Post on 29-Nov-2014
description
CSR COMMUNICATION CONFERENCEOCTOBER 2011
Sun Young LeeUniversity of North Carolina-Chapel hill
Craig E. Carroll, Ph.D.Lipscomb University
A LIMITED WINDOW AND A LIMITED RANGE: Corporations’ Published Reputation Response Strategies
on CSR Topics in the News Media
Purpose
To examine how corporations defend their corporate social responsibility (CSR) reputations through letters to the editors of newspapers.
Research Questions
Q1. How does the window of time between the original content and the published response differ by the type of authorship?
Q2. How does the news section of the originating content differ by the type of authorship?
Method
Comparing the authorships of letters to the editors written in response to previously published news and opinion articles.
Topics are limited to CSR.
Method
Sampling Systematic sample of every 10th opinion piece
featuring a publicly traded company 433-published letters
Nine geographically-distributed U.S. national and regional newspapers
Time frame: 1980-2004 (25 years)
Method
Content analysis Among 433 letters, 150 letters covered CSR topics
Variables CSR topics: economic, ethical, legal, and philanthropic
responsibilities Authorship: company representatives, think tanks,
politicians, NGOs, professionals, labor unions, community groups, unaffiliated citizens, and pro-business voices
News section of the originating content Window of time between the original content and the
published response
Findings: Q1
Q1. How does the window of time between the original content and the published response differ by the type of authorship?
Mean of the time lags among all authorships: 10-14 days
No difference Corporations were given a similar window of opportunity
to respond to reputation threats through the news media, compared to window of time given to their stakeholders.
Among all authorships: F (7, 112) = 2.02, p = .06
Company vs. Non-Company: F (1, 118) = .05, p = .83 Company (N = 26): M = 12.77, SD = 33.17 Non-Company (N = 94): M = 14.34, SD = 37.28
Findings: Q2
Q2. How does the news section of the originating content differ by the type of authorship?
No difference statistically, however χ²(12)=9.91, p=.62
Patterns on the graphs Corporations < Other stakeholders (% within a news section)
Front-page news, Letters to the editors Corporations ≈ Other stakeholders (% within a news section)
Business page, Column, Op-ed
Originality
The first study to examine companies’ reputation response strategies published through letters to the editor
The study on the news media in CSRLongitudinal study
Practical Implications
Equal opportunity: A good way to reach the public in CSR issues
Strategic media relations: More actively monitoring and responding to business news, column, and op-ed sections might help.