Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting and Organizational Stigma: The Case of “Sin” Industries

Be bad but (still) look good: Can controversial industries enhance corporate reputation through CSR initiatives?

“…For example, from a finance lens, Jo and Na () show that stakeholders in CIs may perceive CSR as unethical, which could backlash and increase firm risk. Accounting research has reported that stakeholders in these sectors have greater informational needs, making companies more prone to disclose CSR reports (Grougiou et al, ; Kilian & Hennigs, ). Cai et al () argue that better social performance increases firm value, but Rodrigo, Duran, and Arenas () hint otherwise because stakeholders differ due to market‐level (business‐to‐business or business‐to‐consumer) or institutional factors (developed or emerging nation).…”

“…In controversial contexts, Grougiou et al (), Kilian and Hennigs (), and Toppinen and Korhonen‐Kurki () conceptually suggest that these companies are more prone to publish CSR reports to gain a reputational edge. This insight is essential, as legitimacy theory has been one of the main frameworks to explain non‐financial disclosure: these documents are an explicit CSR‐related activity in response to information‐seeking stakeholders, so that these parties can certify that the entity's actions are proper in terms of societal expectations, norms, values, and so on (Cho, Michelon, Patten, & Roberts, ; Deegan, ).…”

“…Thus, our paper's purpose is to study CIs to shed light on how particular aspects of these sectors may affect the foundations of the link between PCSR‐fit and corporate reputation. This is vital, as works from organizational behavior (De Roeck & Delobbe, ), strategy (Moura‐Leite, Padgett, & Galán, ), finance (Jo & Na, ), and accounting (Grougiou, Dedoulis, & Leventis, ) have upheld Palazzo and Richter's () assertion that stakeholders in CIs not only have distinct prospects concerning CSR due to their controversial bearing but also react differently to these practices in contrast to regular settings. Hence, we cannot necessarily extend to CIs received wisdom (e.g., Aksak et al, ) on how PCSR‐fit triggers reputation.…”

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“…In line with this, companies might perform csr activities and disclose on it, in order to return something to society from which they collect their resources. Grougiou, Dedoulis, and Leventis (2015) found that 'sin' companies (companies belonging to the alcohol, tobacco, gambling, nuclear energy and firearm sector) are more prone to disclose non-financial reports. By performing and disclosing on csr they are trying to comnumber 1 · spring 2017 pensate for the negative influence they have on society.…”

Szerencsejáték-szolgáltatók CSR-teljesítményének összemérése európai játékszervezők példáján keresztül

“…Ilyen iparágak közé sorolja a szakirodalom a dohányipart, a szerencsejáték-ipart, az alkohol és szesz előállítását és kereskedelmét, a fegyvergyártást, a cement előállítását, illetve újabban a biotechnológiára épülő iparágakat is (Ye Cai -Carrie, 2012). Egyes kutatások azt állítják, hogy a stigmatizált iparágak menedzsmentje tudatosan használja a CSR-t és az azzal összefüggő kommunikációs eszközöket arra, hogy elvonják a figyelmet a vitatott tevékenységről, csökkentsék a "stigmatizáció" negatív következményeit és semlegesítsék annak hatását, ami elsősorban a különböző peres eljárásokban fordulhat termővé (Grougiou et al, 2015). Mindezek az eredmények vegyes képet mutatnak a CSR szerepéről, helyéről és még inkább aláhúzzák annak ellentmondásos tudományos és üzleti megítélését.…”