Week 3

Question 1

Corporate Social Responsibility

Answer 1

The voluntary actions that a corporation implements as it pursues its mission and fulfills its perceived obligation to stakeholders, including employees, communities, the environment and society as a whole

Question 2

CSR entails…

Answer 2

… the policies and practices of corporations that reflect business responsibility for some of the wider societal good

Question 3

What can CSR research learn from development studies

Answer 3

1. establish a cause and effect relationship –> use primary data from experimental design
2. focus on impact for intended beneficiaries, not on organizations itself

Question 4

Aim of Barnett et al. (2020)

Answer 4

1. Determine what is known about the performance of CSR initiatives and we develop a path forward to improve CSR performance
2. Researchers formulate initiatives
3. CSR researchers will move toward small data research designs

Question 5

Brand activism

Answer 5

A purpose and values driven strategy in which a brand adopts a nonneutral stance on institutionally contested sociopolitical issues, to create social change and marketing success

Question 6

Four characteristics brand activism

Answer 6

1. the brand is purpose and values driven
2. it addresses a controversial, contested, or polarizing sociopolitical issue(s)
3. the issue can be progressive or conservative in nature
4. the firm contributes towards a sociopolitical issues through messaging and brand practice

Question 7

Corporate political advocacy

Answer 7

1. political and social justice issues are of primary concern, not a apportion financial bottom line
2. both CSR and its derivative CSA differ from CPA because the former are organizational stances on social-political issues that are legitimized by stakeholder perception
3. CPA takes a more radical position, abandoning consensus-driven communication and moving beyond organizational commitment to the profit imperative to focus on social change

Question 8

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

Answer 8

Studying the relationship between language and power in human interaction

Question 9

Main contribution of paper Ciszek

Answer 9

proposing an alternative way for PR of thinking about dialogue that embraces non-consensus and accounts for power and conflict

Question 10

Greenwashing

Answer 10

1. The discrepancy between talk and action
2. Corporations talk about Social Responsibility but don’t act accordingly
3. Aim: to profit from the positive perceptions of CSR
4. Improves your reputation and legitimacy

Question 11

What are Lyon & Montgomery aiming for?

Answer 11

1. map greenwashing tactics
2. describe internal and external drivers of greenwashing
3. discuss the impacts of greenwashing
4. explore avenues to end greenwashing

Question 12

Drivers of greenwash

Answer 12

1. external = weak pressures from regulators, NGOs, consumers, investors
2. internal = ethical climate of organization, incentives

Question 13

Mechanisms that counter greenwashing

Answer 13

1. civil society and social media pressure
2. the use of eco labels that are supported by government
3. government restrictions

Question 14

Civil society and social media pressure

Answer 14

• information technology makes greenwashing more visible. social media make it easier for activists to both detect and punish greenwashing

Question 15

The use of ecolabels

Answer 15

• it can be misleading: selective exposure (you can be environmental friendly but not human rights)

Question 16

Government restrictions

Answer 16

• mixed evidence on effectiveness and desirability

Question 17

Impacts of greenwashing

Answer 17

• impacts on the greenwasher
• impacts on society

Question 18

Impacts on the greenwasher

Answer 18

+ undermines political mobilization for environmental legislation
- perceptions of greenwash behavior affect product judgements and purchase behavior

Question 19

Impacts on society

Answer 19

+ undermines trust in corporate environmental impacts
- may lead to increasing consumer cynicism and mistrust

Question 20

Greenwashing actors

Answer 20

1. usual suspects: corporations
2. governments
3. politicians
4. university administrators
5. research organizations
6. environmental policy experts
7. international organizations

Question 21

Greenwashing tactics

Answer 21

1. Means/end decoupling: employ irrelevant actions that only appear to solve a problem
2. selective disclosure: only communicating positive information
3. dubious certifications and labels