Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Media: Comparison between Developing and Developed Countries

Lucie Kvasničková Stanislavská, Ladislav Pilař, Klára Margarisová and Roman Kvasnička
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Lucie Kvasničková Stanislavská: Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 16521 Prague, Czech Republic
Ladislav Pilař: Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 16521 Prague, Czech Republic
Klára Margarisová: Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 16521 Prague, Czech Republic
Roman Kvasnička: Department of Systems Engineering, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 16521 Prague, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-19

Abstract: Social media allow companies to engage with their interest groups, thus enabling them to solidify corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. The concept of CSR is now well-established for companies in Western countries, and CSR is becoming an increasingly popular topic in developing countries. This study investigated differences in the perception of the term ‘CSR’ on Instagram between developing and developed countries. We analysed 113,628 Instagram messages from 38,590 unique users worldwide. The data were recorded between 19 November 2017 and 11 December 2018. In both developed and developing countries, charity and social good were common features. On the contrary, a difference was identified in the area of sustainability, which is an important part of communication in developed countries, and the area of education, which is an important part of communication in developing countries. Community analysis revealed four dominant communities in developed countries: (1) philanthropic responsibility, (2) environmental sustainability, (3) pleasure from working and (4) start-ups with CSR; and three in developing countries: (1) social and environmental responsibility, (2) philanthropic responsibility and (3) reputation management. These results could facilitate the strategic management of CSR to adapt communication to local environments and company contexts. Our findings could allow managers to focus CSR activities on relevant issues in developing countries and thus differentiate their CSR communication from competing organizations.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; developing countries; developed countries; Instagram; social media analysis; charity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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