CSR Research: Corporate Citizenship

In communicating and framing corporate citizenship efforts in countries beyond their headquarters, firms should highlight do-good rather than do-no-harm corporate citizenship initiatives to gain the most positive evaluation from stakeholders.

Signing petitions, “liking” a post or joining a Facebook page, and wearing pins/ribbons are popular, token ways to indicate support for a cause or program. In order to build on that initial act of support and encourage deeper and more meaningful commitment to the cause, marketers and citizenship managers should focus on those supporters who are willing to privately participate in token acts for more meaningful engagement.

When top management teams are comprised of leaders from many different nations and diverse backgrounds, firms experience stronger financial performance.

First time directors who are racial minorities or women receive lower levels of mentoring, which in turn results in fewer additional board appointments.

When advocating for change, traditional activist groups (nongovernmental organizations, issue advocacy groups) tend to rely on protests and boycotts, which drag companies “through the mud” with media attention. In contrast, religious groups and activist investors rely on lawsuits and proxy votes to seek corporate reform. While the latter method may receive little media attention, it is more likely to foster investor risk perceptions.

Firms that respond to recalls by communicating specific actions taken to address issues can decrease negative media coverage.

Green advertising claims are often substantiated with numerical information. When more precise numbers are used in environmental advertising claims, consumers who are less skeptical.

When information gaps exist between a firm and its stakeholders, the firm may experience negative financial consequences.

Corporate citizenship efforts—both internal and external—have a positive effect on market performance.

For the majority of consumers, if the communication frames the listener to identify as part of a local community, environmental messages targeted at addressing an issue locally are more effective at increasing purchase intentions than those that frame the issues as global.

When faced with mounting competition from foreign rivals, U.S. companies tend to increase corporate citizenship investment as a way to differentiate themselves.

Firms that engage in positive employee-related activities—in addition to customer-related activities—achieve greater firm value.