IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v27y2020i6p2631-2641.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Visualizing the triple bottom line: A large‐scale automated visual content analysis of European corporations' website and social media images

Author

Listed:
  • Irina Lock
  • Theo Araujo

Abstract

With the “visual turn” online, images have become increasingly important for companies to attract stakeholders to their online CSR communication. To investigate in how far businesses' visual sustainability language reflects a balanced triple bottom line, this study compared the most profitable European corporations' websites images (N = 21,841) and visual Twitter posts (N = 3,637) through automated content analysis using computer vision algorithms. The findings of this big data‐analysis reveal that European companies overemphasize the financial bottom line on both owned and shared media. The channel matters as firms are more likely to communicate people‐, planet‐, and profit‐related images via social media than their website. Corporations from environmentally sensitive industries tend to highlight the social dimension, though this is where they impact less, and do so more often through their website. Thus, this study confirms the criticism that the business case is dominant in CSR strategies also for visual communication.

Suggested Citation

  • Irina Lock & Theo Araujo, 2020. "Visualizing the triple bottom line: A large‐scale automated visual content analysis of European corporations' website and social media images," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2631-2641, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:27:y:2020:i:6:p:2631-2641
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1988
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1988
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.1988?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laura Illia & Stefania Romenti & Belén Rodríguez-Cánovas & Grazia Murtarelli & Craig E. Carroll, 2017. "Exploring Corporations’ Dialogue About CSR in the Digital Era," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 39-58, November.
    2. Kai Hockerts, 2015. "A Cognitive Perspective on the Business Case for Corporate Sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 102-122, February.
    3. Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero & Isabel M. Garcia‐Sanchez & Beatriz Cuadrado‐Ballesteros, 2015. "Effect of Financial Reporting Quality on Sustainability Information Disclosure," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(1), pages 45-64, January.
    4. Alexander Dahlsrud, 2008. "How corporate social responsibility is defined: an analysis of 37 definitions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, January.
    5. Joseph Taylor & Joseph Vithayathil & Dobin Yim, 2018. "Are corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives such as sustainable development and environmental policies value enhancing or window dressing?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(5), pages 971-980, September.
    6. Torbjörn Tagesson & Veronica Blank & Pernilla Broberg & Sven‐Olof Collin, 2009. "What explains the extent and content of social and environmental disclosures on corporate websites: a study of social and environmental reporting in Swedish listed corporations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(6), pages 352-364, November.
    7. Peter Seele & Lucia Gatti, 2017. "Greenwashing Revisited: In Search of a Typology and Accusation‐Based Definition Incorporating Legitimacy Strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 239-252, February.
    8. Matthias S. Fifka & Maria Drabble, 2012. "Focus and Standardization of Sustainability Reporting – A Comparative Study of the United Kingdom and Finland," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(7), pages 455-474, November.
    9. Karl Widerquist, 2018. "The Bottom Line," Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee, in: A Critical Analysis of Basic Income Experiments for Researchers, Policymakers, and Citizens, chapter 0, pages 93-98, Palgrave Macmillan.
    10. Stephen Chen & Petra Bouvain, 2009. "Is Corporate Responsibility Converging? A Comparison of Corporate Responsibility Reporting in the USA, UK, Australia, and Germany," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 299-317, April.
    11. Nazim Hussain & Ugo Rigoni & René P. Orij, 2018. "Corporate Governance and Sustainability Performance: Analysis of Triple Bottom Line Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 411-432, May.
    12. David Wheeler & John Elkington, 2001. "The end of the corporate environmental report? Or the advent of cybernetic sustainability reporting and communication," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, January.
    13. Pablo Gomez‐Carrasco & Giovanna Michelon, 2017. "The Power of Stakeholders' Voice: The Effects of Social Media Activism on Stock Markets," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 855-872, September.
    14. Irina Lock & Peter Seele, 2015. "Analyzing Sector‐Specific CSR Reporting: Social and Environmental Disclosure to Investors in the Chemicals and Banking and Insurance Industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(2), pages 113-128, March.
    15. Agostino Vollero & Francesca Conte & Alfonso Siano & Claudia Covucci, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility information and involvement strategies in controversial industries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 141-151, January.
    16. Manuel Branco & Lúcia Rodrigues, 2008. "Factors Influencing Social Responsibility Disclosure by Portuguese Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(4), pages 685-701, December.
    17. Matthias S. Fifka, 2013. "Corporate Responsibility Reporting and its Determinants in Comparative Perspective – a Review of the Empirical Literature and a Meta‐analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 1-35, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lee, Won Seok & Tang, Ruohan & Moon, Joonho & Song, Myungkeun, 2022. "The structural relationship between a low-cost carrier’s service experience, corporate social responsibility, brand love, and reuse intention: The case of Southwest Airlines," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    2. Vasja Roblek & Oshane Thorpe & Mirjana Pejic Bach & Andrej Jerman & Maja Meško, 2020. "The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Sustainability Practices: A Comparative Automated Content Analysis Approach of Theory and Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-27, October.
