Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Communication: A Turkish Industry Example

Abstract

Many companies are concerned with satisfying social responsibility expectations and communicating their policies of corporate social responsibility (hereafter CSR). In other words, CSR communication has become a vital issue in building and sustaining the legitimacy of a company in the eyes of stakeholders. According to the definition provided by Podnar (2008: 75):

CSR communication is a process of anticipating stakeholders’ expectations, articulation of CSR policy and managing of different organization communication tools designed to provide true and transparent information about a company’s or a brand’s integration of its business operations, social and environmental concerns, and interactions with stakeholders.

Companies utilize means, such as advertisements, product labels, media relations, CSR reports, and websites to achieve the above. While advertising and public relations are considered to be open communication, CSR reports and websites are considered to be subtle communication (Morsing and Schultz, 2006). Although the Web is thought to be a passive informational tool (Pomering, 2011), getting information through the Web involves active participation on the part of users. Active participation of users in the communication process is also considered to be a characteristic of the postmodern era, in which communication is taken to be a process whereby “meaning is produced through negotiation and contention between the author, the reader (the receiver) and the culture” (Firat and Dholakia, 2006: 146).