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The atrium effect of website openness on the communication of corporate social responsibility
Author(s) -
GuimarãesCosta Nuno,
e Cunha Miguel Pina
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
corporate social responsibility and environmental management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.519
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1535-3966
pISSN - 1535-3958
DOI - 10.1002/csr.128
Subject(s) - openness to experience , corporate social responsibility , business , position (finance) , visibility , action (physics) , order (exchange) , subject (documents) , accounting , public relations , marketing , political science , psychology , finance , computer science , social psychology , physics , quantum mechanics , library science , optics
This paper applies the image of a Roman atrium to disclosure of CSR activities on company websites, through an examination of the website content of 19 large companies operating in Portugal. The analysis reveals a CSR discourse targeting stakeholders. What is stated is carefully chosen in order to mitigate potential reactions from offended stakeholders, these coming mostly from those areas where their negative impact could be more visible. We conclude that comparison with Roman atria can be made to the extent that (a) websites allow companies to suggest positive images about themselves, (b) their openness forces companies to adopt bi‐focal messages where the target does not always coincide with the message's subject and (c) their visibility and accessibility induce companies to take a position on external events and to seek greater alignment between disclosure and action. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.