April 8, 2019

By Jeanine Guidry, Marcus Messner and Jay Adams, Virginia Commonwealth University

While the United States has long been considered a nation of immigrants, the issue of immigration has become more contentious by the day in the past few years.

Whether the issue is limiting travel from specific nations in the Middle East and Africa, building a wall to deter illegal immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border and enforcing new policies regarding immigrant families with children entering the United… More

April 2, 2019

By Yeonsoo Kim, James Madison University

What are the best ways to communicate corporate social responsibility (CSR) through social media? Is it simply providing information about what your company is doing to contribute to society? What if social media users begin to ask questions or make comments about CSR programs? How do companies react to consumers’ comments or questions?

Demonstrating CSR in the context of the environment, society and the world at large has long been regarded… More

March 21, 2019

By Yi-Ru Regina Chen, HKBU; Ben Boyd, president of practices, sectors and offerings at Edelman Public Relations; Don Stacks, professor at the University of Miami; Ansgar Zerfass, professor at the University of Leipzig; Chun-Ju Flora Hung-Baesecke, senior lecturer at Massey University; and Shannon Bowen, professor at the University of South Carolina

Coined by Porter and Kramer at Harvard University, “creating shared value” (CSV) has garnered buzz among business professionals, especially in North America. These professionals are concerned about how… More

January 22, 2019

By Hilary Fussell Sisco, Quinnipiac University

As professional communicators we use social media to capture the attention of influencers, media and the public. Through this information-sharing process, we build varying levels of relationships with family or friends (micro), an entire organization (meso) or society at large (macro).

Social capital is the capacity for an organization to use its relationships to be more efficient in accomplishing its goals. As our world view expands, the digital channels we use… More

January 9, 2019 • Jonathan McVerry

When a natural disaster strikes, it’s wise for companies to engage stakeholders with useful and timely information on their mobile devices. If the messages have a clear purpose, they may foster positive, authentic relationships with publics.

Two studies examined how public perceptions of companies are affected when the organizations share corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on mobile devices. The researchers surveyed individuals in both the United States and China who were affected by a natural disaster. They found… More

December 19, 2018

By Sun Young Lee, University of Maryland

Increasingly, companies have been adopting corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a central part of their corporate identity. Such activities can contribute to improving communities, the environment and society at large. Traditionally, these initiatives have focused on philanthropy—donating to nonprofits and sponsoring local community programs.

Today, however, companies are actively seeking social issues that they can help resolve. The public’s expectation of companies’ social role has seemingly shifted as well. The 2018… More