PublicRelationsReview42(2016)79–81
ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirect
Public
Relations
Review
Corporate
social
responsibility
and
CSR
fit
as
predictors
of
corporate
reputation:
A
global
perspective
Emel
Ozdora
Aksak
a,∗,
Mary
Ann
Ferguson
b,
Sirin
Atakan
Duman
caBilkentUniversity,CommunicationandDesignDepartment,Ankara,Turkey
bUniversityofFlorida,CollegeofJournalismandCommunication,DepartmentofPublicRelations,UnitedStates
cTurgutOzalUniversity,DepartmentofBusinessAdministration,Turkey
a
r
t
i
c
l
e
i
n
f
o
Articlehistory:
Received16January2015
Receivedinrevisedform18October2015
Accepted7November2015
Availableonline10December2015
Keywords:
Corporatesocialresponsibility
Reputation
Publicrelations
Institutionaltheory
Legitimacy
a
b
s
t
r
a
c
t
Thispaperreviewstheliteratureforarticlesthatincludeboththetermscorporatesocial responsibilityandreputationinthetitleand/orabstract.Theresultsoftheconceptual anal-ysisrevealthatmoststudiesonCSRandreputationfocusonpracticalimplicationswithout contributingtothetheoreticalframework.Theauthorsproposeapplyinginstitutional the-orytoenhancetheunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweenCSRandreputationandto fosterpublicrelationstheorydevelopment.
©2015ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.
1. Introduction
Thisstudyaimstounderstandwhichtheoreticalapproacheshavebeenusedtounderstandtherelationshipbetween corporatesocialresponsibility(CSR)andreputation.Corporatesocialresponsibilityisachallengetodefinebecauseitentails manydifferentapproachesandbecauseitchangesaccordingtothecontext,era,andculture.Overall,CSRimpliesthat companieshaveamoralobligationtothesocietyinwhichtheyoperatetobehaveethically,beyondthelimitsoflegal requirementsandbeyondtheirobligationstotraditionalstakeholders,suchasemployees,consumers,vendors,andthe localcommunity(Snider,Hill&Martin,2003,p.175).Consumersconsidercompanies’CSReffortswhenmakingpurchasing decisionsorreputationattributions.Thus,forcompanies,CSRhasbecomeanimportantpublicrelationsstrategytodefine whotheyareandtoattractconsumers.Forconsumers,CSRhasbecomeatooltodeterminereputablecompaniesandthen todeveloprelationshipswiththem.CompaniesthatareabletousethereputationadvantageofagoodCSRstrategymay increasetheirsalesandprofitabilitybyincreasingtheirconsumerbasethroughstrongrelationshipswhichismajorpurpose ofpublicrelations.Reputationhasbeendefinedasstakeholderperceptionabouttheorganization.Fombrun,Gardberg, andBarnett(2000)refertoreputationas“acognitiverepresentationofacompany’sactionsandresultsthatcrystallizes thecompany’sabilitytodelivervaluedoutcomestoitsstakeholders”(p.87).Reputationaffectsallstakeholdersinthatit determineshowanorganizationisperceivedandplaysaroleindeterminingthecompany’ssuccessorfailure.Thispaper reviewstheliteratureforarticlesthatincludeboththetermscorporatesocialresponsibilityandreputationinthetitleand/or
∗ Correspondingauthor.
E-mailaddresses:emel.ozdora@bilkent.edu.tr(E.OzdoraAksak),mafergosun@jou.ufl.edu(M.A.Ferguson),sirinatakan@yahoo.com(S.AtakanDuman).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.11.004
80 E.OzdoraAksaketal./PublicRelationsReview42(2016)79–81
abstract,withnodateexclusions,andanalyzes33articlesindetail.Byanalyzingtheliterature,thepaperidentifiesareasfor futureresearchinCSRandcontributestotheorydevelopment.
2. Methodology
TheauthorsconductedaconceptualanalysistounderstandhowtheliteratureexplainstherelationshipbetweenCSRand organizationalreputation.UsingInfoTracOneFile,EbscoHost,WilsonWeb,ISIWebofKnowledge,andExpandedAcademic ASAP,theyidentifiedarticlesthatincludeboththekeytermscorporatesocialresponsibilityandreputationintheirtitles orabstracts.Atotalof33studies(fourtheory-basedand29application-based)betweentheyears2000and2013were identified.In-depthreadingsofthesearticlesrevealedthetheoriesusedtounderstandtherelationshipbetweenCSRand reputation.TheauthorsalsoidentifiedtheorganizationaloutputsandimpactofCSR.Theaimsofthecurrentstudyareto developatheoreticalframeworkfortherelationshipbetweenCSRandreputationforpublicrelations,identifyareasfor futureresearch,andforwardtheorydevelopment.
