MASTER’S THESIS
Corporate Social Responsibility Communication
on Instagram.
Master’s Thesis
Corporate Social Responsibility Communication on Instagram.
Examining Public’s Comment Valence to Fashion Companies’
CSR Initiatives.
Lilli Franziska Leoni Sauer
12267449
Graduate School of Communication
Master’s Program Communication Science
Track: Corporate Communication
Supervisor: mw. dr. I.R. (Iina) Hellsten
Abstract
Given the limited scope of research conducted to date on CSR communication on the social media platform Instagram and society’s growing awareness for social and environmental issues, this study has three core objectives. First, it examines how fashion companies communicate CSR initiatives on Instagram, differentiating between organizations from two contrasting fashion concepts: fast fashion and sustainable fashion. Second, public’s comments are taken into account to examine comment valence regarding different CSR initiatives, such as communicated CSR topics or applied CSR strategies, and the type of organization. Last, this study further explores if CSR topics and CSR strategies mediate the relation between type of organization and comment valence. The method of content analysis was applied to analyze the Instagram pages of three leading sustainable fashion and fast fashion companies, as well as the corresponding comment valence. The results suggested that both industries mostly focused on topics concerning the environment and applied intrinsic strategies to communicate their CSR initiatives. Topics concerning social causes encountered more positive comments compared to topics like the environment, or the economy. Fast fashion companies received more negative comments than sustainable fashion companies when communicating CSR initiatives on Instagram. Further, no mediating effect of CSR topics and CSR strategies on the relation between type of organization and comment valence was found. Results suggested that communicating specific topics or applying certain strategies did not help to avoid negative comments when belonging to a controversial industry, such as fast fashion. Still, engaging stakeholders on social media, specifically in controversial industries, is essential as it provides a platform for stakeholder’s feedback, which companies should try to implement in their CSR activities. This study provides a basis for future research and helps companies to understand how to effectively implement CSR communication on Instagram.
Keywords: CSR, public relations, stakeholder theory, social media, communication strategies, comment valence, Instagram
Introduction
According to the United Nations Economic Commission 2018 Report, the apparel industry has experienced enormous growth within the last 20 years. Its value is estimated at more than 2.5 trillion dollars, and it employs over 75 million people worldwide. Clothing production has doubled, with consumers buying 60 percent more clothes than 15 years ago (United Nations Economic Commission, 2018). Nevertheless, textile production is one of the most polluting industries in the world (Lee & Lo, 2016). As a response, the sustainable fashion movement has been increasing in importance (Battaglia et al., 2014). Sustainable fashion is associated with organic and environmentally friendly materials (Joergens, 2006), a sustainable business model, fair working conditions, certifications, and traceability
(Henninger et al., 2016). Fast fashion companies are trying to keep up with the sustainability trend and often invest in sustainable actions and implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their marketing strategy (Hildebrand et al., 2011; Powell, 2011). However, these companies face challenges because the core values of CSR conflict with core aspects of the industry (Lock& Schulz-Knappe, 2019; Wong & Danesh, 2017). For instance, the fast fashion industry is associated with cheap, quickly manufactured fashion trends, outsourcing emerging
countries, child labor, the use of chemicals in production that harm the environment, and dangerous workplace conditions for employees (Lueg, Pedersen, & Clemmensen, 2013). Due to society’s growing awareness of social and environmental issues (Razzaq, Ansari, Razzaq & Awan, 2018; Chaudhri & Wang, 2007), CSR is an important factor that must be considered and communicated by organizations. Previous studies demonstrate the potential of social media to engage with consumers to discuss company’s CSR activities (Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2010; Du & Vieira, 2012; Araujo & Kollat, 2018). It allows
organizations to engage consumers by letting them express their expectations and opinions about the organization’s practices (Men & Tsai, 2014). However, communicating CSR on social media is challenging, particularly in controversial industries as fast fashion, which
suffered from severe reputation losses after scandals (Lock & Schulz-Knappe, 2019), and therefore find their organizational legitimacy frequently questioned (Du & Viera, 2012). Communication research has generated manifold insights on the implementation of CSR communication on social media, examining how to strategically use CSR to engage
stakeholders (Abitbol & Lee, 2017), the influence of public’s negative comments regarding CSR campaigns (Rim & Song, 2016), and the impact of platform selection on brand equity (Yang, Basile & Letourneau, 2018). Quite a few studies focus on the impact of CSR communication on public responses (e.g., Austin & Gaither, 2016; Rim & Song, 2016; McDonald, 2011). Until now, research mainly focused on Twitter (Araujo & Kollat, 2018; Lovejoy & Saxton, 2012; Austin & Gaither, 2016) and Facebook (Abitbol & Lee, 2017). Remarkably little is known about CSR communication on the photo-sharing platform Instagram, even though it counts as the fastest growing and most engaging platforms
nowadays (Williams, 2018). Instagram scored ten times the engagement of Facebook and 84 times that of Twitter (Adegbola, Gearhart, and Skarda-Mitchell, 2018). It provides a unique platform for companies to inform and engage stakeholders, as well as reach potential consumers (Adegbola et al., 2018).
According to Adegbola et al. (2018), there is still a lack of research on the capabilities of visual-based social media content. Specifically, research focusing on CSR communication on Instagram is to the author’s best knowledge scarce. In accounting for these shortcomings in research, this study aims to investigate how fashion companies use Instagram to
communicate CSR initiatives and how the public responds to them. First, the study explores which topics and strategies are applied to communicate CSR on Instagram. To examine differences, fast fashion companies which are trying to “create a corporate ethical identity while managing the underlying clash of values between the concepts of CSR and [fast] fashion” (Wong & Danesh, 2017, p. 426), and sustainable fashion companies who already have an ethical corporate identity (Henniger et al., 2015) are taken into account. Second,
public’s comments are considered to examine comment valence regarding different CSR initiatives. Last, the study investigates if a) CSR topics and b) CSR strategies mediate the relation between the type of organization and comment valence. Addressing the outlined gaps in research and serving as a contribution to the understanding of CSR communication and public relations on social media, this research seeks to answer the following research questions:
RQ1: How do fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies communicate their CSR initiatives on Instagram? Are there any differences concerning a) the CSR topics and b) the CSR strategies?