    3. Sánchez-Chaparro, Teresa & Soler-Vicén, Miguel Ángel & Gómez-Frías, Víctor, 2022. "Be good and look good: Communicating the triple bottom line through corporate websites," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 136-145.
    4. Yuriko Nakao & Aya Ishino & Katsuhiko Kokubu & Hitoshi Okada, 2024. "Exploring visual communication in corporate sustainability reporting: Using image recognition with deep learning," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3210-3234, July.
    5. Giuseppe Crapa & Maria Elena Latino & Paolo Roma, 2024. "The performance of green communication across social media: Evidence from large‐scale retail industry in Italy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 493-513, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. María Luisa Pajuelo Moreno & Teresa Duarte-Atoche, 2019. "Relationship between Sustainable Disclosure and Performance—An Extension of Ullmann’s Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-33, August.
    2. Rea Wagner & Peter Seele, 2017. "Uncommitted Deliberation? Discussing Regulatory Gaps by Comparing GRI 3.1 to GRI 4.0 in a Political CSR Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 333-351, December.
    3. Waris Ali & Jedrzej George Frynas, 2018. "The Role of Normative CSR‐Promoting Institutions in Stimulating CSR Disclosures in Developing Countries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 373-390, July.
    4. María del Mar Miras-Rodríguez & Domingo Martínez-Martínez & Bernabé Escobar-Pérez, 2018. "Which Corporate Governance Mechanisms Drive CSR Disclosure Practices in Emerging Countries?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    5. Patrick Velte & Martin Stawinoga, 2020. "Do chief sustainability officers and CSR committees influence CSR-related outcomes? A structured literature review based on empirical-quantitative research findings," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 333-377, December.
    6. Francesca Conte & Agostino Vollero & Claudia Covucci & Alfonso Siano, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility penetration, explicitness, and symbolic communication practices in Asia: A national business system exploration of leading firms in sustainability," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1425-1435, May.
    7. Manuel Castelo Branco & Catarina Delgado & Carla Marques, 2018. "How do sustainability reports from the Nordic and the Mediterranean European countries compare," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 917-936, October.
    8. Patrycja Hąbek & Radosław Wolniak, 2016. "Assessing the quality of corporate social responsibility reports: the case of reporting practices in selected European Union member states," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 399-420, January.
    9. Melinda Cahyaning Ratri & Iman Harymawan & Khairul Anuar Kamarudin, 2021. "Busyness, Tenure, Meeting Frequency of the CEOs, and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, May.
    10. Balluchi, Federica & Lazzini, Arianna & Torelli, Riccardo, 2020. "Credibility of Environmental Issues in Non-Financial Mandatory Disclosure: Measurement and Determinants," OSF Preprints g73w5, Center for Open Science.
    11. Simona Cosma & Rossella Leopizzi & Simone Pizzi & Mario Turco, 2021. "The stakeholder engagement in the European banks: Regulation versus governance. What changes after the NF directive?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 1091-1103, May.
    12. Silvia Ruiz-Blanco & Silvia Romero & Belen Fernandez-Feijoo, 2022. "Green, blue or black, but washing–What company characteristics determine greenwashing?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4024-4045, March.
    13. Waris Ali & Maha Faisal Alsayegh & Zubair Ahmad & Zeeshan Mahmood & Javed Iqbal, 2018. "The Relationship between Social Visibility and CSR Disclosure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-32, March.
    14. Waris Ali & Jedrzej George Frynas & Zeeshan Mahmood, 2017. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Disclosure in Developed and Developing Countries: A Literature Review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 273-294, July.
    15. Maria Aluchna & Nazim Hussain & Maria Roszkowska-Menkes, 2019. "Integrated Reporting Narratives: The Case of an Industry Leader," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-16, February.
    16. Minghui Yang & Petra Maresova & Ahsan Akbar & Paulo Bento & Weixi Liu, 2021. "Convergence or Disparity? A Cross-Country Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting for Banking Industry in Nordic Countries and China," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    17. Justyna Dyduch & Joanna Krasodomska, 2017. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: An Empirical Study of Polish Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-24, October.
    18. Ntim, Collins G., 2016. "Corporate governance, corporate health accounting, and firm value: The case of HIV/AIDS disclosures in Sub-Saharan Africa," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 155-216.
    19. Giuseppe Sannino & Manuela Lucchese & Giovanni Zampone & Rosa Lombardi, 2020. "Cultural dimensions, Global Reporting Initiatives commitment, and corporate social responsibility issues: New evidence from Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development banks," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1653-1663, July.
    20. Julija Winschel & Martin Stawinoga, 2019. "Determinants and effects of sustainable CEO compensation: a structured literature review of empirical evidence," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 69(3), pages 265-328, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:27:y:2020:i:6:p:2631-2641. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.