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Public Relations Review
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pubrev
Messages on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages: What works and what doesn’t
Alan Abitbola,⁎, Sun Young Leeb
a Department of Communication, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Dayton, St. Joseph Hall 121, 300 College Park, Dayton, OH, 45469, United States b Department of Public Relations, College of Media and Communication, Texas Tech University, 3003 15th Street, Box 43082, Lubbock, TX, 79409, United States
A R T I C L E I N F O
Keywords: Corporate social responsibility Corporate communication Social media Dialogic theory Company–cause fit Content analysis
A B S T R A C T
The present study examines how companies can strategically use corporate social responsibility (CSR)-dedicated pages on Facebook to engage stakeholders. Specifically, we look at the effectiveness of different message strategies that companies use on their corporate CSR-dedicated Facebook pages to elicit stakeholder engagement. We content analyzed 533 posts on the CSR- dedicated Facebook pages of 16 companies from the 2014 Fortune 500 list. Drawing from the company–cause fit literature and dialogic theory, we examined the effects of two types of message strategies—topics and dialogic strategies—on eliciting stakeholder engagement as measured by the number of likes, shares, and comments. The results showed that topics were effective in engaging stakeholders when they were congruent with a company’s core business. Two dialogic strategies—incorporating multimedia components and using interactive language in the messages—were effective in engaging stakeholders. In terms of theory, this study advances company–cause fit studies and dialogic theory by applying them to CSR communication via social media. In terms of practice, the results highlight the importance of topics and dialogic strategies when utilizing CSR-dedicated Facebook pages to engage stakeholders.
1. Introduction
Stakeholder engagement is crucial for the successful implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. CSR activities are “actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law” (McWilliams & Siegel, 2001; p. 117). These actions should be designed to meet stakeholders’ expectations. Stakeholder engagement is the process of gauging stakeholders’ needs and interests, which is vital in designing effective CSR programs. Some CSR activities, such as cause-related marketing, corporate social marketing, and community volunteering, require stakeholder engagement as an essential part of implementing the programs.
In the Web 2.0 era, companies have realized the power of social networking sites (SNSs) to spark public interest and have begun to adopt these platforms in their CSR communication. One of the emerging trends in CSR communication is setting up CSR-dedicated spaces on SNSs with the goal of sharing information about CSR initiatives, interacting with stakeholders and gathering feedback, connecting with stakeholders for meaningful discussion about CSR, and exchanging resources such as ideas, volunteer labor, or goods. For example, Toshiba For Good, Toshiba’s CSR page on Facebook, highlights two-way communication as the purpose of setting up the page: “we’re rolling out a series of projects to help sustain our environment, invest in our communities, and support those in
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.05.002 Received 23 June 2016; Received in revised form 27 February 2017; Accepted 9 May 2017
⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (A. Abitbol), [email protected] (S.Y. Lee).
Public Relations Review 43 (2017) 796–808
Available online 18 May 2017 0363-8111/ © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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greatest need. But we can’t do it without your input.” Similarly, Nestlé’s CSV, Nestlé’s CSR Twitter account, emphasizes co-creation: “Nestlé is committed to Creating Shared Value (CSV) and we focus our efforts in three key areas: nutrition, water and rural development.”
Although a growing number of companies have set up CSR-dedicated accounts on SNSs with the clear intention of engaging stakeholders with their CSR activities, challenges arise in the management of such accounts. The major barriers include a lack of resources, unfamiliarity with these channels, and managerial skepticism (Etter, Morsing, & Castello, 2011), having resulted in inconsistent strategies and low levels of participation. For example, before Pepsi’s Refresh Project—a 2010 initiative awarding grant money to those who come up with ideas that benefit the community—became a successful CSR campaign, it was headed for failure. Initially, Pepsi targeted only Millennials to vote on SNSs for which ideas should receive grants. However, Millennials were not spending enough time on Facebook and Twitter to view the ideas, which resulted in low involvement. The project did not take off until, among other communication efforts, Pepsi started to target additional stakeholder groups, including Baby Boomers and Generation Y customers, created a campaign-specific Facebook page, and used #PepsiRefresh on Twitter for all messages disseminated (Perry, 2014).
Previous research offers little guidance on how to make the best use of CSR-dedicated spaces on SNSs. The literature discussing online CSR communication has mostly focused on corporate websites and been descriptive in nature (Chaudhri & Wang, 2007; Gomez & Chalmeta, 2011; Insch, 2008; Smith & Alexander, 2013). Studies of corporate communication via SNSs have typically examined companies’ general use of Facebook (e.g., Bortree & Seltzer, 2009; Saxton & Waters, 2014; Waters, Burnett, Lamm, & Lucas, 2009). Several studies have explored the use of interactive online media for CSR communication (Eberle, Berens, & Li, 2013; Fieseler, Fleck, & Meckel, 2010; McCorkindale, 2010; Tao & Wilson, 2015), yet have not suggested how to effectively manage such communication on CSR-dedicated spaces on SNSs.
Therefore, to fill this gap in the literature, the present study examines how companies can strategically use CSR-dedicated spaces on one specific SNS to engage stakeholders. Specifically, we look at whether different message strategies that companies use on their corporate CSR-dedicated Facebook pages elicit stakeholder engagement on Facebook. The two message strategies we examined were the choice of topic and the choice of dialogic strategies. First, the literature suggests that congruence between a company’s mission or values and a cause the company supports will generate more positive responses from the public than incongruence (Chandler & Werther, 2014; Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2010). Second, dialogic theory posits that, through dialogic strategies, a company can enhance public interest in its initiatives, contribute to dialogue with the public, increase public knowledge and awareness, and build relationships (Kent & Taylor, 1998). Previous studies have repeatedly found that three dialogic strategies promote the cultivation of relationships online: disclosure, a user-friendly message format, and interactivity (Waters et al., 2009).
2. Review of literature
2.1. Stakeholder engagement with CSR messages
Stakeholder engagement is the essence of CSR (Devin & Lane, 2014; Du et al., 2010); it can broadly be defined as the “process of involving individuals and groups that affect or are affected by the activities of a company” (Sloan, 2009; p. 26). This interaction between an organization and its stakeholders necessitates that the organization be transparent and open to public criticism (Golob & Bartlett, 2007). Engagement requires stakeholders and the organization to understand, appreciate, and commit to dialogue with each other (Johnston, 2014).
