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The purpose of this paper is to assess online corporate communication around commitments to sustainable development goal (SDG) 12, sustainable production and consumption.

Guided by legitimacy theory, a qualitative directed content analysis was conducted on 13 companies' webpages (81 webpages, 78,947 words).

Companies broadly failed to communicate about all 11 SDG 12 targets, neglected to consistently address multiple stakeholder groups, missed opportunities to provide concrete evidence of progress and relied on a mix of substantive and symbolic legitimation strategies.

SDG 12 has been under-researched and this paper is one of the first to offer an in-depth analysis of corporate communication regarding SDG 12.

The purpose of this experimental study is to examine the effects of climate change corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social advocacy (CSA) messages on public perceptions of companies and collective action intentions.

This study employs a 2 (message type: CSA vs CSR) × 2 (environmental issue: single-use plastics vs renewable energy) × 2 (company: Target vs Walmart) plus control online experimental design.

There were no main effects of message type on outcomes; however, green consumer identity moderated the relationship between message type and green purchase intention as well as negative word-of-mouth.

This study responds to calls by scholars to empirically compare the effects of CSR and CSA messages. Additionally, we consider group-level processes, like ingroup identity, in influencing strategic communication outcomes.

The dissemination of fake news has accelerated with social media and this has important implications for both organizations and their stakeholders alike. Hence, the purpose of this study is to shed light on the effectiveness of the crisis response strategies of denial and attack in addressing rumors about consumer privacy when non-profit organizations are targeted on social media.

To test the hypotheses, a 2 (response type: denial vs attack) × 2 (privacy concerns: low vs high), between-group online experiment was conducted via Qualtrics.

The results indicated that one’s involvement level in the issue determines the effectiveness of the crisis response strategy. Data showed that attacking the source of fake news (as a crisis response) reduces the message’s credibility more than denying fake news. Furthermore, highly involved individuals are more likely to centrally process information and develop positive supportive intentions toward the affected non-profit brand. High issue involvement also predicted organizational and response credibility. Conversely, an attack rebuttal message increased the credibility of the circulated malicious rumors for low involved individuals.

The findings suggest that issue involvement plays a key role in message perceptions of false information regarding consumer privacy in social media.

Practically, this study offers insights for organizations that are developing response strategies in the current environment of fake news. Findings from this study suggest that organizations need to consider the degree to which audiences are currently involved in an issue before deciding how aggressively to respond to perpetrators of fake news.

The present study examines the intersection of fake news and crisis management in the non-profit sector, with an emphasis on various response strategies and issue involvement. This is one of the first attempts to experimentally investigate how social media strategies can defend and protect non-profit reputation in the fake news era.

The purpose of this paper is to examine philanthropic partnerships between donor organizations and nonprofits and how ethics of care may play an important role in the quality of relationship between the partners.

In total, 29 in-depth interviews were conducted with communications professionals at nonprofit organizations to understand how their partnerships with national sport organizations benefited their organizations and how characteristics of the sport organizations’ communication and behavior have consequence for their partners.

The four dimensions of ethics of care (building trust, showing mutual concern, promoting human flourishing and responsiveness to needs) clearly emerged as the most beneficial ways sport organizations engage with their nonprofit partners.

This study introduces the concept of ethic of care into the CSR literature and suggests that ethics of care may play an important role in relationship management with key publics.

Practically, this study offers insights for corporate partners about the way their communication and behavior influence nonprofits, and it suggests ways that corporations can improve their work with partners to create a more productive relationship.

This is one of the first studies to use ethics of care to examine the relationship of CSR partnerships and the first to conduct a study with sport organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to use relationship management theory to measure the impact of relationship cultivation on the employer-employee relationship. Specifically, the paper examines how well Kelly's (2001) conceptualization of stewardship can impact internal stakeholders.

Through intercept surveys of 421 adults, the paper used existing scales to measure dimensions of the employer-employee relationship and the participants’ perceptions of stewardship in the workplace.

This study found that the four dimensions of stewardship significantly impact feelings of trust, commitment, satisfaction, and balanced power between the employer and the employee. Additionally, increased use of stewardship resulted in increased involvement by employees.

The results of the paper offer several specific suggestions employers can do to communicate more effectively with their employees so that they are not only more informed but also feel more positively about the relationship they have with the employer.

Original stewardship scales were developed for the paper so that they can be tested in domains outside the nonprofit sector, where they have been routinely tested with donors and volunteers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a change to a US policy about product testimonials affected bloggers and to understand bloggers’ perceptions of the organization-blogger relationship (OBR).

This study utilizes a survey (n=173) with closed and open-ended questions, and both quantitative and qualitative data are analyzed.

Bloggers’ decisions to accept compensation for a review may influence how much control they feel they have over the OBR. Qualitative data indicate that even as bloggers seek access to products to review, they prefer to maintain editorial control over the review process.

The study extends the transparency literature in public relations and relationship management theory by exploring the relationship between bloggers and public relations professionals through the lens of a disclosure policy.

Recommendations are offered for public relations professionals in how to maintain transparent relationships with bloggers.

Qualitative data reveal concern among bloggers about efforts to persuade them and what they should disclose; this may impact the trust that consumers have in reviews at blogs.

The study demonstrates the effects of review behaviors on the OBR and offers an organic explanation of how this relationship evolves. This is important as consumers are increasingly consulting blogs for product information. This issue also has relevance to public relations professionals, who are encouraged to broach the issue of transparency with bloggers.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

This study found that the four dimensions of stewardship significantly impact feelings of trust, commitment, satisfaction and balanced power between the employer and the employee. Additionally, increased use of stewardship resulted in increased involvement by employees.

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) partnerships from the often-overlooked perspective of nonprofit beneficiaries, situated in the rapidly evolving higher education funding environment.

In-depth interviews with corporate relations officers from public research universities across the USA were conducted. Qualitative coding procedures from Lindlof and Taylor (2019) were employed to analyze transcript data.

Three main factors have contributed to a rapidly evolving climate for corporate partnerships: CSR partnerships help universities build their reputations rather than endowments; feature new preferences in communication-based stewardship practices; and raise questions about university autonomy and authority.

New interpretations of interdependent relationships and stewardship may be needed to explain new corporate funding models, while threats to nonprofit organizational authority and autonomy may be growing.

Nonprofit practitioners may better understand how to position their organizations as more attractive to corporations while learning how to advocate for mutual benefits. They may also benefit from a new understanding of corporate stewardship.

While previous research has documented detrimental effects to nonprofits in CSR partnerships, higher education fundraisers in this study detail their struggles with new models of measuring success, new expectations for stewarding corporate partners and perceived threats to autonomy. Their voices add to a fuller understanding of rapidly evolving relationship management practices in higher education.

This study aims to examine corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSD) in China.

The paper examines the extent to which firm size and financial performance impacts social disclosure by examining published financial information and social disclosure information in annual reports.

Results indicate a positive relationship between firm size and disclosure but no relationship between firm profitability and disclosure.

Only 2008 annual reports with a relatively small sample size are used. Longitudinal studies in the future may be warranted.

CSD has become widespread in the west but is only now taking hold in the east. As many global firms expand operations in China, this paper will add to research in the area addressing CSD in that country.

Most studies have examined CSD in the west. This study makes a contribution to the corporate social responsibility literature by investigating an emerging market in China.