Yang Aimei, Sun Jingyi, Taylor Maureen
USC Annenberg, USA.
Stevens Institute of Technology, USA.
Public Relat Rev. 2022 Nov;48(4):102230. doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102230. Epub 2022 Jul 25.
In times of a national crisis such as COVID-19, it is important for organizations to show that they are good corporate citizens. At the same time, organizations should carefully select the type of messages that resonate with stakeholders so as to reduce stakeholder skepticism. This study examines how U.S. Fortune 500 companies discussed their COVID-19 pandemic CSR actions on Facebook over 15 months and how the public responded to such messages. We identified three CSR themes: internal stakeholder proactive CSR, external stakeholder proactive CSR, and external stakeholder accommodative CSR. When publics engaged, external stakeholder proactive CSR was significantly associated with better behavioral engagement outcomes, more positive emotional engagement outcomes, and less negative emotions. However, such effects are moderated by industry type. Our findings inform public relations theory and practice and suggest that in times of major crises, organizations should prioritize proactive approaches to engage external stakeholders while being mindful of specific institutional contexts.
在诸如新冠疫情这样的国家危机时期，各组织表明自己是优秀的企业公民非常重要。与此同时，组织应谨慎选择能与利益相关者产生共鸣的信息类型，以减少利益相关者的怀疑态度。本研究考察了美国财富500强公司在15个月的时间里如何在脸书上讨论其新冠疫情期间的企业社会责任行动，以及公众对这些信息的反应。我们确定了三个企业社会责任主题：内部利益相关者积极型企业社会责任、外部利益相关者积极型企业社会责任和外部利益相关者适应型企业社会责任。当公众参与时，外部利益相关者积极型企业社会责任与更好的行为参与结果、更积极的情感参与结果以及更少的负面情绪显著相关。然而，这种影响会受到行业类型的调节。我们的研究结果为公共关系理论和实践提供了参考，并表明在重大危机时期，组织应优先采用积极的方法来吸引外部利益相关者，同时要注意特定的制度背景。