First, a company needs to gauge the public’s expectations of it and adjust its CSR initiatives based on the various interests among stakeholders. As Maignan and Ferrell (2004) have noted, CSR activities are responses to stakeholder communities’ norms—“the common set of rules and behavioral expectations shared by the majority of the members of a stakeholder community” (p. 7). Second, stakeholder engagement is necessary to implement CSR programs (Devin & Lane, 2014), as stakeholders’ CSR awareness is a prerequisite to their participation in a CSR program (Maignan & Ferrell, 2004; Taylor, 2013).
Scholars have emphasized that to increase stakeholders’ awareness of a CSR initiative, two-way dialogic communication between companies and stakeholders is needed. This two-way communication allows companies to understand what stakeholders expect from a CSR initiative, and in turn, allows stakeholders to learn about the various causes and efforts a company supports. This communication can eventually lead to stakeholder engagement in CSR activities (Burchell & Cook, 2006; Du et al., 2010). Crane and Livesey (2003) noted that “stakeholder dialogue on CSR is very much a two-way process of communication and negotiation” (p. 167). Similarly, Johnson-Cramer, Berman, and Post (2003) pointed out that “the essence of stakeholder dialogue is the co-creation of shared understanding by company and stakeholder” (p. 149). Burchell and Cook (2006) found that companies are increasingly accepting the need for dialogue with stakeholders that goes beyond merely disseminating information.
The changing environment includes more sophisticated stakeholders and their growing skepticism of companies’ CSR activities and requires that companies use more advanced communication strategies (Illia, Zyglidopoulos, Romenti, Rodriguez-Canovas, & Del Valle Brena, 2013; Schmeltz, 2014). The key is to ensure that what companies say corresponds with what they do, and two-way dialogic communication and mutual understanding is essential in this endeavor (Bowen, 2014; Schoeneborn & Trittin, 2013). Otherwise, stakeholders may believe a company is greenwashing—making deliberate decisions to disclose information about CSR initiatives that are beneficial to the company but may be costly to society (Bowen & Aragon-Correa, 2014).
SNSs have great potential for building dialogue between companies and stakeholders and for engaging the stakeholders with their messages, as stakeholders can influence companies to be more accountable and transparent, which may eventually reduce stakeholder skepticism (Lyon & Montgomery, 2013). On SNSs, engagement refers to interaction between an organization and
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stakeholders vis-à-vis the message (Smith, 2013). It is what stakeholders feel about the content and then what they do about it (Bennett, Wells, & Freelon, 2011). Engagement occurs when companies share information in a quick and efficient manner (Briones, Kuch, Liu, & Jin, 2011) and stakeholders provide real-time feedback to companies’ messages (Lovejoy, Waters, & Saxton, 2012).
As on other SNSs, on Facebook, a company can create a general corporate account or an account dedicated to a specific brand or topic. Facebook brand pages feature brand-specific content, while a company’s general account typically features content that covers general corporate news, upcoming events, and information about community initiatives (Parsons, 2013). All these topics, however, may not be relevant to all stakeholders browsing that page. For this reason, companies utilize dedicated pages to engage with specific stakeholder groups that are interested in one specific topic area. Many of these pages are created with the intent of building relationships with stakeholders, getting feedback, and strengthening their brand (Wiertz & de Ruyter, 2007).
Of the various SNS platforms, Facebook is one of the most popular. Ebizmba.com (2015) listed it as the leading SNS for companies to use. Facebook offers stakeholders the opportunity to interact with a company’s messages through three unique tools: likes, shares, and comments. These features “have engendered dynamic, interactive systems of organizational action and public reaction” (Saxton & Waters, 2014; p. 284). They provide the user with ways to express their interest in a message and to communicate that interest to their peers (Smith & Gallicano, 2015). Likes, the most passive engagement tool, are a convenient way to express appreciation of Facebook posts without verbal expression. Shares enable a user to become a voluntary messenger of the company’s message to his or her own social group. Comments, the highest form of engagement, give users the ability to engage directly in conversation with the company (Cho, Schweichart, & Haase, 2014).
2.2. Company–cause fit
When creating a CSR message, a company can make choices in two basic areas: 1) what to present, and 2) how to present it (Du et al., 2010; Morsing, Schultz, & Nielson, 2008). For topic, the literature suggests that, strategically, a company’s CSR message needs to be pertinent to a company’s mission or to values that logically make sense (Chandler & Werther, 2014; Du et al., 2010). Therefore, in the present study, we focused on the effects of company–cause fit. Fit is the perceived link between a firm’s product line or brand image with a cause it supports (Varadarajan & Mason, 1988). Becker-Olsen, Cudmore, and Hill, (2006, p. 47) emphasized the importance of the fit between company and cause, as it influences (1) how much thought people give to a relationship (e.g., increased elaboration about the firm, the social initiative, and/or the relationship itself when perceived inconsistencies with prior expectations and information exist), (2) the specific types of thoughts generated, and (3) evaluations of the two objects.
Research has shown that company–cause fit enhances stakeholder attitudes toward a company (e.g., Menon & Kahn, 2003), perhaps owing to how the public perceives the company’s motives (Elving, 2013; Kim & Lee, 2012). According to attribution theory (Jones & Davis, 1965; Kelley, 1967, 1972), people evaluate the motives of others and then draw inferences based on those motives that influence their subsequent attitudes and behaviors. Marketing research has found that stakeholders attribute two primary types of motives to companies: public-serving (motives that focus on benefiting those external to the company) and company-serving (motives that focus on benefiting the company itself) (Forehand & Grier, 2003).
Stakeholders will attribute a company’s actions to public-serving motives if no benefit to the company is salient. Research has shown that stakeholders react negatively to a company if they attribute its actions to company-serving motives. With regard to a company’s CSR-specific actions, stakeholders’ perceived attributions about the sincerity of a company’s CSR efforts play an important role in a CSR program’s success (Kim, 2011). Forehand and Grier (2003) discovered that stakeholders found a company’s motives to be more sincere and driven by its desire to help a cause if the cause was closely related to the company’s business. Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:
H1. Topics that are congruent with a company’s focus will elicit more public engagement on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages than those that are not.