RQ2: To which extent are there differences in comment valence concerning a) the CSR topics and b) the CSR strategies?
RQ3: Does the type of organization influence comment valence?
RQ4: Is the relation between the type of organization and the comment valence mediated by a) CSR topics and b) CSR strategies?
Theoretical Framework Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR is a highly relevant topic in today’s society and business world (Luneberg, Gosselt, & de Jong, 2016). According to Yang et al. (2018), by engaging in CSR activities, organizations are able to build relationships with a broader audience of stakeholders, e.g., customers, communities, companies, employees, governmental institutions, and others involved in an organization’s actions (Snider, Hill, and Martin, 2003). No standard definition of CSR can be found in the literature (van den Heijkant & Vliegenthart, 2018). Although there are several definitions, one of the most comprehensive and widely used is Carroll's (1979), stating that CSR represents a broad category of business activities, including
“economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time” (p. 500). In addition, according to the triple bottom line framework
introduced by Elkington (1994), there are three fundamental parts that organizations should take into consideration in their practice: people, planet, and profit. The concept of CSR expands the notion of performance assessment of organizations to include not only traditional financial performance but also environmental quality and social equity (Austin & Gaither, 2016). Summarized, CSR describes economic, social, and environmental responsibilities of a company.
CSR topics. Several scholars examined how companies frame CSR activities in the
media (e.g., Etter, 2014; Onkila et al., 2014; van den Heijkant & Vliegenthart, 2018). Van den Heijkant and Vliegenthart (2018) used automated content analysis to identify implicit frames in press releases and newspaper articles. Following, six frames emerged concerning the topics Economic Performance & Growth, Society’s Welfare, Environmental Protection, Global Business Activities & Responsibilities, Fair & Sustainable Products, Educational & Charitable Programs. Regarding social media, Etter’s (2014) content analysis of Twitter tweets demonstrates that among the topics addressed, the environment is the most prominent one, followed by philanthropy and climate change. Employee relations, human rights, and governance find far less attention in CSR communication on Twitter.
Additionally, for the objective of the present study, focusing on the photo-sharing platform Instagram, the use of visuals is an important aspect of CSR communication. Garcia and Greenwood (2013) examined photographs in corporate reports and found that
environmental sustainability is predominantly depicted visually. For instance, companies framed their CSR actions by portraying their employees as thoughtful humans who take action in protecting the environment. These photographs frame companies as proactive in improving the planet while conducting business. The analyzed companies did not only promote environmental awareness but also highlighted their innovative quality products and services, as well. Additionally, promoting achievements and developments for which the company gained recognition (e.g., sustainability rankings) and the portrayal of people instead
of products, technology, or locations were prominent in corporate reports (Garcia & Greenwood, 2013).
With regard to the fashion industry as the main thematic focus, Todeschini et al. (2017) identified the relevant trends and drivers of sustainability-related innovations through a systemic review of the literature and empirical research comprised of interviews with specialists in sustainability, business model innovation, and the fashion industry, along with eight additional case studies on innovative fashion startups. Trends included topics such as a circular economy, recycling, upcycling, vegan materials, fair working conditions, as well as fair trade and locally sourced materials. Moreover, technological innovations like sustainable and raw materials or a zero-waste policy are trending topics in the fashion industry
(Todeschini et al., 2017). With regard to fast fashion companies trying to follow the sustainability trend (Hildebrand et al., 2011; Powell, 2011) and trying to create an ethical identity, it seems plausible that they focus on topics that sustainable fashion companies already have anchored in their business model. Nonetheless, scarcity in scholarly findings calls for further investigation. Therefore, instead of formulating a hypothesis, the following research question is posed.
RQ1a: How does fast and sustainable fashion companies’ CSR communication on Instagram differ concerning CSR topics?
CSR strategies. Kotler and Lee (2005) identified six CSR initiatives and defined them
as predominant activities for organizations to support social causes and to implement CSR (McDonald, 2011). These initiatives are mainly socially oriented, targeting external
stakeholders with internal corporate activities, such as socially responsible business practices (McDonald, 2011). Following Kotler and Lee (2005), CSR initiatives comprise Cause
Community Volunteering, and Socially Responsible Business Practices. Adopted from McDonald (2011) and Kotler and Lee (2005), the CSR initiatives can be defined as follows: Cause Promotions involve an organization providing funds, in-kind contributions, or other assets to increase the awareness about a social cause or to support the collection of donations. Cause Marketing pertains donating a percentage of the company’s income based on its product sales for a specific cause. Moreover, Corporate Social Marketing describes a company’s activity that aims to improve public health or the environment. In addition, Corporate Philanthropy is defined as providing direct contribution to a charity or cause, typically through donations. Besides, Community Volunteering refers to a company supporting and encouraging individuals to volunteer to support other organizations and
causes. Lastly, Socially Responsible Business Practices include company’s implementation of business practices that support social concerns in order to improve community welfare and the environmental protection.
