Download - Benchmarking Impact of Online CSR Conversations on Corporate Reputation

Benchmarking Impact of Online CSR Conversations on Corporate

Reputation

Nikkie Vinke - Tilburg University

In the age of social media, stakeholders are in charge

Overview

Introduction

Method

Results

Conclusion & discussion

Introduction • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributes to a

strong corporate reputation, which offers a company many benefits (Fombrun, 1996; Fombrun & Shanley, 1990).

• Social media offers businesses new opportunities to communicate with stakeholders.

• Research on CSR communication through social media is scarce, but growing.

• Current study explores characteristics and possibilities of employing social media as a platform to communicate about CSR and its impact on corporate reputation.

Overview

Introduction

Method

Results


Method (1)

• Research case: European telecom. Company A (Ireland), Company B (Netherlands), Company C (Belgium)

• All companies have established CSR-strategies. • Actively using social media to communicate

with stakeholders.

Method (2)

• Study 1: Content analysis Coding of messages posted by the companies on

Twitter and Facebook. Categorized by topic of content.

• Study 2: Online survey Questionnaire examining: user motivations (Muntinga et al., 2011) appreciation of social media activities (results Study 1) corporate reputation (Walsh et al., 2009)

Overview

Introduction

Method

Results


Results Study 1: Content Analysis Topic A

Facebook A

Twitter B

Facebook B

Twitter C

Facebook C

Twitter

Products and services

6.8% 5.7% 10.3% 10.4% 24.5% 35.4%

Entertainment

16.7% 3.9% 44.4% 44.0% 12.0% 2.0%

Promotions and competitions

41.7% 22.7% 33.3% 24.6% 22.4% 5.2%

Internet safety

1.0% 0.1% 0.0% 1.1% 0.3% 0.9%

CSR

2.6% 0.3% 2.6% 4.1% 11.3% 3.5%

Network disturbances

0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 5.5% 16.1%

Results Study 2: Online Survey (1)

1

2

3

4

5

User Motivations

Twitter (n = 186)

Facebook (n = 164)

Twitter+Facebook (n = 105)


Twitter Facebook

1. Customer service (2.15)* 1. Products and services (3.33)

2. Network disturbances (2.73)* 2. Competitions (3.78)*

3. Products & services (3.45) 3. Customer service (4.07)*

4. Competitions (4.62)* 4. Network disturbances (4.26)*

5. Polls & questions (5.40) 5. Entertainment (4.84)*

6. Entertainment (5.86)* 6. Polls & questions (5.32)

7. Internet safety (6.44)** 7. Internet safety (5.84)**

8. Vacancies (7.15) 8. CSR (6.75)**

9. CSR (7.22)** 9. Vacancies (6.82) * p < .001 **p < .05


2

3

4

Corporate Reputation

Twitter

Facebook

Twitter + Facebook

None

Overview

Introduction

Method

Results


Conclusion

• Study showed that social media users have clear preferences for content for each medium.

• Regarding specific social networks, Facebook appears to be more appropriate for CSR communication than Twitter.

• Use of Facebook also shows to have more positive influence on respondent’s perception of the company (corporate reputation)

Discussion

• Higher levels of activeness in brand-related social network interaction (Muntinga et al., 2011) do not necessarily lead to more positive brand evaluation. Information and entertainment motivations show highest correlation factors with reputation scores.

• Companies should investigate and determine which channels are suitable for which messages.

Questions?

Literature • Fombrun, C. (1996). Reputation: Realising value from the

corporate image. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press Books.

• Fombrun, C. & Shanley, M. (1990). What's in a name? Reputation building and corporate strategy. The Academy of Management Journal, 33(2), 233-258

• Muntinga, D.G., Moorman, M., & Smit, E.G. (2011). Introducing COBRAs: Exploring motivations for brand-related social media use. International Journal of Advertising, 30(1), 30-46.

• Walsh, G., Beatty, S.E. & Shiu, E.M.K. (2009). The customer-based corporate reputation scale: Replication and short form. Journal of Business Research, 62, 924-930.