2.3. Dialogic strategies
In regard to how to communicate CSR messages, Kent and Taylor’s (1998) dialogic theory can provide companies with a framework for developing strategies that make full use of a SNS’s unique features. Kent and Taylor introduced the concept of dialogic communication as a means by which a company and its stakeholders can communicate interactively. Studies have examined the impact of various dialogic strategies (e.g., Bortree & Seltzer, 2009; Kelleher, 2006) and have repeatedly found three to be most beneficial in cultivating relationships through SNSs: disclosure, a user-friendly message format, and interactivity.
The first dialogic strategy, disclosure, encompasses a company’s ability to provide useful information that will appeal to stakeholders (Seltzer & Mitrook, 2007; Waters et al., 2009). Transparency and openness are key aspects of disclosure (Kent, Taylor, & White, 2003). For full disclosure, a company must make sure that on its social media pages, posted information highlights content that may impact stakeholders and the company beyond day-to-day operations. Typically, information is related to management-level decisions that are not readily made available to the general public. Stakeholders should feel a sense of belonging and being included by the company based on the content posted. Disclosure of financial transactions and positional appointments are examples. Therefore, we hypothesize a positive relationship between the dialogic strategy of disclosure and public engagement on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages.
H2. Company messages that disclose company-related details will elicit more public engagement on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages than those that do not.
The second dialogic strategy, a user-friendly message format, refers to how information is presented; it needs to be done in a way
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that is highly accessible to the public. A user-friendly message format online includes posting links to external news items about the company or its causes, or posting photos, graphics, or videos from the company (Carrera et al., 2008). Although companies have expressed their understanding of the importance of using a user-friendly message format to engage with key stakeholders (Briones et al., 2011), Waters et al. (2009) discovered that companies either utilized these tools on a limited basis or did not incorporate them at all. Based on the second dialogic strategy, we hypothesize that presenting a message in a user-friendly message format will positively impact public engagement on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages.
H3. Company messages that are in a user-friendly format will elicit more public engagement on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages than those that do not.
The third dialogic strategy is interactivity, which refers to the public’s ability to ask questions and the company’s ability to respond. Interactivity is essential if companies want to develop relationships with their stakeholders (Jo & Kim, 2003). On SNSs where interactive features are built in, interactivity can be defined as a company’s strategy to facilitate interactions among stakeholders or between the company and stakeholders and to encourage the involvement of stakeholders in the company’s online activity (Saxton & Waters, 2014). However, companies rarely seem to resort to this capability on Facebook. Men and Tsai (2012) examined interactivity by analyzing whether organizations’ Facebook pages provided organizational contacts and opportunities to comment, elicited action for online participation through posted messages, or responded to user posts. Of the 50 companies that had Facebook pages, most elicited online participation and offered an opportunity to comment, but only half responded to user posts.
On Facebook, interactivity includes the solicitation of feedback by the sending party, typically in the form of posting questions, calling for action by a user either in the form of online or offline participation, encouraging conversation with stakeholders by mentioning them in posts, and acknowledging stakeholders’ participation or volunteer work. To test the impact that interactive messages on Facebook had on public engagement, Saxton and Waters (2014) examined 1000 updates from organizations on the Nonprofit Times 100 list. Their results indicated that the more interactive the message was, the more likely users were to comment or like a post. Thus, we hypothesize that messages containing interactive features will more effectively engage the public on CSR- dedicated Facebook pages.
H4. Company messages that facilitate interactions will elicit more public engagement on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages than those that do not.
3. Method
The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between various topics and types of dialogic message strategies and the amount of engagement with company messages on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages. A quantitative content analysis (QCA) was the most appropriate research method, as it allows researchers to investigate the messages that companies actually used and the amount of engagement that stakeholders actually had with those messages, rather than measuring message engagement in a hypothetical setting. A QCA is “a research technique for the systematic, objective, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication” (Berelson, 1952; p. 18). It is a process that involves segmenting communication content into units, assigning each unit to a category, and analyzing each category.
The target companies were the 500 largest U.S. companies based on total revenue, because larger companies are more actively involved in CSR activities than smaller companies are and because examining only U.S. companies controlled for the companies’ country of origin, as this can affect companies’ message strategies.
We conducted a QCA of the posts on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages of companies found on the Fortune 500 list, one of the most comprehensive lists of the largest U.S. companies, from November 1, 2013, to October 31, 2014. Dedicated Facebook pages were chosen as the unit of analysis because (a) these pages provided us with a finite space to examine CSR-specific posts and (b) the use of dedicated Facebook pages is growing in popularity as stakeholders are increasingly following companies for specific reasons and not just because they like the company generally. Of the 500 companies, 16 had CSR-dedicated Facebook pages. The criteria for whether a page was considered CSR-dedicated were the title and the content of the page. If a title of a page included the term CSR or CSR- related terms such as citizenship, sustainability, community, or foundation, we initially considered it as a CSR-dedicated Facebook page. Then we examined the contents of the page to ensure the page was designed to cover a company’s CSR activities. Examples included Cisco CSR by Cisco, Darden Citizen by Darden, and Microsoft Citizenship by Microsoft. The companies were also classified by industry based on the Standard Industrial Classification and the North American Industry Classification System. The types of industry included engineering technology, food service, entertainment, health, communication technology, and banking, and the number of followers for each page, recorded at the time of analysis, ranged from 445 to 563,951 (see Appendix A).
We sampled a total of 533 posts for coding using a constructed month sampling strategy similar to the constructed week method (Riffe, Lacy, & Fico, 2005). Sample dates were randomly selected to build a constructed month using a random number generator. Each month had an assigned number—for example, November 2013 had the number 1, December 2013 had the number 2, January 2014 had the number 3, and so on. Then, a number for a day of the month was randomly chosen 30 times in order to construct a full month. For example, for the first month, if a 1 was randomly picked, then November 1, 2013, would be the date used for the selection. For the second month, if a 12 was randomly picked, then December 12, 2013, would be used for selection. All posts for that date were coded. If no post was made on the date chosen, the next date that had posts made was included in the sample.
