Exploring digital corporate social responsibility communications on Twitter

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring digital corporate social responsibility communications on Twitter

AU - Okazaki, Shintaro

AU - Plangger, Kirk Anton

AU - West, Douglas

AU - Menendez, Hector

PY - 2020/9/1

Y1 - 2020/9/1

N2 - Many brands utilize social media to communicate with consumers, but are they taking advantage of these media's potential for co-creation? We explore this in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) context where online CSR dialogs form as brands interact with consumers using social media. Study 1 examines eight brands' digital CSR communications on Twitter and suggests these dialogs are present but are rarely part of the process with most interactions between their consumers. Study 2 assesses the brands' CSR relevant tweets' content and finds that most are not relevant to CSR and, moreover, are predominantly one-way. Therefore, both studies reveal that brands are not tapping into the potential for co-creation that is inherent in social media. Thus, we recommend that social media communications should include (a) mentions of individual consumers, (b) audience specific and relevant message content, and (c) opportunities for consumers to co-create value with the relevant brands.

AB - Many brands utilize social media to communicate with consumers, but are they taking advantage of these media's potential for co-creation? We explore this in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) context where online CSR dialogs form as brands interact with consumers using social media. Study 1 examines eight brands' digital CSR communications on Twitter and suggests these dialogs are present but are rarely part of the process with most interactions between their consumers. Study 2 assesses the brands' CSR relevant tweets' content and finds that most are not relevant to CSR and, moreover, are predominantly one-way. Therefore, both studies reveal that brands are not tapping into the potential for co-creation that is inherent in social media. Thus, we recommend that social media communications should include (a) mentions of individual consumers, (b) audience specific and relevant message content, and (c) opportunities for consumers to co-create value with the relevant brands.

KW - Broadcast media

KW - Consumer engagement

KW - Corporate social responsibility

KW - Online CSR dialog

KW - Social media

KW - Value co-creation

U2 - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.006

DO - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.006

M3 - Article

SN - 0148-2963

SP - 675

EP - 682

JO - Journal of Business Research

JF - Journal of Business Research

ER -