Lipstick on a Pig: Is CSR Communication Authentic or Cosmetic?
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Date
2018-05
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Journal of Communications, Media & Society
Abstract
With increased scrutiny of business and its activities, many companies have put corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the top of their agenda. However, the push for CSR has also given rise to the assumption that companies make false claims about their practices and policies. This paper explores how the six multinational telecommunications giants in Ghana present their CSR initiatives online. Using discourse analysis methods, the study examines and compares the CSR communication strategies the industry players adopt. The study finds that the companies demonstrate commitment to communicating CSR, emphasising more ethos than logos strategies which suggest credible CSR messages to a large extent. Relational values and the organisation of CSR messages were quite similar across the companies, although some strategies differed. The study not only suggests a linguistic framework for analysing CSR communication messages, it also provides new empirical data that adds to the growing body of literature on CSR communication particularly in the Ghanaian context where studies have been found to be sparse. Again, the findings deepen our understanding of CSR communication issues and its dynamics which will help managers identify potential gaps that may need improvement particularly in developing country contexts. With a few exceptions, a linguistic approach to examining CSR communication content has not received much scholarly attention.
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Research Article