3.1. Coding variables
We developed a codebook to examine the messages strategies that companies used on their CSR-dedicated Facebook pages. Based
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on the literature, we established initial sets of categories under the main variables, such as topics, three different types of dialogic message strategies, and public engagement with messages on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages. We then took an inductive approach by reading through a large number of messages on the CSR-dedicated Facebook pages and adding to or revising the categories to ensure they were sufficiently comprehensive. All variables were coded at the post level.
We defined public engagement with messages on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages as the level of public interaction with each company post, and we measured this by the number of likes, shares, and comments for each post (Cho et al., 2014). These actions essentially signify the amount of interest a user has in a particular message (Smith & Gallicano, 2015), which can range from the superficial to a desire to be actively involved with the initiative discussed in a message.
We defined topic as the issue that CSR activities focused on. Scholars and practitioners have endeavored to identify the types of CSR issues that companies typically engage in (Clarkson, 1995; Sen & Bhattacharya, 2001). Broadly, CSR issues can be divided into three categories with eight domains: (1) stakeholder issues (consumers, employees, shareholders, and the community); (2) corporate/ organizational issues (corporate governance); and (3) social issues (the environment, human rights, and diversity). From the categories of topics in the literature and from our own exploratory research on CSR Facebook messages, we developed a list of 11 topics: education, health, research & development (R & D), business development, safety, environment/energy, finance, religion, public policy, employee/workplace engagement, and diversity. Each topic was coded as present (1) or absent (0), which allowed a post to be coded as containing multiple topics.
Adapting Kent and Taylor (1998), we defined disclosure as a company’s attempt to show openness and transparency. Coders identified the presence of disclosure if a company disclosed financial information, including in-kind donations, or mentioned a specific managerial decision or policymaking activity. The variable was coded as present (1) or absent (0).
We defined message format as the form in which a company presented information. Adapting Waters et al. (2009), we created five different modes of multimedia categories—links, photos, graphics, videos, or audio files—and a text only category. These message formats were coded as present (1) or absent (0).
We defined interactivity as messages to elicit interactions between a company and stakeholders or among stakeholders. The types of message that involved calling users to action or that provided feedback (i.e., acknowledgement or appreciation) to encourage stakeholders to undertake more involvement were adapted from Waters et al. (2009) and were as follows: asks public to download/buy product or service, asks public to volunteer; asks public to donate, gives thanks to the public/a volunteer/an organization, calls for actions on social media, asks public to participate in or register for an event, and asks public to click on a link or read more information. Each category was coded as present (1) or absent (0) (see Appendix B for the codebook).
3.2. Coder training
To achieve intercoder reliability, two graduate students were trained as coders. The training session involved a step-by-step explanation of each variable so that the coders understood the conceptual and operational definitions for each variable and were able to practice using examples. Before actual coding, we conducted a pilot study with 55 posts that were not part of the actual coding sample. Several more training sessions were held and the codebook was modified until satisfactory intercoder reliability was reached.
For the actual sample, we extracted 157 posts (29.3% of the total posts), which both coders coded for an intercoder reliability check. The intercoder reliability scores of all variables were satisfactory: they were above 95% simple agreement (Holsti’s reliability), 0.80 (Krippendorf’s alpha), and 0.80 (Scott’s pi), all above the cutoff value. The literature suggests that the cutoff value for Krippendorf’s alpha is 0.80 and that of Scott’s pi is 0.60 for moderate reliability (Krippendorff, 1980; Landis & Koch, 1977).
4. Results
A total of 533 posts from 16 companies’ CSR-dedicated Facebook pages were analyzed; the average number of posts sampled per company was 33. Among the 533 posts, the average number of likes per post was 219, that of shares per post was 33, and that of comments per post was four.
The present study set forth four hypotheses to examine whether posting on CSR topics congruent with companies’ core business, mission, or values, or using one of three dialogic message strategies would draw more public engagement with messages on CSR- dedicated Facebook pages. To test the hypotheses, we used Poisson regression, which is often employed for modeling count data. In this study, the dependent variables were count variables: the number of likes, shares, and comments. Although these are all continuous variables, Ordinary Least-Squares regression would not estimate the relationships properly because the data are non-negative (the lower bound is zero) integers (discrete in nature) with a histogram indicating a rapidly decreasing tail (an overabundance of zero) and show a non-normal distribution. Furthermore, robust standard errors were obtained for the parameter estimates to control for a mild violation of underlying assumptions—overdispersion. In fact, one of the main assumptions of a Poisson distribution is equidispersion, that is, that the mean of the distribution equals its variance; in reality, however, it is hard to have perfect equidispersion, and we adopted Poisson regression with robust errors to treat the problem.
H1 posited that the topics congruent with a company’s focus would generate more public engagement with the messages on CSR- dedicated Facebook pages. Due to the small number of posts per company, we first grouped the companies by industry category and then separated them by topic. Of the 16 companies examined, four companies were categorized in the technology group, three in the consumer products group, three in healthcare, two in banking, two in food service, one in entertainment, and one as an energy
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company. The results showed that H1 was supported for some industries. For instance, for the healthcare industry, a greater number of likes were generated by posts containing the topics of health (β = 3.43, IRR = 30.06, p < 0.001) and safety (β = 1.36, IRR = 3.91, p < 0.001), in addition to the more generic topic of employee/workplace engagement (β = 0.92, IRR = 2.51, p = 0.01), which could be important regardless of the type of industry. Similarly, a greater number of shares were generated by posts with the topics of health (β = 4.93, IRR = 138.67, p < 0.001) and safety (β = 3.47, IRR = 32.00, p < 0.001). The most effective topics for generating comments for the healthcare industry were the topics of health (β = 17.48, IRR = 3.89e + 07, p < 0.001) and employee/workplace engagement (β = 16.19, IRR = 1.07e + 07, p < 0.001).
