From strategic corporate social responsibility to value creation: an analysis of corporate website communication in the banking sector
International Journal of Bank Marketing
ISSN: 0265-2323
Article publication date: 8 September 2020
Issue publication date: 26 October 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Increased public scrutiny and stakeholder pressure have given more importance to strategic corporate social responsibility (SCSR) and its three dimensions – orientation, process and value creation. At the same time, they provide banks the inspiration needed to pursue business goals, attain positive performances and communicate their social responsibility efforts. This paper analyses whether and how companies in the banking sector use corporate websites to communicate SCSR dimensions.
Design/methodology/approach
A content analysis was performed based on the corporate websites of leading banks included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index to assess the prominence of SCSR communication.
Findings
The study shows that banks give less prominence to SCSR on corporate websites differently from companies belonging to other sectors, as they are less likely to expose their orientation to SCSR and pay slightly less attention to value creation than other companies.
Practical implications
The paper provides theoretical insights into SCSR dimensions and how they are communicated on corporate websites. From a practical standpoint, the study provides guidance for managers in the banking sector aimed at improving their communication efforts, avoiding decoupling issues and adopting a consistent value creation perspective.
Originality/value
Few studies have used a value creation perspective to differentiate between the dimensions of a SCSR approach. The paper fills this gap by assessing the communication efforts adopted by banks and insurance companies in this area.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Although the views and ideas expressed in this article are those of Agostino Vollero, Maria Palazzo and Alfonso Siano; “1. Introduction”, “2.2. Strategic CSR process and stakeholder management”, “2.3. Value creation”, “3.2. Strategic CSR process (including stakeholder management) communicated on corporate websites”, “3.3. Value creation communicated on corporate websites”, “4. SCSR communication in the banking sector: is it really strategically conceived?” and “7. Discussion”, are attributed to Maria Palazzo; “2. Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, Value creation, CSR Communication: a virtuous circle”, “2.1. Strategic CSR orientation”, “3. The SCSR framework and its application in corporate website communication”; “3.1. Strategic CSR orientation communicated on corporate websites”, “5. Methodology”, “5.1 Sampling procedure”, “5.2 Coding scheme and the inter-coder reliability” and “6. Findings” are attributed to Agostino Vollero; while “8. Conclusions, implications, limitations and future research” is attributed to Alfonso Siano.
Citation
Palazzo, M., Vollero, A. and Siano, A. (2020), "From strategic corporate social responsibility to value creation: an analysis of corporate website communication in the banking sector", International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 38 No. 7, pp. 1529-1552. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-04-2020-0168
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited