PR professionals illustrated these roles by describing their contributions to social responsibility programs. They also expressed limitations to their ability to contribute to CSR programs.     

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 about corporate social responsibility: A comparative study of CSR reporting in Australia and Slovenia

This paper examines how two countries on opposite sides of the world, Australia and Slovenia, are addressing corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting issues. The authors see reporting as an important communication tool or channel which can ensure greater corporate transparency and enable a better engagement with multiple stakeholders. The paper aims to provide a review and a comparison of the CSR guidelines and reporting standards in both countries by which this communication is guided. In both countries, reporting is largely voluntary and appears to be driven by market pressures. However, differences appear in national culture as a driver with product, management and financial considerations influencing Australian reporting whereas Slovenian reporting is shaped by employee, community and environmental concerns. From Australian and Slovenian perspectives it seems to be important to increase reporting incentives in both countries and to connect and compare them to global reporting requirements.     

Factors affecting social presence and word-of-mouth in corporate social responsibility communication: Tone of voice,message framing,and online medium type

To understand how tone of voice, message framing, and type of online media affect public perceptions and reactions to an organization in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication, this study conducted a 2 (tone of voice: human voice vs. organizational voice) x 2 (message framing: gain-focused vs. loss-focused) x 2 (online media: Facebook vs. organizational blog) online experiment (N?=?394). Conversational human voice and gain-focused framing significantly influence the social presence of the organization and publics’ positive word-of-mouth intention. Publics’ intention to generate positive word-of-mouth was highest when the organization used conversational human voice with gain-focused message and conveyed the message on its Facebook page.     

Good management,sound finances,and social responsibility: Two decades of U.S. corporate insider perspectives on reputation and the bottom line

This research sought to expand practitioner and scholarly understanding of the relationship between corporate reputation and the bottom line. An analysis of 706 firms over a 21-year timeframe revealed three attributes of reputation – management quality, financial soundness, and social responsibility – made consistently positive contributions to several measures of firm financial performance. Perceptions of corporate reputation were gathered exclusively from U.S. executives, directors, and financial analysts, referred to herein as corporate insiders.     

Getting called out: Effects of feedback to social media corporate social responsibility statements

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts via social media are increasingly common and are often key to achieving organizational CSR objectives. Concerns exist about potential damage caused by negative user comments and effects of user feedback to CSR efforts are mostly unknown. Exploring the effects of positive and negative comments to social media CSR statements and subsequent organizational response, this work reports the results of an online experiment (N = 257) that manipulated both user-generated feedback to organizational CSR statements and subsequent organizational responses. Results demonstrate that negative user comments are less of a concern than commonly thought, and call into question the value of organizational response to user feedback.     

Corporate citizenship and public relations: The importance and interactivity of social responsibility issues on corporate websites

Recently, corporate responsibility has become a prominent issue internationally. It has also become a research priority in public relations, having been considered one of the key aspects of that field for decades. Several studies have shown the importance of the Internet and of corporate websites as public relations tools and the growing relevance of corporate websites for communicating approaches to corporate responsibility. This paper discusses the importance of corporate responsibility information on those websites, and their levels of interactivity. The authors have designed a specific tool to analyse these aspects of corporate websites.     

Walk the line: Active Moms define corporate social responsibility

While many have suggested that corporate social responsibility is in part a response to stakeholders, little research has been done that gives primacy to the targeted publics’ voice, interpretations, and responses to corporate social responsibility. This research examines the meaning and attributes that Active Moms, an often targeted stakeholder group, assign to corporate social responsibility. In nine focus groups (N = 72), participants suggested that authentic CSR (a) is a combination of socially responsible business practices and campaigns to engage issues which impact their lives, (b) must be marked by longevity and consistency, (c) makes the most sense when linked to core business practices, (d) is distinct from philanthropy, and (e) is evaluated using a blend of rationality and emotionality.     

Sea change: Santa Barbara and the eruption of corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs have proliferated among the world's largest corporations. While the lion's share of scholarly attention has been devoted to the competitive advantage of CSR as a branding strategy, very little notice has been taken of CSR's history, particularly the emergence of CSR programs during the politically turbulent l960s and l970s. The paucity of historical attention has led to several distortions, including the failure to recognize CSR's origins as a survivalist reaction to crisis, and the resulting overemphasis of CSR as an unambiguously ethical model of managerial proactive effectiveness. Based on an examination of newspaper records of a politically crystallizing oil spill in the waters off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, and an analysis of CSR's market penetration and rhetoric, this paper offers an alternative framework for reexamining corporate social responsibility.     

Identifying a credible spokesperson for corporate social responsibility initiatives: Findings from a cross-national study

The aim of this study is to fill gaps in the literature related to perceptions of spokesperson credibility in a cross-cultural corporate social responsibility (CSR) context. After collecting data in two countries (Chile & U.S.) using two common forms of CSR disclosures (email/video), findings offer numerous insights for both theory and practice. Recent global trade literature found that employees are the best spokesperson for corporate communication messages (Beiser, 2017). Findings from the current study indicate that these perceptions are sensitive to cultural factors in a CSR context. Further, while scholars widely accept the need for transparent communication about CSR (Chaudhri & Wang, 2007), trade research indicates that organizational transparency falls short of consumer expectations (Edelman, 2016). Our research indicates that different dimensions of transparency (integrity, respect, openness) may be driving perceptions of spokesperson credibility and thus help to explain the variance in performance and perception.     

Netizens’ evaluations of corporate social responsibility: Content analysis of CSR news stories and online readers’ comments

Analyzing stories about corporate social responsibility (CSR) published in two online Korean newspapers and reader's comments about them, this study investigated how the online readers interpreted the CSR activities, looking at the effect of CSR types, situations, and the degree of corporate fame. The study found that readers tend to be cynical toward CSR activities after a crisis and a monetary donation type of CSR. In addition, the more famous the company, the more likely there were cynical comments about its CSR activities.