However, communicating CSR initiatives varies depending on a company’s underlying motive (Du et al., 2010). Previous research (Du et al., 2010) suggests that a
company’s CSR motive can be either extrinsic or intrinsic. First, extrinsic motives are defined as a motive where the company is trying to increase its profits. Thus, extrinsic CSR practices are those perceived to be done to gain benefit in return. Therefore, stakeholders may perceive the organization as being strategic in its investments (Du et al., 2010). Contradictory, intrinsic motives are defined as operating sincere, meaning that companies engage in CSR practices because they care (Du et al., 2010). For the objective of this paper, the term CSR strategy is defined as the CSR initiative chosen by the company, belonging to either intrinsic or extrinsic motives. Kotler & Lee’s (2005) initiatives are part of the intrinsic motive, as they mainly belong to socially-oriented practices (McDonald, 2011), whereas product advertising, information promoting the company, e.g., achievement, rankings, developments, as well as the publication of CSR reports or other CSR related documents, are part of the extrinsic
motive. In this sense, organizations strategically benefit from CSR, e.g., through revenues or a good reputation (Du et al., 2010). Thus far, very few academic research has investigated the fashion industry’s CSR communication on Instagram. Therefore, instead of formulating a hypothesis, the following research question is posed.
RQ1b: How does fast and sustainable fashion companies’ CSR communication on Instagram differ concerning CSR strategies?
CSR communication on Social Media
The approach that CSR communication is a part of stakeholder management is well established in CSR literature (Crane & Glozer, 2016). Therefore, stakeholder theory
introduced by Freeman (1984) will be utilized as a theoretical framework to further unravel the potential impacts of fashion companies’ CSR communication on consumer engagement, particularly on public’s comment valence. Stakeholder theory stresses responsibility towards a wider spectrum of organizational components (Crane & Glozer, 2016), defining a
stakeholder as “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firm’s objectives” (Freeman, 1984, p. 26). Although CSR covers a broad category of business activities, efforts must be communicated to inform stakeholders about these activities (Austin and Gaither, 2016). The development of online communication platforms, such as social media, gives stakeholders and the public more insights and access to companies and their social behavior than ever before (Austin and Gaither, 2016). Thus, stakeholders need to be managed, for instance, through information dissemination, dialogue, and other types of one- and two-way communication (Crane & Glozer, 2016). Austin and Gaither (2016) further noted that stakeholders are not passive recipients of organizations’ communication anymore but have the opportunity to engage and evaluate content in a way that is visible for other users. Thus, social media empowers stakeholders by giving them the opportunity to actively
engage in producing and delivering information, as well as sharing their knowledge with other stakeholders (Rim & Song, 2016).
Comment valence. Previous research highlights the advantages social media offers
for companies to communicate CSR, mainly its greater reach and persuasive power through two-way conversations. Thus, a proactive approach is recommended for the use of social media in CSR communication (Du & Vieira, 2012; Rim & Song, 2016). Further, Men and Stai (2014) explain that stakeholders’ participation in strategically managed social media can lead to the development of relationships with an organization. For instance, by participating in the conversations on a company’s social media, stakeholders can directly involve the
organization and others on a more personal and social level. Additionally, Du and Vieira (2012) state that social media helps to reduce stakeholder’s skepticism towards a CSR initiative, as the public may value the company’s honesty and transparency.
Nevertheless, CSR communication on social media comes along with challenges for companies (Du et al., 2010). Organizations have less control over messages being distributed (Du et al., 2010). It is therefore crucial to carefully develop guidelines to identify the right type of CSR information to be promoted on social media and to determine the most suitable social media platforms (Yang et al., 2018). Previous research (Walther, Van Der Heide, Hamel, & Shulman, 2009) found that negative comments about a company can influence public’s opinion and may be disseminated to a large audience on the Internet. According to Rim and Song (2011), negative publicity could damage a company because people consider negative information more important than positive information when evaluating a company or product.
According to Du et al. (2010), several factors impact the effectiveness of CSR communication. This involves “questions surrounding what to communicate (i.e.
message content), where to communicate (i.e., message channel), as well as an understanding of the company- and stakeholder-specific factors” (p. 9). Thus, inspired by the framework of
Du et. Al (2010) and for the objective of the present study, the type of organization,
associated with company specific factors such as reputation and industry, as well as message content, such as CSR topic and CSR strategy, are taken into account to analyze consumer’s comment valence (see Figure 1). For the purpose of this paper, comment valence is defined as whether public’s comments are negative, positive, or neutral.
Type of organization. According to the framework of Du et al. (2010), a company’s
reputation moderates the effectiveness of CSR communication because it functions as an already existing evaluation guide on which stakeholders rely when interpreting information about a company, e.g., its CSR activities. Companies with good reputations, which are perceived as credible, are likely to encounter positive effects of their CSR communication, whereas companies with bad reputations will face more negative effects (Du et al., 2010; Yoon et al. 2006). Elving et al. (2012) further found that reputation influences skeptical responses to a company’s CSR engagement. Results indicated that a negative reputation caused more skepticism compared to a company that has a positive reputation. In addition, the sector in which a company operates can impact the success of CSR communication (Du et al., 2010). Stakeholders are often skeptical of companies in particular industries, such as fast fashion, which can be a major challenge (Bhattacharya & Sen, 2004). Since fast fashion companies belong to an industry suffering from reputation losses after being involved in scandals (Lock & Schulz-Knappe, 2019), the following hypothesis is proposed.
H1: Fast fashion companies will receive a more negative comment valence than sustainable fashion companies.
CSR topic and comment valence. According to the framework of Du et al. (2010),
message content, amongst other factors, is key in producing internal outcomes, such as awareness, attitudes, identification, and trust, as well as external outcomes, such as
consumers’ purchase, loyalty, and advocacy among stakeholders. A company’s CSR message should mostly concern a social cause itself or a company’s particular participation in a social cause (Du et al., 2010). To a great extent, CSR communication focuses on a company’s commitment to a variety of social issues instead of social issues themselves (Du et al., 2010). Companies are emphasizing their commitment and impact they have on the cause, as well as why they participate in specific social initiatives (Du et al., 2010). According to Du et al. (2010), donating funds, in-kind contributions, marketing expertise, or human capital, are possible examples. As suggested by prior research, focusing on a company’s CSR
commitment, or the social implications of its CSR activities, is an effective communication strategy as it is objective and avoids being perceived as a show-off (Du et al., 2010; Sen, Du, & Bhattacharya, 2009). Based on this logic, the following hypothesis will be tested.
