Communicating a Company’s CSR Activities Through Social Networks: A Theoretical Framework
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18778/1899-2226.20.4.07Keywords:
CSR, communication strategies, social networksAbstract
Companies which decide on socially responsible activities usually take into consideration benefits including the marketing effects of CSR programmes. However, in order to achieve that, the information about the socially responsible activities of companies must be spread and reach the audience of the company. That includes stakeholders related to the company that might be interested in receiving information about the social initiatives undertaken by the company. These stakeholders are connected with the firm through the network of social ties (SN). The main goal of this article is to present a theoretical framework of roles that these networks of social ties play in the effective communication of CSR activities. This paper is divided into three parts. The first one concerns the problem of how to communicate the involvement of a company in social initiatives. The second one contains the description of possible communication processes and strategies. The last one presents the analysis of the social networks perspective and its main characteristics and, in conclusion, it summarizes the main benefits a company can gain by applying the SN concept to CSR communication in the area of attribution and information spread through various channels.
References
Andreu L., A.B. Casado‑Díaz, A.S. Mattila, Effects of Message Appeal and Service Type in CSR Communication Strategies, “Journal of Business Research” 2015, Vol. 68(7), pp. 1488–1495.
Google Scholar
Arumi A.M., R. Wooden, J. Johnson, The Charitable Impulse: Those who Give to Charities – and Those who Run Them – Talk about what`s Needed to Keep the Public`s Trust, “Public Agenda” 2005, pp. 1–27.
Google Scholar
Baughn C.C., J.C. McIntosh, Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility in Asian Countries and Other Geographical Regions, “Corporate Social Responsibility and EnvironmentalManagement” 2007, Vol. 14(4), pp. 189–205.
Google Scholar
Becker‑Olsen K.L., A. Cudmore, R.P. Hill, The Impact of Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility on Consumer Behavior, “Journal of Business Research” 2006, Vol. 59 (1), pp. 46–53.
Google Scholar
Berglind M., C. Nakata, Cause‑Related Marketing: More Buck than Bang?, “Business Horizons” 2005, Vol. 48(5), pp. 443–453.
Google Scholar
Burt R.S., Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1992.
Google Scholar
Carpenter M.A., M. Li, H. Jiang, Social Network Research in Organizational Contexts: A Systematic Review of Methodological Issues and Choices, “Journal of Management” 2012, Vol. 38(4),pp. 1328–1361.
Google Scholar
Cerin P., Communication in Corporate Environmental Reports, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management” 2002, Vol. 9(1), pp. 46–65.
Google Scholar
Chamorro A., T.M. Bañegil, Green Marketing Philosophy: a Study of Spanish Firms with Ecolabels, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management” 2006, Vol. 13(1), pp. 11–24.
Google Scholar
Chapple W., J. Moon, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia: A Seven Country Study of CSR Website Reporting, “Business & Society” 2005, Vol. 44(4), pp. 415–441.
Google Scholar
Chatterji A., D. Levine, Breaking Down The Wall Of Codes: Evaluating Non‑Financial Performance Measurement, “California Management Review” 2005, Vol. 48(2), pp. 29–52.
Google Scholar
Chua R.Y.J., P. Ingram, M.W. Morris, From the Head and the Heart: Locating Cognition‑and Affect‑Based Trust in Managers’ Professional Networks, “Academy of Management Journal” 2008, Vol. 51(3), pp. 436–452.
Google Scholar
Coupland C., Corporate Social Responsibility as Argument on the Web Corporate as Argument Social Responsibility on the Web, “Journal of Business Ethics” 2005, Vol. 62(4), pp. 355–366.
Google Scholar
Dahlander L., D.A. McFarland, Ties That Last: Tie Formation and Persistence in Research Collaborations over Time, “Administrative Science Quarterly” 2013, Vol. 58, pp. 69–110.
Google Scholar
Desai V., R. Potter, The Companion to Development Studies, Routledge, New York 2014.
Google Scholar
Ellen P.S., L.A. Mohr, D.J. Webb, Charitable Programs and the Retailer: Do They Mix?, “Journal of Retailing” 2000, Vol. 76(3), pp. 393–406.
Google Scholar
Foreh M.R., S. Grier, When is Honesty the Best Policy? The Effect of Stated Company Intent on Consumer Skepticism, “Journal of Consumer Psychology” 2003, Vol. 13.3, pp. 349–356.
Google Scholar
Frankental P., Corporate Social Responsibility – a PR Invention?, “Corporate Communications: An International Journal” 2001, Vol. 6(1), pp. 18–23.
Google Scholar
Friedkin N.E., The Development of Structure in Random Networks: An Analysis of the Effects of Increasing Network Density on Five Measures Of Structure, “Social Networks” 1981, Vol. 3(1), pp. 41–52.
Google Scholar
Ganley D., C. Lampe, The Ties That Bind: Social Network Principles in Online Communities, “Decision Support Systems” 2009, Vol. 47(3), pp. 266–274.
Google Scholar
Graafland J.J., B. van de Ven, N. Stoffele, Strategies and Instruments for Organising CSR by Small and Large Businesses in the Netherlands, “Journal of Business Ethics” 2003, Vol. 47(1), pp. 45–60.
Google Scholar
Granovetter M., Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness, “American Journal of Sociology” 1985, Vol. 91(3), pp. 481–510.
Google Scholar
Granovetter M., The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes, “Journal of Economic Perspectives” 2005, Vol. 19(1), pp. 33–50.
Google Scholar
Granovetter M., The Strength of Weak Ties, “American Journal of Sociology” 1973, Vol. 36 (3), pp. 1360–1380.
