The Emergence, Variation, and Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Public Sphere, 1980–2004: The Exposure of Firms to Public Debate

Abstract

This study examined the emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a public issue over 25 years using a content analysis of two national newspapers and seven regional, geographically-dispersed newspapers in the U.S. The present study adopted a comprehensive definition encompassing all four CSR dimensions: economic, ethical, legal, and philanthropic. This study examined newspaper editorials, letters to the editor, op-ed columns, news analyses, and guest columns for three aspects: media attention, media prominence, and media valence. Results showed an increase in the number of opinion pieces covering CSR issues over the 25-year period. The prominence of each of the four CSR dimensions varied over time. Each of the four CSR dimensions had its moment of media prominence when it was more important than the other dimensions. The most prevalent valence of the opinion pieces was negative; the volume of negative pieces increased over the 25 years, whereas the number of opinions with positive, neutral, and mixed tones showed little change over time. The study concludes by tracing the implications of the role of the news media for business ethics research.

Text Analytics Approach to Examining Corporate Social Responsibility

“…This small volume of CSR-related news may impede the use of news articles as a tool for assessing CSR prominence; reviewing the newsworthiness of CSR may hint at whether this alternative method may become increasingly viable in the future. The literature on CSR news coverage in Europe and the United States shows a burgeoning increase over the past century (Hamilton 2003;Lee & Carroll 2011) -with more coverage in Europe than in the United States -and suggests CSR's increasing newsworthiness. Similar literature in the Asian context, especially that of Singapore, is lacking.…”

“…The Internet paved the way for the information of firms becoming more accessible across borders and an increase in the comparison of firms' CSR across countries (Chapple & Moon 2005;Lee & Kim 2010;Wanderley et al 2008). Throughout the years, methods of assessing firms' CSR have expanded to the use of content published on firms' websites (Basil & Erlandson 2008;Chapple & Moon 2005;Gomez & Chalmeta 2011), and in the past decade, news articles have been increasingly leveraged to understand how perceptions of firms' CSR have been framed and the attitudes of the public towards CSR (Carroll & McCombs 2003;Carroll 2010aCarroll , 2010bCarroll 2011;Cho & Hong 2009;Hamilton 2003;Jain & De Moya 2017;Lee & Carroll 2011;Lee & Riffe 2017;Liu et al 2011;Luo et al 2012;Tang 2012;Yang 2017;Zhang & Swanson 2006).…”

Corporate social responsibility in higher education

“…More frequently, studies focus on the drivers for adoption of certain CSR practices such as philanthropy of community employee volunteering (Angus‐Leppan, ) or provide conceptual suggestions as to how the institutionalisation of CSR might be achieved (Castka, Bamber, Bamber, & Sharp, , ). Furthermore, few studies have considered the institutionalisation of CSR in developing countries (Lee & Carroll, ). This study worked, in part, to reveal how the initialisation of CSR evolved in the developing country of Malaysia.…”

Corporate Social Responsibility programs of Big Food in Australia: a content analysis of industry documents

“…In doing so, they claim to accept an ethical obligation to the public at large. 24,25 However, critics of CSR claim that such strategies are simply public relations initiatives designed to achieve 'innocence by association' as companies protect their profitability by aligning themselves with social causes to improve their public image and avoid regulation. 10,23,26 Using this approach, companies are able to deflect blame from their organisation on to individual consumers.…”