H2a: CSR posts addressing topics concerning social causes will relate to a more positive comment valence than CSR posts addressing topics such as environment or economy.
Based on the above-mentioned framework of Du et al. (2010), message content and company specific aspects are key in producing internal and external outcomes. Therefore, this study suggests the mediating effect as follows:
H2b: The relation between type of organization and comment valence will be mediated by the CSR topic communicated by the organization.
CSR strategy and comment valence. Another major challenge of CSR
communication is to reduce stakeholder skepticism (Du et al., 2010). Stakeholders want to know more about companies’ CSR practices but also tend to become doubtful of the
companies’ motives when they actively promote their CSR efforts (Du et al., 2010). Studies highlight (e.g., Yoon et al. 2006) that a stronger presence of intrinsic motives lead to more
positive conclusions and therefore, to more positive reactions regarding the company. Contradictory, the presence of mostly extrinsic motives generates more negative stakeholder opinions and actions towards the company. Further, Ellen, Webb, and Mohr (2006) examined the influence of consumers' attributions on corporate outcomes in response to CSR and found that when CSR attributions were mixed, respondents’ feedback to CSR was more positive than when attributions were purely intrinsic or extrinsic. In line with other research (Forehand & Grier, 2003), Ellen et al. (2006) found that stakeholders are often positively inclined to extrinsic motives when CSR initiatives show intrinsic motives as well. Additionally,
stakeholders do not always react critically to extrinsic CSR motives. Instead, they often react critically to marketing campaigns that appear manipulative (Forehand & Grier, 2003). In this sense, any divergence between the perceived CSR motive and the company’s actual motive will lead to skepticism and possible negative reactions to CSR activities (Du et al., 2010). Hence, the following hypotheses are proposed.
H3a: The higher the presence of intrinsic motives in a CSR post, the more positive the comment valence.
H3b: The higher the presence of extrinsic motives in a CSR post, the more negative the comment valence.
H3c: The presence of mixed motives in a CSR post will lead to a more positive comment valence than the presence of purely intrinsic or extrinsic motives.
According to Ellen et al. (2006), the perceived CSR motive guides public’s responses to a company and results of the authors research confirmed the mediating role of perceived altruism. Additionally, by drawing on the conceptual framework of Du et al. (2010), arguing that the CSR motive is influencing internal and external outcomes, the study proposes a potential mediating effect of the CSR strategy applied by the organization.
H3d: The relation between type of organization and comment valence will be mediated by the CSR strategy applied by the organization.
The presented research questions and hypotheses lead to the conceptual model of this research portrayed in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Conceptual diagram adapted from Hayes (2013), illustrating the relation between type of organization and comment valence, mediated by CSR topic and CSR strategy.
Methodology Sample and data collection
A manual quantitative content analysis was chosen for this study to systematically analyze the CSR communication of fashion companies’ Instagram pages and the
corresponding comment valence. The study sampled corporate Instagram posts of three major global fast fashion retailers - H&M Group (H&M, Monki, and other Stories, Weekday), Inditex (Zara & Mango), and Fast Retailing (Uniqlo) (FastRetailing, 2019) - and three leading
sustainable fashion companies: Reformation, Everlane and Patagonia (Morgan, 2020) (see Table 1, Appendix A). To ensure enough CSR related content of fast fashion companies, major global fast fashion retailers and their corresponding companies were taken into account
(e.g., H&M Group contains the companies H&M, and other Stories, Monki, and Weekday). The first step in data collection was to identify the Instagram profiles from all companies. Second, all CSR related Instagram posts of the above-mentioned companies, from January 2016 until March 2020, and the first five comments under all posts from this time span were collected. The study defines “CSR related post” as a post containing topics such as the company’s responsibility towards society, environment, economy, employee relations, and ethics. Advertising and unrelated comments were excluded from the sample. Moreover, the timeframe was set between January 2016 and March 2020 because, according to Google Trends, the topics sustainable fashion and ethical fashion increased since January 2016. Additionally, based on own research and the study of Yang et al. (2018), little CSR
information can be found on Instagram, which is why a longer time frame is beneficial. As a result, 94 CSR posts of fast fashion companies were collected. Regarding sustainable fashion companies, 150 CSR posts were gathered. With the help of an online randomizer
(random.org) 94 posts out of 150 were randomly selected to ensure the same amount of posts. In total, this study analyzed a sample containing 188 CSR posts and 940 comments from 10 textile companies.
Procedure and Measurement
The codebook (see Appendix D) underlying this research is divided into six main sections. First, general information about the coder, the publication date, the brand-name, and the type of the organization are captured. The following two sections focus on textual and visual aspects of the posts. The fourth and fifth part are focusing on the independent variables CSR topics and CSR strategies. Finally, the dependent variable comment valence is covered.
CSR topics. In order to construct the codebook for the present study, a distinction was
made between three main CSR topics based on Elkington’s triple bottom line (1994),
Society and Economy were further divided into subcategories based on the research of van den
Heijkant and Vliegenthart (2018). Subcategories for the social aspect are Gender Equality, Inclusion and Diversity, Human Rights, Education Related Initiatives, and Charity. The
economic aspect is further divided into Benefits of CSR Activities for Company, Costs, and Investments. Finally, the category Environment includes the subcategories Preservation of the
Planet, Recycling, and Sustainable materials/products (Garcia and Greenwood, 2013). First,
each topic is operationalized on a dichotomous scale, in particular, whether they were present or not (0/1). In a second step, in order to measure the overall topic, an index was conducted out of the subcategories: Economy (M = .01, SD = .06), Society (M = .06, SD = .11), and Environment (M = .30, SD = .22).