Google Scholar
Guimarães‑Costa N., M. Pina e Cunha, The Atrium Effect of Website Openness on the Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility, “Corporate Social Responsibility and EnvironmentalManagement” 2008, Vol. 15(1), pp. 43–51.
Google Scholar
Haddock‑Fraser J., I. Fraser, Assessing Corporate Environment Reporting Motivations: Differences Between “Close‑to‑Market” and “Business‑to‑Business” Companies, “Corporate SocialResponsibility and Environmental Management” 2008, Vol. 15 (3), pp. 140–155.
Google Scholar
Helm A., Cynics and Skeptics: Consumer Dispositional Trust, “Advances in Consumer Research” 2004, Vol. 31, pp. 345–351.
Google Scholar
Hockerts K., L. Moir, Communicating Corporate Responsibility to Investors: The Changing Role of the Investor Relations Function, “Journal of Business Ethics” 2004, Vol. 52(1), pp. 85–98.
Google Scholar
Hooghiemstra R., Corporate Communication and Impression Management: New Perspectives Why Companies Engage in Corporate Social Reporting, “Journal of Business Ethics” 2000,Vol. 27(1/2), pp. 55–68.
Google Scholar
Johnson J.C., M.K. Orbach, Perceiving the Political Landscape: Ego Biases in Cognitive Political Networks, “Social Networks” 2002, Vol. 24(3), pp. 291–310.
Google Scholar
Kim S., Y.J. Lee, The Complex Attribution Process of CSR Motives, “Public Relations Review” 2012, Vol. 38(1), pp. 168–170.
Google Scholar
Klein J., N. Dawar, Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumers’ Attributions and Brand Evaluations in a Product–Harm Crisis, “International Journal of Research in Marketing” 2004,Vol. 21.3, pp. 203–217.
Google Scholar
Knox S., S. Maklan, P. French, Corporate Stakeholder Social Responsibility: Relationships Exploring and Programme Reporting across Leading FTSE Companies, “Journal of BusinessEthics” 2005, Vol. 61(1), pp. 7–28.
Google Scholar
La Ferle C., G. Kuber, S.M. Edwards, Factors Impacting Responses to Cause‑Related Marketing in India and the United States: Novelty, Altruistic Motives, and Company Origin, “Journal of Business Research” 2013, Vol. 66(3), pp. 364–373.
Google Scholar
Luo X., C.B. Bhattacharya, Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer and Satisfaction, and Market Value, “Journal of Marketing” 2006, Vol. 70(4), pp. 1–18.
Google Scholar
Morsing M., M. Schultz, Corporate Social Responsibility Communication: Stakeholder Information, Response and Involvement Strategies, “Business Ethics: A European Review” 2006,Vol. 15, pp. 332–338.
Google Scholar
Morsing M., M. Schultz, K.U. Nielsen, The ‘Catch 22’ of communicating CSR: Findings from a Danish study, “Journal of Marketing Communication” 2008, Vol. 14, pp. 91–111.
Google Scholar
Podolny J.M., Networks as the Pipes and Prisms of the Market, “American Journal of Sociology” 2001, Vol. 107(1), pp. 33–60.
Google Scholar
Porter M.E., M.R. Kramer, The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility, “Harvard Business Review” 2006, Vol. 78, pp. 6–20, 78–92.
Google Scholar
Power M., T. Scheytt, K. Soin, K. Sahlin, Reputational Risk as a Logic of Organizing in Late Modernity, “Organization Studies” 2009, Vol. 30(2–3), pp. 301–324.
Google Scholar
Provan K.G., A. Fish, J. Sydow, Interorganizational Networks at the Network Level: A Review of the Empirical Literature on Whole Networks, “Journal of Management” 2007, Vol. 33(3),pp. 479–516.
Google Scholar
Salancik G.R., R.S. Burt, WANTED: A Good Network Theory of Organization, “Administrative Science Quarterly” 1995, Vol. 40(2), pp. 345–349.
Google Scholar
Spence L., R. Schmidpeter, A. Habisch, Assessing Social Capital: Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Germany and the U.K, “Journal of Business Ethics” 2003, Vol. 47, pp. 17–29.
Google Scholar
Tang J., M. Musolesi, C. Mascolo, V. Latora, V. Nicosia, Analysing Information Flows and Key Mediators through Temporal Centrality Metrics Categories and Subject Descriptors, “Proceedingsof the 3rd Workshop on Social Network Systems”, ACM 2010, pp. 1–6.
Google Scholar
Umphress E.E., G. Labianca, D.J. Brass, E. Kass, L. Scholten, The Role of Instrumental and Expressive Social Ties in Employees’ Perceptions of Organizational Justice, “Organization Science” 2003, Vol. 14(6), pp. 738–753.
Google Scholar
Uzzi B., The Sources and Consequences of Embeddedness for the Economic Performance of Organizations: The Network Effect, “American Sociological Review” 1996, Vol. 61(4), pp. 674–698.
Google Scholar
Welford R., C. Chan, M. Man, Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Survey of Businesses and their Stakeholders, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management” 2007, Vol. 62, pp. 52–62.
Google Scholar
Williams P., J.L. Aaker, Can Mixed Emotions Peacefully Coexist?, “Journal of Consumer Research” 2002, Vol. 28(4), pp. 636–649.
Google Scholar
Yoon Y., Z. Gürhan‑Canli, N. Schwarz, The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Activities on Companies with Bad Reputations, “Journal of Consumer Psychology” 2006, Vol. 16(4),pp. 377–390.
Google Scholar
Zasuwa G., Do the ends justify the means? How altruistic values moderate consumer responses to corporate social initiatives, “Journal of Business Research” 2016, Vol. 69, pp. 3714–3719.
Google Scholar
Ziek P., Making sense of CSR Communication, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management” 2009, Vol. 16, pp. 137–145.
Google Scholar
