An evaluation of corporate social responsibility communication on the websites of telecommunication companies operating in Ghana. Impression management perspectives
| Published date | 13 March 2017 |
| Pages | 17-31 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-01-2016-0003 |
| Date | 13 March 2017 |
| Author | Henry Boateng,Ibn Kailan Abdul-Hamid |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information & communications technology |
An evaluation of corporate social
responsibility communication
on the websites of
telecommunication companies
operating in Ghana
Impression management perspectives
Henry Boateng
School of Communication, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney,
New South Wales, Australia, and
Ibn Kailan Abdul-Hamid
Department of Marketing, University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana
Abstract
Purpose –Corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication on corporate websites have become an
emerging trend by firms. Similarly,corporate websites have been used to manage stakeholders’impressions
about the organization.Meanwhile, CSR by firms have been criticized for been a manipulativetactics used by
firms. The purpose of this paper therefore is to ascertain how telecommunication companies operating in
Ghana communicateCSR on their corporate websites.
Design/methodology/approach –This study used a qualitativecontent analysis technique. It also used
Bolino et al.’s (2008) impressionmanagement framework as the conceptual framework. Data wereextracted
from the websites of four telecommunication companies operating in Ghana. Data were analyzed using
thematicanalysis techniques.
Findings –The results show that the companies use impression management in communicating CSR on
their corporate websites.Account, assertive impression management; blaring,boasting, defensive impression
management; demonstrative impression management; exemplification, favor-rendering, illustrative
impression management; ingratiation, other-enhancement, other-focused impression management; self-
enhancement, self-focused impression management; and self-promotion tactics are tactics prevalent in the
CSR communication of the companies. Actor-to-actor link impression management and other emotional
appeal alsoemerged as some of the impression management tactics used by the companies.
Originality/value –This provides insights into how organizationsuse impression management in their
CSR communicationon their corporate websites. Studies of this natureare limited. Again, studies specifically
adaptingBolino et al.’s impression management to study CSR communicationon corporate websites are rare.
Keywords Sustainability, Computer-mediated communication, Communication
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Corporate websites have become a potent channel of communication and a place where
stakeholders can interact with organizations. Most firms have over the years used their
corporate websites to manage their reputation and make known to their stakeholders their
corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives (Hinson et al.,2010;Hinson, 2011;Kloppers
Impression
management
perspectives
17
Received17 January 2016
Revised10 March 2016
Accepted10 March 2016
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.15 No. 1, 2017
pp. 17-31
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-01-2016-0003
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
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