CSR strategies. For the objective of this study, CSR strategy is defined as the CSR
motive chosen by the company. Following the categories suggested by Du and Bhattacharya (2010), each post was categorized as to whether it uses intrinsic or extrinsic CSR motives. The intrinsic motive was further divided into subcategories based on Kotler & Lee (2005), as they portray the company as acting out of a genuine concern for focal issue (Du &
Bhattacharya, 2010): Corporate Social Marketing, Cause Promotion, Corporate
Philanthropy, Community Volunteering, Socially Responsible Business Practices, and Cause
Related Marketing. The extrinsic motive was divided into the subcategories Promotion,
Advertising, and CSR Report. These subcategories were added and adapted based on Du and
Bhattacharya (2010) in order to capture if the company is seen as attempting to increase its profits. Again, all variables were measured on a dichotomous scale, whether they were present or not (0/1). Subsequently, an index was conducted to measure the presence of each strategy: Extrinsic (M = .11, SD = .16), and Intrinsic (M = .18, SD = .06). Based on existing literature (Ellen et al., 2006) it can be assumed that both motives can be present at the same time. Therefore, the new variable Mixed Motives (M = .31, SD = .46) was computed to measure the presence of both strategies.
Comment Valence. Comment valence was measured on a 5-point Likert scale reaching
from very positive (1) to very negative (5) (adopted from Crijns, Cauberghe, Hudders, & Claeys, 2017), indicating that the higher the scale, the more negative the comment valence and the lower the scale, the more positive the comment valence. Because each comment serves as a separate coding unit, a new variable was conducted out of the mean value of all five variables concerning comment valence (M = 2.02, SD = .75).
Intercoder Reliability
The intercoder reliability was conducted with the help of a second coder who was experienced with CSR communication research. As not all variables showed sufficient results after the first round of coding, adjustments like more detailed instructions and examples were added to the codebook. Krippendorff’s Alpha was calculated by coding a random sample (n = 19), which is approximately ten percent of the whole sample (N = 188). After the second round of coding, all Krippendorff’s Alpha coefficients ranged from .69 to 1 (see Table 2, Appendix B), which indicated satisfactory to very good reliability (Riffe et al., 2019). Because the variable Community Volunteering was not present at all, Krippendorff’s Alpha could not be calculated. With an average Krippendorff’s Alpha coefficient of .86, the overall reliability of the codebook was considered acceptable.
Method of Analysis
In order to investigate how fashion companies communicate CSR initiatives on Instagram and the comment valence concerning these activities, multiple analyses were conducted. First, descriptive statistics were used to get an overview of textual and visual aspects of the CSR posts and to explore the main variables. Second, independent t-tests, crosstabs, and chi-square tests were performed to examine differences between fast fashion companies and sustainable fashion companies in terms of communicated CSR topics and
applied CSR strategies. To answer H1, an independent t-test was conducted to find differences between fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies concerning comment valence. To find support for H2a, H3a and H3b, linear regression models were conducted to determine a relation between comment valence and CSR topics, as well as comment valence and CSR strategies. Moreover, to test the mediation effect of CSR topic and CSR strategy on the relation between type of organization and comment valence, regression analyses were performed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS by Hayes (2018). Assumptions were tested before the analyses. This included tests for homoscedasticity and a test for normality
distribution.
Results Textual and visual aspects
Descriptive statistics demonstrated that fashion companies’ CSR posts on Instagram consisted of 37 words on average (M = 36.77; SD = 39.71). 72.9 % of all companies included hashtags, and 27.1 % included a link to an external URL, forwarding the consumer to more information. It is noticeable that 78.2 % of all CSR posts were photographs, only 21.8 % were graphics or illustrations. 58 % of all visuals included text to give more information besides the text in the caption. 51.6 % of all fashion companies displayed humans in their posts, followed by an environmental setting (36.2 %) and the companies’ products (28 %).
Concerning differences of fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies (see Table 3, Appendix C), it is noticeable that sustainable fashion companies (M = 45.89, SD = 51.89) used more words in their caption to describe the CSR initiative than fast fashion companies (M = 27.64, SD = 17.73) and chose more often (M = .45, SD = .50) an environmental setting in their pictures compared to fast fashion companies (M = .28, SD = .45). On the other hand, fast fashion companies (M = .36, SD = .48) showed their products more often than sustainable
fashion companies (M = .20, SD = .40), as well as presented the product’s material more often (M =.12, SD = .32) than sustainable fashion companies (M = .03, S = .18).
Presence of CSR topics and strategies
Descriptive statistics (see Table 4, Appendix C) demonstrated that among the topics addressed, the Environment (74.5 %) was the most prominent one (M = .30, SD = .22). In more detail, companies mostly depicted issues concerning the Preservation of the planet (M = .34, SD = .48), followed by Sustainable Products (M = .30; SD = .43) and Recycling Activities (M = .24, SD = .46). Issues concerning the Society (M = .06, SD = .11) are in second place (27.7 %) among the topics addressed. Companies mostly depicted issues concerning Human Rights (M = .10, SD = .30), followed by Gender Equality (M = .08, SD = .27), Charity (M =
.08, SD = . 27) and Inclusion and Diversity (M = .05, SD = .23). Interestingly, topics
concerning the Economy (M = .007, SD = .06) were only present in 1.6 % of all cases and will therefore be excluded from further analysis.
