CSR Communication, Corporate Reputation, and the Role of the News Media as an Agenda-Setter in the Digital Age

By using social media, corporations can communicate about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to the public without having to pass through the gatekeeping function of the news media. However, to what extent can corporations influence the public's evaluation of their CSR activities with social media activities and if the legacy news media still act as the primary agenda setters when it comes to corporate reputation have not yet been thoroughly analyzed in a digitized media environment. This study addressed this research gap by looking at the effect of CSR communication through Facebook and news media coverage of CSR on corporate reputation in Switzerland. The results of this longitudinal study show that the salience and tone of news media coverage of CSR were positively related to corporate reputation, even though the news media coverage about CSR was predominantly negative. Thus, reputation was still strengthened even in the face of negative publicity. No effect of CSR communication through Facebook on corporate reputation was found. The results suggest that legacy news media still were influential in determining how the public evaluates corporations in the digital age.

Automated summary

This study investigated the impact of CSR communication through Facebook and news media coverage on corporate reputation in Switzerland. The results found that news media coverage, even when negative, positively influenced corporate reputation, while no effect was found for CSR communication through Facebook. This suggests that legacy news media still play a significant role in shaping public perceptions of corporations in the digital age.