For the banking industry, business was the one consistent issue topic that was effective in drawing a greater number of likes (β = 3.41, IRR = 30.38, p < 0.001), shares (β = 2.14, IRR = 8.50, p = 0.03), and comments (β = 17.07, IRR = 2.59e + 07, p < 0.001). Other topics that were less uniquely tied to the banking industry but also elicited significantly more engagement included education, health, R & D, finance, and employee/workplace engagement; the effects differed by the type of engagement. For the consumer products industry, which topics were congruent was less clear-cut than for other industries, as such topics would either relate to a core product of the companies or be topics that consumers might generally be interested in. The three companies that we analyzed in the consumer products industry were Kohl’s, Office Depot, and PetSmart, and we considered the topics of business, pets, and charities as congruent topics based on the subject matter most directly tied to the company’s CSR-dedicated Facebook page. The topics of business (β = 0.45, IRR = 1.57, p = 0.03), pets (β = 4.85, IRR = 128.03, p < 0.001), and charities (β = 0.99, IRR = 2.70, p < 0.001) were related to a greater number of likes, along with less congruent (or at least more generic) topics such as education (β = 5.20, IRR = 180.52, p < 0.001) and finance (β = 1.87, IRR = 6.47, p < 0.001). The topics of education (β = 5.47, IRR = 238.04, p < 0.001) and pets (β = 5.32, IRR = 204.16, p < 0.001) were also related to a greater number of shares, along with finance (β = 1.10, IRR = 3.00, p < 0.001). For the energy industry, the only significant issue topics were business (β = 3.4152, IRR = 30.38, p < 0.001) and finance (β = 1.91, IRR = 6.75, p = 0.03), which attracted a greater number of comments.
For other industries, however, the topics that were effective at engaging stakeholders were less tied to the core business of the industries. For the engineering technology industry, for instance, a variety of topics were related to a higher number of likes: education (β = 13.64, IRR = 837,819, p < 0.001), health (β = 12.90, IRR = 402,163.4, p < 0.001), R & D (β = 13.18, IRR = 527,849.4, p < 0.001), business (β = 13.72, IRR = 904,844.5, p < 0.001), the environment (β = 14.31, IRR = 1,637,357, p < 0.001), finance (β = 13.31, IRR = 603,248.3, p < 0.001), employee/workplace engagement (β = 14.00, IRR = 1,206,474, p < 0.001), and charities (β = 15.86, IRR = 7,691,418, p < 0.001). For the entertainment, food service, and communication technology industries, all of the topics generated more engagement. Overall, H1 was supported for some industries, but not for all.
To test H2 to H4, all the different types of dialogic messages strategies were included in one equation as predictors (see Table 1). Strategies that were absent from all posts were excluded from the analysis. A significant relationship between a message strategy type
Table 1 Poisson Regression Results for Dialogic Message Strategies’ Effects on Public Engagement.
IVs Categories DVs
Likes Shares Comments
β (SE1) IRR(SE2) β (SE1) IRR(SE2) β (SE1) IRR(SE2)
Disclosure Presence of disclosure −1.41 (0.61)* 0.24 (0.15)* −1.22 (0.85) 0.30 (0.25) −0.73 (0.69) 0.48 (0.33)
Message Formats Links 0.47 (0.26) 1.60 (0.42) 0.21 (0.35) 1.23 (0.43) 0.68 (0.32)* 1.98 (0.64)*
Photos 1.04 (0.27)*** 2.83 (0.77)*** 0.33 (0.37) 1.39 (0.52) 1.19 (0.26)*** 3.29 (0.87)***
Graphics 1.23 (0.29)*** 3.41 (0.98)*** 1.65 (0.27)*** 5.19 (1.40)*** 0.88 (0.28)** 2.42 (0.67)**
Videos −0.54 (0.78) 0.58 (0.45) −1.07 (0.87) 0.34 (0.30) 0.27 (0.55) 1.32 (0.73) −1.67 (0.43)***
0.19 (0.08)*** −3.10 (0.61)***
0.05 (0.03)*** 0.03 (0.58) 1.03 (0.60)
Interactivity Thanks to public/volunteer/ organization
−0.19 (0.57) 0.83 (0.47) −0.43 (0.71) 0.65 (0.46) 0.06 (0.59) 1.06 (0.62)
Actions on social media 1.40 (0.27)*** 4.06 (1.11)*** 1.15 (0.35)** 3.16 (1.12)** 1.07 (0.37)** 2.92 (1.07)**
Event participation or registration −1.26 (0.69) 0.28 (0.20) −3.10 (0.83)***
0.05 (0.04)*** −2.31 (0.70)** 0.10 (0.07)**
Click on a link for more information
−0.61 (0.42) 0.54 (0.23) −1.18 (0.45)** 0.31 (0.14)** −0.47 (0.41) 0.63 (0.26)
Total Wald χ2 (df = 10) 210.91 323.07 60.14 Total pseudo R2 (%) 16.80 25.39 8.78
Note: N = 533; as independent variables, categories in the table were used in at least one post. If the coefficient (β) was negative, employing the message strategy drew even less engagement than the reference group did; therefore, even if a coefficient was statistically significant, if it was negative, the dialogic strategy was not effective at drawing more engagement. IRR = Incidence-Rate Ratios (since the IVs are categorical variables, IRR indicates the ratio of the differences in DVs between a group and its reference group; if the value of the IRR was 2, that means the group had twice as much in a DV as its reference; if the value of the IRR was less than 1, the reference group had higher number in a DV). SE1 = robust standard error of coefficient; SE2 = robust standard error of the IRR; * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.
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and public engagement means that posts containing the message strategy elicited significantly more public engagement than posts that did not employ the message strategy. Incidence-rate ratios (IRR) represent the ratio of the differences in outcome variables between a group and its reference group.
H2 posited that company messages containing the disclosure of company-related details would elicit more public engagement than those that did not. However, having a message containing that type of information was not related to more engagement. In the case of the number of likes, posts containing company-related details generated less engagement than posts that did not (β = −1.41, IRR = 0.24, p = 0.02), so H2 was not supported.
H3 hypothesized that messages in a user-friendly format would elicit more public engagement than those that did not. As hypothesized, using photos (β = 1.04, IRR = 2.83, p < 0.001) and graphics (β = 1.23, IRR = 3.41, p < 0.001) generated approximately three times the number of likes; the use of graphics generated about five times the number of shares (β = 1.65, IRR = 5.19, p < 0.001) than did messages without these features, and providing links (β = 0.68, IRR = 1.98, p = 0.03), using photos (β = 1.19, IRR = 3.29, p < 0.001), and using graphics (β = 0.88, IRR = 2.42, p = 0.001) yielded two to three times more comments. However, messages with text only generated a lower number of likes (β = −1.67, IRR = 0.19, p < 0.001) and shares (β = −3.10, IRR = 0.05, p < 0.001) than did messages containing multimedia. Additionally, employing videos had no impact on any type of engagement. Therefore, H3 was supported for the use of links, photos, and graphics.