With respect to CSR strategies it is conspicuous that 98.4 % of fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies applied intrinsic motives (M = .98, SD = .13) in their CSR post. Specifically, companies mentioned their Sustainable Business Practices (M= .54, SD = .50) most often, followed by strategies like Cause Promotion (M = .21, SD = .41), Corporate Social Marketing (M = .18, SD = .39), Cause Related Marketing (M = .09, SD = .28) and
Corporate Philanthropy (M = .06, SD = .25). Moreover, extrinsic motives (M =. 31, SD =. 46)
were present in 30.9 % of all CSR posts with companies advertising their products in first place (M =. 26, SD = .44) and second, to promote themselves with company related
information concerning CSR (M = .04, SD = .20). In line with the expectations, intrinsic and extrinsic motives were present at the same time, which illustrated that the companies did not
intrinsic motives, as well. Posts with only extrinsic motives were not present. However,
69.1% of all posts depicted purely intrinsic motives (M= .98, SD = .13).
Type of organization and CSR topics (RQ1a)
Independent t-tests were conducted to examine differences in the selection of the CSR topics communicated by fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies. Results revealed
significant differences concerning the communication of environmental topics t (188) = 3.60, p < .001, d = .51. Fast fashion companies (M =. 25, SD = .06) communicated more about
topics concerning the Environment compared to sustainable fashion companies (M =. 17, SD =. 02). Specifically, crosstabs and chi-square tests were conducted to look at each item concerning the topic individually. Results demonstrated a significant but weak association between type of organization and issues concerning Recycling X2 (1, N = 188) = 33.27, p < .001, Tau = .18. Fast fashion companies communicated more often about topics concerning Recycling (M = .43, SD = .59) than sustainable fashion companies (M = .06, S = .25). Again, a
weak but significant association regarding the topic Sustainable Products was found X2 (1, N = 188) = 21.17, p < .001, Tau= .11. Fast fashion companies communicated more about Sustainable Products (M = .46, SD = .50) than sustainable fashion companies (M = .15, SD =
.36). On the other hand, sustainable fashion companies communicated more about topics concerning the Preservation of the Planet (M = .51, SD = .50) than fast fashion companies (M = .17, SD = .38), X2 (1, N = 188) = 24.26, p < .001, Tau = .13. With regards to the overall topic concerning the Society, no significant differences could be found. However, crosstabs and chi-square tests demonstrated that sustainable fashion companies depict issues like
Human Rights (M= .17, SD= .38) more often than fast fashion companies (M= .02, SD = .15),
Type of organization and CSR strategies (RQ1b)
Again, independent t-tests were conducted to examine differences in the selection of the CSR strategy applied by fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies. Results showed significant differences in the use of intrinsic motives, t (186) = 11.76, p = .054, d = .28. Specifically, crosstabs and chi-square tabs indicated significant differneces concerning the items Sustainable Business Practices and Cause Related Marketing. Fast fashion companies communicated more about their involvement in business activities related to perceived social good, such as Sustainable Business Practices (M = .67, SD = .47), than sustainable fashion companies (M = .41, SD = .50), X2 (1, N = 188) = 12.35, p < 0.001, Tau = .07. On the other hand, sustainable fashion companies (M = .15, SD =. 36) applied Cause Related Marketing more often than fast fashion companies (M = .02, SD = .15), X2 (1, N = 188) = 9.84, p = 0.002, Tau = .05.
Type of organization and comment valence (H1)
H1 suggested that fast fashion companies receive less favorable responses than
sustainable fashion companies. Consistent with this hypothesis, independent t-tests provided support for H1. Results showed that the average comment valence of fast fashion companies (M = 2.21, SD = .80) was less favorable compared to sustainable fashion companies (M = 1.84, SD = .63) t (176.765) = 4.76, p = .001, d = .50. Thus, H1 can be supported.
CSR topic and comment valence (H2a)
Linear regression analyses were employed to evaluate which CSR topic contributed to the prediction of comment valence. H2a suggested that topics concerning the Society would relate to a more favorable comment valence. A linear regression model was conducted with the CSR topic Society as independent and comment valence as dependent variable (see Table
2). The model showed significant results, F (1, 186) = 5.41, p = .02, and can therefore be used to predict comment valence. However, the strength of the model is weak: only two percent of comment valence can be explained by the CSR topic Society (R2 = .03). Moreover, a linear regression model was conducted with the CSR topic Environment as independent and comment valance as dependent variable. However, no significant results could be found. To
sum up, H2a can be supported, as with the presence of society related topics, comment valence is getting more favorable, b* = - .21, t = -2.94, p = .004, 95% CI [- .59, - .12] (see
Table 5, Appendix C).
CSR strategy and comment valence (H3a-c)
In order to asses if CSR strategy predicts comment valence, particularly if a higher presence of intrinsic or extrinsic motives predicts a more positive or negative comment valence (H3a & H3b), two separate linear regression models were conducted, entering the
intrinsic and extrinsic strategy as independent and comment valence as dependent variable.
None of the models were significant (see Table 6, Appendix C). Thus, H3a and H3b were not supported. Additionally, a linear regression model was run with Mixed Motives (presence of extrinsic and intrinsic strategy) as independent and comment valence as dependent variable to asses if the presence of mixed motives predicted comment valence. Again, the model is not significant. Thus, H3c was not supported.
Mediation effects (H2b & H3d)
To determine, whether CSR topics or CSR strategies mediate the relation between type of organization and comment valence, mediation analyses were performed using the
PROCESS macro by Hayes (2018), with 5000 bootstrap samples. In particular, two separate analyses were performed for the CSR topic, focusing on the topics Environment and Society. Concerning CSR strategy, only the analysis for the intrinsic strategy was performed because
the extrinsic strategy did not show any significant results in RQ1b or H3b and will therefore be excluded from the mediation analysis.
