Do Black Lives Matter More to Companies Represented by Women? An Examination of Gender Differences in Corporate Responses to Racial Reckoning: An Abstract

Abstract

Conventional stakeholder theory suggests that corporations and their agents should avoid engaging in potentially controversial social and political debates, which may alienate existing and potential customers. However, as Bhagwat et al. (2020) note, this wisdom has been challenged as customer and other firm stakeholders have increased pressure on firms to embrace activism promoting societal well-being on myriad topics (e.g. immigration, environmentalism, LGBTQ rights, gender equity, economic inequities, and antiracism) and increase their role in benefiting society globally.

2020 was a historic year marked by tragedy surrounding a global pandemic and notably, in the United States, an increased presence of public protests in response to ongoing national social injustice and racism faced by African Americans. In particular, the publically documented deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd at the hands of police made national and international headlines and became a clarion call for increased sociopolitical activism in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement and support against systemic racism of African Americans. A rise in and visibility of sociopolitical activism increased pressure on firms to evaluate corporate mores and embrace corporate sociopolitical activism involving taking public demonstrations against racism, in the form of official statements, internal corporate actions to ameliorate internal systemic bias, and/or explicit support for external partisan causes intended to influence public policy and social structures.

Drawing on literature from Sociopolitical Activism (CSA), Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), and the Theory of Universal Human Values, we examine the linguistic features of public corporate responses to the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movements. Our research investigates the compositional features of corporate sociopolitical activism, paying particular attention to functional language related to allyship, activism, authenticity, affect, causal language, harm acknowledgement, and psychological stress. Additionally, we report findings suggesting that corporate responses vis-à-vis these language variables differ based on the statement issuer’s sex. We note these contextual differences and close with managerial recommendations.