3. Resultsoftheconceptualanalysis
Theauthorsdeterminedthatfourtheoriesareusedinthereviewedliteraturetoexplaintherelationshipbetween reputa-tionandCSR:stakeholder,attribution,value,andpostcolonial.Accordingtostakeholdertheory,consumersmakepurchasing decisionsbasednotonlyoneconomicreasons,butalsoonsocialreasons,suchashowacompany’sCSReffortsinfluence consumersasmembersofacommunity.Indeed,manycompaniesengageinCSReffortsaspartoftheirpublicrelations strat-egybecausethereispressurefromvariousstakeholderstobesociallyresponsible;consumersarenotjustpricesensitive, theyalsohavesocialandenvironmentalconcernsthatinfluencetheirpurchasingdecisions.Anothertheoryusedtodiscuss reputationandCSRisattributiontheory,fromsocialpsychology.Attributionsresultfromacognitiveprocessthatcauses peopletoassignanunderlyingcauseorexplanationtoobservedevents.Attributiontheoryexplainswhyaconsumermight beskepticalaboutthebehaviorofacorporationthoughttobeusingCSRactivitiesforfinancialgain,whileotherstakeholders wouldseethoseactivitiesasbeinginthecompany’sandstakeholders’bestinterests.
ValuetheoryisalsousedintheliteraturetounderstandCSR.Accordingtothevalue-theoreticalapproach,CSRactivities arefoundedonacompany’scorevalues,anditisthusimportanttodeterminethevalueprioritiesbehindacompany’s actions.Finally,postcolonialtheoryisusedtocritiquetheneocolonialaspectsandpowerdynamicsofpublicrelations, morespecifically,thefield’sappropriationoftermssuchascorporatesocialresponsibilityandsustainabledevelopment. Accordingly,apostcolonialapproachtopublicrelationsmayhelpexposeattemptstocommunicatecorporategoalsthat paralleladominantandWesternmodelofeconomicgrowthanddevelopment.
Theauthorsalsopresentanoverviewoftheresearch-basedscholarshipthatexplorestherelationshipofreputation toCSR.1 Theapplication-basedstudiesmainlyfocusoncharitabledonations,stakeholderperceptions,CSRbenefits,CSR
regulation,human-rights-relatedissuesandCSR,CSRduringcrises,CSRassocialinsurance,acriticalapproachtoCSR,CSR reputationandculture,anddiffusionofCSRpracticesaroundtheglobe.
TheresearchreviewedhereinarguesforastronglinkbetweenCSRandcorporatereputationfromtheperspectiveof publicrelations,somuchsothatCSRisoftendefinedasonecomponentofcorporatereputation.PerceivedCSRmotives arearguedtobeimportantregardingreputation,butthereisinconsistencyregardingtheprocess.Someresearchsuggests thatifCSRisnotstrategicitleadstoshareholderdistrustandapoorreputation.Otherscholarssuggestthatmotiveisa filterthroughwhichstakeholdersviewCSR;inthislight,CSRactivitiesthoughttobenefitthecompanyareviewedwith skepticism,whichresultsinapoorreputation.CompaniesthatengageinCSRactivitiesaspartoftheirpublicrelationsstrategy areperceivedtobenotonlyprofit-motivatedbutalsosociallymotivated,todevelopastrongerreputation(i.e.,increased sales),todevelopbetterrelationshipswithstakeholders,andtoachievelong-termprofitability.Whenorganizationshave apositivereputation,high-fitCSRactivitieswhicharecloselyrelatedtoacompany’smainbusinessactivities,suchasan automobilemanufacturingcompanyinitiatingaCSRactivitywhereitsupportstrafficsafety,mayleadtolessskepticism. However,whenorganizationsalreadyhaveanegativereputationamongstakeholders,high-fitactivitiesmayleadtomore stakeholderskepticism,whichmayleadtoevenamorenegativecorporatereputation.