CSR topic: Environment. In line with H1, simple mediation showed a significant association of the direct path between type of organization and comment valence, b = -.35, SE = .11, t (186) = -3.19, p = .002, 95% CI = [-.57, -.13]. In conformity with results of RQ1a, significant associations between type of organization and the topic Environment could be found, b = -.11, SE =.030, t (186) = -3.56, p < .001, 95% CI = [-.17, -.05]. Again, in line with findings of H2a, no significant association could be found regarding the topic Environment and comment valence b = .23, SE = .25, t (185) = .890, p =. 376, 95% CI = [-.28, .73]. H2b proposed an indirect effect of type of organization and comment valence, mediated by the CSR topic. As expected, this effect was not significant, b = -.02, SE = .02, 95% CI = [-.07,
.02], since no significant association was found between the topic Environment and comment valence (see Figure 2).
CSR topic: Society. In line with H1, simple mediation shows a negative association of the direct path between type of organization and comment valence, b = -.36, SE = .11, t(186) = -3.40, p = .001, 95% CI = [-.57, -.15]. In conformity with results of RQ1a, no
significant relation could be found between type of organization and the topic Society, b = .01, SE =.02, t (186) = .887, p = .376, 95% CI = [-.02, .05]. Again, in line with H2a, a
significant effect could be found between the topic Society and comment valence b = - .99, SE =. 44, t (185) = -2.24, p = .030 95% CI = [- 1.87, -. 12.]. H2b proposed an indirect effect of type of organization on comment valence, mediated by the CSR topic. As expected, this effect
was not significant b = -.01, SE = .02, 95% CI = [-.06, .02], since no significant association was found between the type of organization and the topic Society. Thus, H2b was not supported as neither the CSR topic Environment, nor Society mediate the relation between type of organization and comment valence (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Part of conceptual diagram illustrating the relation between type of organization and
comment valence, mediated by the CSR topics Environment and Society; *p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
CSR strategy: intrinsic. Again, in line with H1, simple mediation shows a negative association of the direct path between type of organization and comment valence, b= -.35, SE = .11, t (186) = -3.24, p = .001, 95% CI = [-.57, -.14]. Contradictory to findings of RQ1b, no significant relation could be found between type of organization and the intrinsic CSR strategy, b = - .02, SE =. 01, t (186) = -1.92, p = .06, 95% CI = [- .03, .00]. A possible reason could be that even if the independent t-test provided general support for differences in the selection of the CSR strategy applied by fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies (RQ1b), the significance level was at the border (p = .54). Once entered the variables into the regression model, this association did not remain significant. It should also be noted here that the p-value of the regression is almost significant (p =.06), and the type of organization might
contribute to the prediction of the intrinsic strategy, even if not proven in this study. Furthermore, in line with the results of H3a, no significant effect could be found
between the intrinsic strategy and comment valence b = 1.45, SE = 1.38, t (185) = 1.04, p = .30, 95% CI = [-1.30, 4.12]. H3d hypothesized that the relation between type of organization
and comment valence would be mediated by CSR strategy. As expected, since neither the link between type of organization and CSR strategy, nor between CSR strategy and comment
valence proved to be statistically significant, CSR strategy did not function as mediator,
because no indirect effect was found b = -.02, SE = .03, 95% CI = [-.09, .01] (see Figure 3). Thus, H3d was not supported.
Figure 3. Part of conceptual diagram illustrating the relation between type of organization and comment valence, mediated by CSR strategy; *p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
Discussion
This study aimed to investigate how fashion companies communicate CSR initiatives on Instagram and the comment valence concerning these CSR initiatives. Particularly, it explored differences between fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies in terms of communicated CSR topics and applied CSR strategies, as well as the potential mediating effect of CSR topics and CSR strategies on the relation between type of organization and comment valence. The study thereby extends past research that mainly focused on CSR communication on the social media platforms Twitter and Facebook (Austin & Gaither, 2016; Abitbol & Lee, 2017; Araujo & Kollat, 2018; Lovejoy & Saxton, 2012).
First, it was noticeable that sustainable fashion companies communicated more about CSR on Instagram and used more words to describe their CSR initiatives than fast fashion companies. A possible reason for less CSR posts from fast fashion companies could be the fear of encountering skepticism, as the core values of CSR are in conflict with core aspects of the industry (Wong & Danesh, 2017; Lock& Schulz-Knappe, 2019). The results of this study confirmed that fast fashion companies receive less favorable comment valence to CSR initiatives compared to sustainable fashion companies. This finding is in line with earlier research investigating the credibility of a CSR website as a main predictor of legitimacy, with the result that companies in controversial industries often face difficulties to communicate with their stakeholders about their social and environmental performance (Lock & Schulz-Knappe, 2019).
Moreover, topics about the Environment were most present in CSR posts of fashion companies on Instagram. This finding is in line with earlier research investigating different communication strategies for CSR communication on Twitter (Etter, 2014). Considering the differences between fast fashion and sustainable fashion it needs to be mentioned that in total, fast fashion companies are communicating more about the Environment, particularly about Recycling Activities and Sustainable Products of their collection. At the same time, the
companies visually displayed their products and the material the product is made of. As expected, and in line with earlier research (Todeschini et al., 2017), fast fashion companies focused on topics that sustainable fashion companies already anchored in their business model. On the other hand, sustainable fashion companies communicated more about the Preservation of the Planet, which is consistent with the visual results of this study, showing
that sustainable fashion companies mostly display an environmental setting in their pictures. Considering social topics, sustainable companies communicated more about issues
concerning Human Rights. However, both industries focused more on the environmental aspects of CSR than on social or economic aspects.
Considering CSR topics and comment valence, posts addressing social causes received a more positive comment valence. This finding accords with prior research by Sen et al. (2009), stating that the companies’ emphasis on social causes is an effective communication strategy. However, both fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies focused on the
environmental aspect of CSR. Based on results of this study, companies should focus more on topics concerning social causes, as this topic seems to be better received by the public.
