Australian and New Zealand B Corps and Their Use of Social Media

Giao Reynolds (), Susan Lambert () and Jyotirmoy Podder ()
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Giao Reynolds: Torrens University Australia
Susan Lambert: Adelaide Institute of Higher Education
Jyotirmoy Podder: Torrens University Australia

A chapter in Eurasian Business Perspectives, 2019, pp 85-93 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract B Corp certification originated in the United States (U.S.) but firms in other countries including Australia and New Zealand are increasingly seeking certification. B Corps are for-profit companies that voluntarily agree to meet high standards of social and environmental performance and commitment. Proponents of B Corps believe that an increasing number of customers, investors and other stakeholders favor firms that have a strong commitment to corporate social and environmental responsibility and therefore favor firms that have B Corp certification. This research seeks to contribute to the knowledge about B Corps and their use of social media to disseminate information regarding their social and environmental activities including their B Corp status. The Facebook and Twitter posts of the 30 top ranking Australian and New Zealand B Corps over the calendar year of 2016 are reviewed and subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis. This exploratory study reveals that even though all B Corps in the sample have a clear commitment to social and environmental responsibility, the majority made very few social media postings that communicate the commitment. The firms’ promotion of their B Corp status is generally modest. The study does not explore the reasons for the behavior but proffers this for future research.

Keywords: B Corp; Social media; Social and environmental responsibility; Qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-18652-4_7

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