TheresultoftheconceptualanalysisrevealsthatmoststudiesonCSRandreputationfocusonpracticalimplications. Thisresultwasexpectedasthesestudyareasoftentaketheirrootsfrompracticeitself.Duetothenatureofthestudyarea, application-basedstudies,whichtrytounderstandtheimmediateimpactofCSR,aremorecommon.Outof29suchstudies, 10focusonmeasuringstakeholderperceptionswhilefivefocusonthebenefitsofCSR.Thisemphasisrevealsthatthefield concentratesonCSRreturnsthroughapplication-basedstudiesratherthanongaininganin-depthunderstandingofthe phenomenonutilizingatheoreticalperspective.Application-basedstudiescontributetotheliteratureandprovideguidance forprofessionalpracticebuttheydonotfostertheorydevelopment.
1 Therewasnosinglejournalthatincludesamajorityofthesestudies;thearticlesarefoundinvariousadvertising,business,andpublicrelationsjournals.
ArticlesaremainlyfromJournalofCorporateCitizenship,CorporateReputationReview,JournalofAdvertising,PublicRelationsReview,JournalofBusinessEthics,
E.OzdoraAksaketal./PublicRelationsReview42(2016)79–81 81
4. Discussionandconclusions
Theauthors’analysisofexistingresearchonCSRandCSRfitrevealsthatthenumberofstudiesprovidingtheoretical explanationsfortherelationshipbetweenCSRandorganizationalreputationisfairlylimited.Theory-buildingiscriticalfor thedevelopmentofanacademicfield,however,thustheauthorsproposethatstudiesprovidingatheoreticalbackground forreputationandCSRstudieswillenhancetheunderstandingoftheconstructandincreasethevalueofCSRpractices, especiallyfortheacademicandpracticalpublicrelationsfields.
Theauthorsspecificallyproposethatinstitutionaltheorybeusedtoprovideadeeperunderstandingoftherelationship betweenCSRandreputationandtheoverarchingvalueofCSRactivitiesfororganizations.Accordingtoinstitutionaltheory, organizationsneedtoconformtosocialandculturalexpectationsimposedbytheinstitutionalenvironmenttoincrease theprobabilityofsurvivalandsuccess(Zucker,1977).WhentheCSRoutputsnotedintheliteratureareconsidered,some haveeconomicconcerns,suchasacompetitiveadvantageandincreasingstockvalue,whileothershavenon-economic concerns,suchascorporatevisibility,trustandbuildingstrongrelationships.Outputsthathaveadirecteffectoninternal stakeholders,suchascommitment,motivation,andimprovedrecruitment,arealsoobserved.Institutionaltheoryholdsthat alloftheseorganizationaloutputs/impactsareusedasameansofachievingorganizationallegitimacy.Companiesmust ensurelegitimacytoincreasetheirchancesforsurvival(Meyer&Rowan,1977).Asthisreviewsuggests,CSRisoneofthe keypublicrelationstoolsusedtocommunicateindustrynormsandvalues,andthusgainlegitimacy.
WiththeexplosionofCSRinitiativesaroundtheglobeandarelatedpushfromstakeholdersforcompaniestobesocially responsible,furtherresearchisneededtounderstandhowtodevelopeffectiveCSRandpublicrelationsstrategiesthat moreaccuratelypredictimpactoncorporatereputationindifferentcultures.Thus,itistheroleofpublicrelations schol-arshiptodeveloptheorythathelpspublicrelationspractitionersunderstandhowCSRaffectsreputationunderdifferent circumstances;whatkindofCSRfitisrequired,andhowtheviewoffitdiffersindifferentcontextstogainlegitimacy.
References
Fombrun,C.J.,Gardberg,N.A.,&Barnett,M.L.(2000).Opportunityplatformsandsafetynets:corporatecitizenshipandoccupationalrisk.Businessand
SocietyReview,105(1),85–106.
Meyer,J.,&Rowan,B.(1977).Institutionalizedorganizations:formalstructureasmythandceremony.AmericanJournalofSociology,83,340–363.
Snider,J.,Hill,R.P.,&Martin,D.(2003).Corporatesocialresponsibilityinthe21stcentury:aviewfromtheworld’smostsuccessfulfirms.Journalof
BusinessEthics,48,175–187.