It is noteworthy that both fast fashion and sustainable fashion companies applied the intrinsic strategy in all of their CSR posts on Instagram. Approximately half of all CSR posts
portrayed the company as manufacturing sustainable. In line with prior research (Ellen et al., 2006), the companies did not always depict one single strategy. In one third of all CSR posts, intrinsic and extrinsic motives could be found at the same time. Besides, Product Advertising
was the most common topic when applying the extrinsic strategy. However, it is important to note that a purely extrinsic strategy was not present in any CSR posts.
Considering differences in the fashion industry, more fast fashion companies
portrayed themselves as a sustainable business, while supporting and conducting sustainable business practices to support and protect the environment. However, sustainable fashion companies portrayed themselves more as taking responsibility through donating a percentage of their income for a specific purpose.
Furthermore, results did not suggest a relation between CSR strategies and comment valence. The lack of evidence contrasts with prior research. For instance, findings from experiments conducted by Yoon et al. (2016) investigated the role of perceived sincerity of company's motives in determining the success of CSR campaigns. Results indicated that stronger attributions of intrinsic motives encounter more positive reactions towards the company, whereas the recognition of mainly extrinsic motives lead to less favorable attitudes towards the company. Considering mixed motives, results of this study did not show any relation with comment valence, which is again in contrast to prior research. Ellen et al. (2006)
found that mixed CSR attributions come along with more positive reactions to CSR than purely intrinsic or extrinsic attributions.
Last, coming to the complete model of this study (see Figure 1), results indicate that CSR topics and CSR strategies did not mediate the relation between type of organization and comment valence. It is therefore important to emphasize the explorative character of this study, which sought to expand CSR communication research by focusing on a social medium that has not yet been investigated in the field of CSR communication.
Limitations and directions for future research
This study comes along with limitations and directions for future research. First, results are based on one specific industry and social media platform. Future research should therefore test the model for different industries and on other social media platforms for the generalizability of the findings. Moreover, the present study only focused on CSR posts including pictures and omitted posts containing a video. Because Instagram is known as a picture and video sharing platform, future research should also take a video analysis of CSR posts into consideration. Furthermore, the study shows weaknesses in regard to the
measurement of public responses. Comment valence was measured on a five-point Likert scale reaching from very positive to very negative. Future research may add interviews, experiments, or surveys in order to gain more insights into why specific topics and strategies encounter more positive or negative responses and to elaborate guidelines for companies explaining why certain topics and strategies should be addressed and others not. A further limitation concerns the methodological shortcomings, which limit the study’s findings. A larger sample would allow more accuracy, generalization, and higher statistical power. Lastly, future research is needed to enhance the understanding of Instagram’s role in public relations. Other research might take Instagram TV or Instagram stories as marketing tool for CSR
communication into consideration, as novel studies highlight advantages of these features (e.g., Belanche, Cenjor, & Perez-Rueda, 2019).
Conclusions
To conclude, addressing society’s increasing awareness of social and environmental issues (Razzaq et al., 2018) and the corresponding attempts by companies to promote their CSR initiatives, this study contributed to the understanding of CSR communication and public relations on social media in several ways. The study investigated how companies belonging to the same industry, but with different business models and reputations,
communicated CSR initiatives on the almost unexamined social media platform Instagram. Moreover, comment valence regarding several CSR initiatives and the type of organization were examined. As results demonstrate, fast fashion companies encountered more negative comments than sustainable fashion companies when communicating CSR initiatives on Instagram. Therefore, communicating certain topics or applying certain strategies did not help to avoid negative comments when belonging to an industry suffering from a bad reputation after scandals. Still, engaging stakeholders on social media, specifically in controversial industries, is essential as it provides a platform for stakeholder’s feedback, which companies should try to implement in their CSR activities.
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Appendix A Table 1
Companies sampled in the study.
Company name Subsidiaries Business Model Instagram name No. of Followers H&M Group H&M Fast fashion hm 35.1 M
Monki monki 699 k and other Stories andotherstories 1.9 M
Weekday weekdayofficial 512 k Inditex Zara Fast Fashion zara 39 M Mango mango 11.3 M Fast Retailing Uniqlo Fast Fashion uniqlo 2.3 M Reformation Sustainable Fashion reformation 1.6M Everlane Sustainable Fashion everlane 967 k Patagonia Sustainable Fashion patagonia 4.4 M Note. The number of followers listed was recorded on 14 April, 2020.
Appendix B Table 2
Intercoder Reliability.
Variable %Agreement Kappa Krippendorff’s Alpha
Economy Benefits 89% 0.457 0.776 Costs 95% 0.826 0.829 Investments 95% 0.872 0.875 Social Gender Equality 89% 0.883 0.886 Inclusion & Diversity 95% 0.771 0.776 Human Rights 95% 0.872 0.875 Education 95% 0.826 0.829 Charity 95% 0.826 0.829 Environment Planet 89% 0.732 0.736 Recycling 95% 0.771 0.776 Material 95% 0.883 0.886 Intrinsic
Corporate Social Marketing 95% 0.855 0.858 Cause Promotion 100% 1 1 Corporate Philanthropy 95% 0.883 0.886 Community Volunteering* * * * Responsible Business Practices 95% 0.894 0.896 Cause Related Marketing 89% 0.855 0.858
Extrinsic Promoting 95% 0.776 0.782 Advertising 95% 0.883 0.886 CSR Report 100% 0.771 0.776 Visual Aspects Humans 100% 1 1 Group 100% 1 1 Ethnicity 100% 1 1
Product/Service 89% 0.729 0.736 Material 95% 0.855 0.858 Technology 89% 0.689 0.736 Environmental Setting 89% 0.689 0.692 Illustration 100% 1 1 Text 95% 0.872 0.875 Comments
Comment Valence (Mean) 91% 0.835 0.906
Mean 0.86 Note. N = 19 *variable is not present at all, Krippendorff’s Alpha cannot be calculated