H4 hypothesized that company messages that were interactive would elicit more public engagement than those that did not. The results consistently showed that asking for some action that people could take on social media, such as sharing the message, generated a higher number of likes (β = 1.40, IRR = 4.06, p < 0.001), shares (β = 1.15, IRR = 3.16, p = 0.001), and comments (β = 1.07, IRR = 2.92, p = 0.003). In contrast, interactive messages encouraging event participation or registration were associated with a lower number of shares (β = −3.10, IRR = 0.05, p < 0.001) and comments (β = −2.31, IRR = 0.10, p = 0.001) and interactive messages asking users to click on a link for more information generated a lower number of shares (β = −1.18, IRR = 0.31, p = 0.009). Therefore, for the message strategy of asking users to take some action on social media, H4 was supported.
5. Discussion
Dedicated Facebook pages can provide unique opportunities for companies to engage stakeholders with CSR messages. Little guidance exists, however, as to what types of messages work best in these spaces. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of two types of message strategies—topic and dialogic message strategies—in engaging the public with messages on companies’ CSR-dedicated Facebook pages. To examine the message strategies companies were actually employing and their effectiveness in engaging the public with their messages, we conducted a quantitative content analysis, which is an appropriate method for analyzing historical materials. In analyzing 533 messages from 16 Fortune 500 companies that had CSR-dedicated Facebook pages, we found that overall, despite variations by industry, company–cause fit produced more public engagement with posts. Two dialogic strategies were effective as well: the public were more engaged with posts that incorporated multimedia formats such as links, photos, and graphics, and with interactive messages that asked the public to take some action on social media.
5.1. Company–cause fit
Past research has indicated that it is important for a company to support causes that are congruent with the company’s overall business plan and to communicate about this (e.g., Chandler & Werther, 2014; Maignan & Ferrell, 2004; Waddock & Graves, 1997). The findings of the present study supported this notion. When examining the topics covered by individual companies, most of the messages were congruent with that company’s mission or business model. For example, 81% of the examined Petsmart messages were pet-related. Broadly, the same congruency between company and cause was evident across industry type. Public engagement increased when healthcare companies posted about health- or safety-related information. Similarly, engineering technology companies achieved more public engagement when posting about R & D and business development. For other industries, however, the effective topics were not always tied to the industry’s core business. For example, for the engineering technology industry, engagement was significant for topics such as health and education. For those industries, perhaps the relevance of the topics to the industry mattered less to the stakeholders. There could be more general topics that usually garner more attention from people whether they match the industry type or not. Moreover, a company’s core business or products could be a resource in a more generic way, in which case the concept of congruence can be defined more broadly. The engineering technology industry can undertake significant CSR efforts by engaging in innovative applications of its products within any number of spheres, such as contributing to advances in health or education.
In addition, there are several topics that are important to stakeholders regardless of industry. One such example discovered in this study was that employee/workplace engagement appeared to significantly elicit engagement across industries. The reason for this finding may be that many followers of CSR-dedicated Facebook pages are employees themselves or are citizens interested in the well- being of the company’s employees. In fact, research has shown that members of the public typically expect companies to be good to their employees (Creyer, 1997). The findings of the present study showed that, for most industries, congruent topics elicited more engagement, but some topics were universally engaging, regardless of industry.
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5.2. Dialogic strategies
Examination of the dialogic strategies, however, did not find disclosure of company-related details to significantly affect public engagement. In fact, posts that disclosed company-related details generated less engagement than those that did not. This may be because followers of these dedicated pages were more interested in conversations about CSR programs or stories relating to their interests and viewed company-related information as being self-serving. As stated previously, when the public deems a company’s motives for participating in CSR as self-serving, they are less likely to support that company (Forehand & Grier, 2003). This result suggests that companies need to use CSR-dedicated pages to engage stakeholders through information related to CSR initiatives, rather than using them as a channel for disclosing details about the company.
On the other hand, several message formats did impact public engagement via CSR-dedicated Facebook pages. Specifically, posts that included photos or graphics generated a higher number of likes. The use of graphics generated a higher number of shares, and the use of links, photos, and graphics yielded a higher number of comments. This finding supports previous research which found that multimedia content elicits the most feedback and response (Carrera et al., 2008; Taylor, Kent, & White, 2001), especially when compared to text-only messages. For Facebook, the accessibility and ease of use of these features provide companies with more opportunities to engage with stakeholders. The present findings mirror previous research examining what activities on Facebook engage people more. For instance, Junco (2012) conducted a survey to examine how participants used Facebook and found that, among other activities, viewing photos positively predicted engagement. The results of the present study indicate that visual content from photos or graphics is more likely to draw the public into a message; surprisingly, however, videos were not significant predictors of engagement. This result may be due to the low number of posts that featured videos or because viewing a video requires a longer time investment than viewing a photo or graphic. Overall, users will pay more attention to posts that contain some sort of visual element. Therefore, companies should consider including visual material along with information they share online to help increase public engagement.
Finally, the present results, similar to those of previous studies (e.g., Kelleher & Miller, 2006), support the notion that the more interactive a message is (i.e., the more it explicitly elicits an action from the user), the more public engagement occurs on CSR- dedicated Facebook pages. Consistently, the results showed that asking for users to take some action on social media, such as sharing a message or answering a question, generated a higher number of likes, shares, and comments. Examining the sampled posts, if a company only provided information without suggesting some sort of action, fewer users interacted with the post. However, asking for actions beyond the scope of social media also seemed to discourage the public from engaging with the messages. Users are willing to participate in actions requested by a company but only if that does not require them to do something above and beyond the scope of their online activity.
