June 8, 2021

By Nicole O’Donnell, Virginia Commonwealth University and Yanni Ma, Oregon State University

Activists have been working for decades to draw attention to environmental injustices that disproportionately affect poor and minority communities. With support from the Page Center, our research team is working on a project that aims to understand how corporations can authentically support environmental justice causes and engage activists.

It is becoming more common for corporations to endorse social issues, and showing support for environmental… More

June 1, 2021

By Alan Abitbol, University of Dayton and Matthew VanDyke, University of Alabama

In 2018, Nike launched its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign featuring polarizing former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick as the main spokesperson. The main message of the campaign was “Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything.” Reaction toward the campaign was divisive, with those against the campaign protesting Nike; going as far as burning their Nike apparel.

That same year, in direct response… More

May 25, 2021

By Joon Kyoung Kim, University of Rhode Island and Won-Ki Moon, University of Texas at Austin

Corporate social advocacy (CSA), which refers to organizations’ public stances on controversial sociopolitical issues (Dodd & Supa, 2014), has become an essential organizational practice. A growing number of corporations have become increasingly vocal about social issues they support, as public expectations of corporations’ social roles have increased substantially (Pew Research Center, 2020).

For example, the public’s concerns over racial injustice caused… More

May 17, 2021

By Anli Xiao, University of South Carolina, and Christen Buckley, Ph.D. student at Pennsylvania State University

In 2012 DICK’s Sporting Goods decided to temporarily stop selling military-style semi-automatic weapons following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

In 2018, following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, DICK’s launched a pro-gun control Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) campaign. The company announced the decision to stop selling assault-style weapons altogether and raised the… More

April 6, 2021

By Marlene S. Neill, Baylor University & Shannon A. Bowen, University of South Carolina

In February of 2020, we started conducting personal interviews for a new study focused on organizational listening in response to a special call by the Page Center.  However, that effort was halted as everyone’s personal and professional lives were disrupted in the midst of a global pandemic. We were able to resume interviews at the end of April, but by then everyone’s lives had… More

March 18, 2021

By Yen-I Lee, Washington State University; Xuerong Lu, University of Georgia; and
Yan Jin, University of Georgia

Narratives, as powerful approaches to storytelling, have exerted strong influences in driving public discourse about social issues. Various stakeholders, either directly experiencing an event or observing how the event evolves, are able to create their own narratives and contribute to how others make sense of the event.

Social media platforms, with their easy access and popularity, have further facilitated… More