Corporate Social Responsibility Communication on Social Media: How do companies communicate their CSR strategies?

Social media have become increasingly important for corporate communication over the last couple of years. Consumers nowadays use social media to get information about companies before they make a purchasing decision. This makes an effective online communication strategy very important for companies. Besides the fact that consumers have moved online for information about companies, they also want more and more information about the companies they are interested in. Without certain information, consumers do not trust companies anymore. This explains why information about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become so important. Companies need to include CSR in their communication strategies if they want to be successful. Now that consumers search online for information, CSR communication has moved from the traditional media to social media as well. This paper examines CSR communication on Facebook by the three biggest energy companies in the Netherlands. Moreover, consumer responses to CSR communication are explored. The research is conducted with the use of quantitative content analysis. The results show that even though CSR communication has moved online, companies are still holding on to the traditional form of CSR communication as PR-messages are the most frequently used type of message for online CSR communication.