The findings of this study have both theoretical and practical implications. Previous studies have suggested that communicating CSR information needs to be aligned with a company’s mission and values. The findings of the present study largely support that idea. On CSR-dedicated Facebook pages, the public most frequently engaged with messages that were closely relevant to the company, although there were some exceptions by industry. CSR-dedicated pages on Facebook give companies an opportunity to focus messaging around one specific idea or topic instead of grouping multiple ideas and topics on their general page. The results of this study indicate that using a dedicated space for one specific topic (in this case, CSR-related messages) will lead to stakeholders being more active and interested in the content.
Examining the effects of dialogic strategies in the context of CSR-dedicated Facebook pages produced significant implications as well. Similar to past studies investigating the use of dialogic strategies by companies on SNSs (e.g., Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010; Waters et al., 2009), the present results showed that a user-friendly message format and interactivity produced more public engagement. In accord with previous studies (e.g., Junco, 2012), we found that stakeholders tended to engage with messages that included visual content, and that the public was more likely to engage with interactive content. The present findings also suggest that Facebook users respond most to call-to-action messages and other messages that explicitly ask stakeholders to do something on the platform, rather than messages that just describe or explain what the company is doing.
The present study can serve as the foundation for future content analyses that examine message strategies on SNSs relating to CSR practices, something that has not yet been undertaken. The statistical analysis used in this study can open the door to more sophisticated methods of analysis when using quantitative content analysis; up until now, most content analysis research has been limited to descriptive statistics or cross-tabulation.
In terms of practice, the findings of this study indicate that companies need to pay close attention not only to what CSR information they present on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages, but also to how they present it. If the goal of using CSR-dedicated Facebook pages is to engage the public and initiate dialogue, the results suggest it would be more strategic for companies to communicate messages related to CSR issues, preferably something congruent with the companies’ missions and values, and to include photos, links, or graphics with each message. Specifically, it is recommended that on such pages, a company only post information that is relevant to the company’s industry (e.g., Chevron only posting oil- or gas-related information) and ensure that a photo, graphic, or link is included in that post. To illustrate this point, a business development-related post made by the Mutual of Omaha Foundation that included a link and a photo garnered the most engagement of any of the Mutual of Omaha Foundation posts sampled.
Moreover, the language companies use also needs to be interactive—specifically, it should direct users to perform an action on the Facebook page, such as sharing a post with others or commenting on a particular post. For example, a post by PetSmart Charities that asked the public to click on the included link to read more information about pet adoption elicited an exceptionally high level of engagement. In contrast, when a post did not explicitly ask the user to perform some sort of action, stakeholder engagement was
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lower. One of Cisco CSR’s posts descriptively explained an initiative without including a call to action and elicited only eight likes and no comments or shares.
If a company makes its CSR messages on dedicated Facebook pages more relevant, interactive, and user-friendly, stakeholders may increase their overall engagement with the company, which may have an economic impact, as researchers have found a positive relationship between a company’s CSR involvement and its financial success (e.g., Burke & Logsdon, 1996). Therefore, improving stakeholder engagement on Facebook through CSR-dedicated pages may have financial benefits for companies.
6. Limitations and directions for future research
This study has several limitations. One limitation stems from the sampling method used to select posts to analyze. Although the constructed week method was adapted to fit a full year, the posts chosen may not have fully represented all posts provided by the company. For example, one of the dates randomly drawn using this method was December 25, which resulted in a plethora of holiday-inspired posts for that date. If another date had been randomly sampled instead, it is likely that the messages would have had other themes. In addition, although a year seems to be a sufficient period of time to examine, message content and type might have produced different results if another year had been used as the timeframe.
The second limitation stems from the list of variables in the codebook. Most of the topics were derived from previous research, but the list was not exhaustive. Furthermore, there could be other types of message strategies besides the three types of dialogic message strategies examined in this study.
The third limitation is the number of company Facebook pages examined. Of all the Fortune 500 companies listed in 2014, only 16 had CSR-dedicated Facebook pages. Although our search for useable content was exhaustive, these 16 companies are not fully representative of all the company types on the Fortune 500 list. Expanding the sampling frame may produce more content and more companies to examine. It is also possible that Fortune 500 companies are utilizing other SNSs to disseminate their CSR messages or are disseminating CSR-related messages intermixed with other company messages on their general Facebook pages, instead of on CSR- dedicated Facebook pages. Future studies should examine CSR-related content on a company’s general Facebook page and on other platforms, such as its Twitter feed and YouTube channels.
The fourth limitation stems from the measurement of engagement. The present research operationalized public engagement by counting the number of likes, shares, and comments, a common method scholars have used to analyze public engagement with Facebook posts. Other aspects of the public’s responses, such as the topics or the valence of comments, can be investigated. Furthermore, the relationship between online engagement and real-world engagement with the CSR initiative a company is discussing in its post can also be examined.
The fifth limitation is the different variables that may influence how individuals respond to posts companies make. Although the companies examined in this study were all U.S.-based, the followers of these pages could be anywhere in the world, and several studies have shown that skepticism toward CSR communication is dependent on culture, country, and legislation. Specifically, the history, societal structure, and traditions of a society may influence the extent to which an individual considers CSR communication to be appropriate (Matten & Moon, 2008; Morsing & Schultz, 2006). Furthermore, there are distinctive differences between the practices of working with and communicating about CSR in Europe as opposed to in the U.S. (Birth, Illia, Lurati, & Zamparini, 2008).
The sixth limitation stems from the concept of disclosure and how individuals may engage or interact with varying levels of disclosure. For this study, we examined only the presence or absence of disclosure. This does not capture the degree of disclosure in a given post. Future studies should evaluate the type and degree of information disclosed and its impact on the public’s level of engagement.
The final limitation of this study involves the nature of Facebook and how users are exposed to content. Facebook uses an algorithm that limits what content is seen on a specific user’s wall. This algorithm only selects content from pages that the user frequently visits or that Facebook deems to be relevant or important to that specific user. Therefore, even if a user likes a company’s CSR-dedicated Facebook page, depending on the algorithm, the user may not be readily exposed to a message posted on it unless he or she actively searches for the page.
