Social performance and social media activity in times of pandemic: evidence from COVID-19-related Twitter activity

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine corporate disclosure of stakeholder-oriented actions on Twitter in response to COVID-19 during the pandemic outbreak and to empirically investigate whetherfirms’ social performance and their financial resilience impact on their engagement in, and communication of, stakeholder-oriented COVID-19 actions. Design/methodology/approach This study scrapes a sample of tweets communicated by major global listed firms between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020 and identifies disclosures that mention firm engagement in stakeholder-oriented actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cross-sectional regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between firms’ social performance and the number of tweets they post about stakeholder-oriented COVID-19 actions. Further, firms’ financial resilience is examined as a moderating factor of this relationship. Findings The results show that firms with better social performance are more likely to engage in and, hence, communicate stakeholder-oriented actions for the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter. Moreover, it is evident that firms with better social performance communicate more stakeholder-oriented actions only when they belong to industries that have not been severely impacted by the pandemic. Originality/value This study has two important contributions. First, this study provides contemporary evidence of corporate disclosure of firms and their stakeholder-oriented actions on Twitter in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during the initial outbreak period. Second, it reveals insights into what characteristics drive firms to engage in costly corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, and promote them on social media, in a period characterized by high economic uncertainty.

The evolution and determinants of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in a developing country: extent and quality

“…There remains significant inconsistencies and gaps as to the relevance (and direction) of these factors (Muller and Kolk, 2010;Shabana and Ravlin, 2016;Rashid, 2018). Given the largely unregulated nature of the form and content of CSR disclosures, the organisational legitimacy perspective does inform our analysis of why firms would generally structure or adjust their CSR disclosure in response to changing societal expectations (Baboukardos et al, 2021). However, it is less obvious how corporate board decision makers would specifically engage (or not) with these signals in view of their own managerial orientations, profiles and/or existing strategies (Shabana and Ravlin, 2016).…”

Donating Health Data to Research: Influential Characteristics of Individuals Engaging in Self-Tracking

“…Looking at the recruiting period, which was January and February 2021, a global winter peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is thus possible, that people were especially eager to shed light on their COVID or post/long COVID symptoms by sharing their self-tracked vital parameters (among others) with the community. Recent literature suggest a growing pool of self-reported symptoms and related personal health parameters, being shared via social media or online support platforms [ 71 , 72 , 73 ]. Since situational perceived pressure of suffering can outweigh privacy concerns, individuals who aim to reduce their personal suffering are thus more likely to donate sensitive health data for research in return for the prospect of a better therapy option in the future.…”

Social media fostering happiness management: three luxury brands case study on Instagram

“…Previous research is found on Twitter, where it is evidenced that companies with better social performance are more likely to participate and, therefore, to communicate actions aimed at increasing engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, no previous studies on social networks related to Happiness Management and COVID-19 have been detected (Baboukardos et al , 2021).…”