7. Conclusion
Despite its limitations, the present study extends existing research on the influence of topic and dialogic strategies on engaging key stakeholders via SNSs. By examining the CSR-dedicated Facebook pages of companies on the Fortune 500 list, this study offers insights into what communication strategies best engage the public in this specific space. As companies dedicate more resources to CSR activities, communicating about these activities effectively becomes more important. In terms of engaging stakeholders on dedicated Facebook pages, how a message was presented seemed to be more important than what was being said. Specifically, using a call to action and including a link, photo, or graphic engaged stakeholders the most. However, ensuring that the topics discussed on these pages were congruent with a company’s industry was also important. Users engaged with subject matter that was relevant to the company’s industry more than messages about off-topic subject matter. Therefore, in order to ensure followers’ full participation in and attention to a CSR message, a company also needs to consider conveying topics that are congruent with its industry and mission.
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Appendix A
Companies Sampled in the Study.
Company name CSR Facebook name Grouping Category No. of Followers
Alcoa Alcoa Foundation Engineering technology 1543 Aramark Aramark Building Community Food service 3281 Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment Code Green Entertainment 659 Cardinal Health Cardinal Health Rnspire Health 13,143 Cigna Cigna Together Health 563,951 Cisco Systems Cisco CSR Communication Technology 106,076 Darden Restaurants Darden Citizen Food service 789 Entergy Entergy: The Power to Care Energy 18,151 J.P. Morgan & Chase J. P. Morgan Community Banking 114,333 Kohl’s Kohl’s Cares Safety Crew Consumer products 974 Microsoft Microsoft Citizenship Communication Technology 210,638 Mutual of Omaha Mutual of Omaha Foundation Banking 593 Office Depot Office Depot Foundation Consumer products 2724 PetSmart Inc. PetSmart Charities Consumer products 218,794 United Healthcare Group UHG Gives Health 445 Verizon Communications Verizon Foundation Communication Technology 12,996
Note: The number of followers listed was recorded on October 31, 2014.
Appendix B
Description of Categories in Each Variable.
Variables Categories Description Examples
Issue Topic Education Discusses learning, education, teaching for either children or adults.
“Resources for teaching global competence are available. Check out these sample unit plans.”
Health Concerns with overall health. This can include focusing on exercise, fitness, or overall wellness.
“Looking for tips to stay healthy and active this fall?”
Research & Development Covers the creation of (new) technology, use of technology, or discussion of technology itself.
“Cisco Global Senior Director, Kathy English, talks about the recent news surrounding the newly released technology devices and their impact on access to health care.”
Business development Mentions starting a business, maintaining/sustaining a business or improving businesses. Can include mentions of job growth or highlighting executive members.
“Learn how we are able to help develop a skilled, entrepreneurial workforce to spur innovation and economic growth in Malaysia.”
Safety Explicitly mentions the safety of personal home/family/children. This can include tips about ensuring the life and safety of loved ones.
“Be sure every room in your home is a safe place for children to explore and grow.”
Environment/energy Discusses topics such as the environment, wildlife preservation, conservation of any kind, and energy of any kind.
“Entergy volunteers on the Northshore partnered with Keep Hammond Beautiful for a community trash bash. The volunteers cleaned up local parks and streets.”
Finance Mentions programs specifically having to do with finance or accounting. This can include highlighting financial programs put on by the community.
“Helping communities benefit from the federal Earned Income Tax Credit program has landed Entergy as an award finalist in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Best Economic Empowerment Program.”
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Religion Explicitly mentions a specific religion or holiday.
“Wishing our friends of the Jewish faith a sweet new year.”
Public Policy Discusses overall government or law making initiatives.
“In light of recent activity, we have instituted a new volunteering policy.”
Employee/Workplace Engagement
Describes benefits to employee/ employee welfare or the workplace.
“Did you know that only 13 percent of employees around the world feel engaged at work? Find out more here (link)?
Diversity Discusses minority or disenfranchised groups. This includes the LGBT community and certain races.
“For the third consecutive year, we are proud to be recognized as the Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality by the Human Rights Campaign.”
Message Formats
Links Includes a link to an external URL for more information.
Read all of our latest news here: (link).
Photos Includes a photo. A photo must include live/real people, animals, or objects.
Graphics Includes a visual representation but not of live/real people or things.
Videos Includes a “play” icon (arrow point to the right) in the middle of a still image.
Audio Includes a link or embed an audio file − this will have no video or graphic component.
Links to podcasts are an example.
Includes written descriptive information but is not accompanied by any multimedia features (i.e. photos, videos etc.).
Interactivity Download/Buy Product or Service
A call to action for the post’s reader to download or buy a specific product or service.
“Edutopia − download these professional- development resources, sample lesson plans here.”
Volunteer An explicit mention about volunteering for an event or cause. This can include a direct request for readers to volunteer or can be about volunteering.
“Volunteer activities lead to stronger positive feelings toward an employer when volunteer programs are supported in the workplace. Volunteer today for your company.”
Donate An explicit mention about the donation of money or products.
“Today is the start of our annual employee giving campaign. Last year employees around the globe raised a record $18.6 million!”
Thanks to Public/ Organization
Explicitly shows appreciation toward an individual, group, or organization. The use of words like “thank you” and “appreciate” will be included.
“A big thank you to the young people who were so brave to share their personal experiences in our #Youthspark #backtoschool series this month.”
Actions on social media Includes a call to action that elicits the reader to act a specific way on Facebook. This can include asking the reader to “share”, “like” or “comment”.
“’Share’ with a friend if this made you smile.”
Event Participation/ Registration
Asks readers to participate or register to attend an upcoming event that the organization is affiliated with. This does not include explicit request to volunteer at the event.
“Did you know Friday, Oct. 3 is #NationalManufacturingDay? In celebration, we are bringing you a free virtual field trip of one of Alcoa's plants in Davenport. Register and get more info here (URL).
Click on Link or Read for more information
Explicitly points a reader to a link to find out more information. These posts will include language such as “click for more information” or “read more”.
Today we kick off the annual Give Campaign! Learn more about our employee giving program here: (URL).
Note: These are shortened descriptions of each category. The actual codebook had more detailed information.
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- Messages on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages: What works and what doesn’t
- Introduction
- Review of literature
- Stakeholder engagement with CSR messages
- Company–cause fit
- Dialogic strategies
- Method
- Coding variables
- Coder training
- Results
- Discussion
- Company–cause fit
- Dialogic strategies
- Limitations and directions for future research
- Conclusion
- mk:H1_15
- mk:H1_16
- References
