Meixner et al. The communication of CSR activities via social media A qualitative approach to identify opportunities and challenges for small and medium- sized enterprises in the agri-food sector Oliver Meixner*, Elisabeth Pollhammer and Rainer Haas * Corresponding author: Institute of Marketing & Innovation Department of Economics and Social Sciences University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Feistmantelstr 4 A-1180 Vienna / Austria [email protected] Abstract Within this paper we analyze a state-of-the-art type of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication, communication via social media. This type of communication with stakeholders is of growing importance. Opportunities and challenges of communication through social media channels are identified with special emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agri-food sector. 8 expert interviews were conducted on the basis of a broad literature review. The results of the qualitative interviews are analyzed by means of a comprehensive computer aided qualitative content analysis. The study enables the reader to get insights into the current situation regarding the implementation of CSR communication through social media channels in SMEs. Opportunities and threats of the application of social media are identified. The results are compared with relevant findings from literature. Keywords: Small and medium sized enterprises, social media, corporate social responsibility 1 Introduction – The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility The concept of “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) comprises all activities related to the social responsibility of enterprises, i.e. the responsibility of companies for their impacts on wider society as part of a sustainable economic development. The concept goes back to the mid 20th century. Howard R. Bowen stated in his book “Social Responsibilities of the Businessman” (1953) that this concept “refers to the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society” (Bowen, 1953, 6). Bowen’s considerations can be seen to be the starting point for a worldwide development in organizational management. Quite often, international guidelines from governmental organizations are influencing CSR frameworks, but we also see an increase in collaborations between the private and civil sectors to establish platforms for responsible business practices (Poetz et al., 2013, 59). Actually, no company is in a position to neglect the import of the CSR concept. Although there is no single commonly accepted definition of the concept itself – Dahlsrud (2008) alone identified 37 commonly used definitions of CSR – the definition of the European Commission (EC) can be considered to reach broad consensus. The EC defines CSR as a concept “whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. Corporate social responsibility concerns actions by companies over and above their legal obligations towards society and the environment. Certain regulatory measures create an environment more conducive to enterprises voluntarily meeting their social responsibility” (EC, 2011, p. 3). In brief, we can reduce the available definitions to three main points: 1 • Voluntariness, beyond a company’s legal obligations • Integration into all business operations and interactions with stakeholders • Sustainable development towards society and environment The precise definition of CSR affects business organizations in the long run, therefore, the concept is of strategic relevance. In particulars, we could talk about a pyramid of CSR: “Corporate social responsibility encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic expectation placed on organizations by society at a given point in time“ (Carroll, 2009, 35). The pyramid of CSR can be described as follows from economic responsibility, the base of this pyramid to the top, philanthropy (Carroll, 1991, 42): 1. Economic responsibility: be profitable (the foundation) 2. Legal responsibility: obey the law (society’s codification of what is right and wrong) 3. Ethical responsibility: be ethical (right, fair, just) 4. Philanthropic responsibility: be a good corporate citizen (improvement of quality of life in society) Consequently, a company’s responsibility goes towards a three domain approach (Schwartz and Carroll, 2003, 505pp): economic, legislative, and ethical (including philanthropy), with none of these components outweighing the other ones (cf. Himpel et al., 2008, 119). The concept of CSR is comparable to the more general concept of sustainability1 which is a part of modern management (Garriga and Melé, 2004, 58). CSR means that companies are responsible for their direct and indirect stakeholders (cf. Bassen et al., 2005, 234). Following Freeman’s (1984) distinction between internal and external stakeholders, they should aim to maximize the creation of “shared value” for the internal stakeholders (shareholders, investors, employees, etc.) and external stakeholders (the public, clients, NGOs, etc.) as well (Clarkson, 1995, 105ff; Mitchell et al., 1997, 853). In summary, we can assume that enterprises are responsible for their impact on society (European Commission, 2011, 6), which encompasses the economic, ecological and social aspects, the so-called “triple-bottom line” (Elkington, 1994; Crane und Mattens, 2004, 24f). Within the food sector, companies are forced to make all efforts to guarantee resources-saving, energy-optimizing, and low-emission production processes (Maloni und Brown, 2006, 44). Given that a specific company is makinging these efforts and initiating relevant CSR projects or activities, one core question arises: How should this company inform the public about these activities? 2 CSR communication via social media A key function of the CSR management approach is the adequate communication of CSR activities to the interested public. Companies want to achieve credibility. They inform transparently about CSR activities and integrate stakeholders into the CSR progress and all related processes. Topics like food security, traceability, origin, animal welfare, and environmental impacts are of growing interest for a number of stakeholders and companies, NGOs and the public administration is obliged to deliver relevant information (Forsman-Hugg et al., 2008, 1; Maloni and Brown, 2006, 36; Heyder and Theuvsen, 2008, 177). This is getting even more important as a number of food scares shocked the whole supply chain in the past. Food companies can reduce disparities by implementing an appropriate CSR strategy including appropriate communication. However, traditional communication tools like the mass media are loosing importance, as up to date communication tools try to initiate a true stakeholder dialog via social media like weblogs, wikis, video postcasting via social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The application of social media demands specialized knowledge. For larger companies in the food sector Meixner et al. (2013) show that, even 1 Confirming the Brundtland-Report “sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need “ (United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, 8). Meixner et al. though social media are innovative alternatives to initiate a true customer dialog, social media tools have not to be applied on a broad basis; and 2 way communication depends on the size of companies as to which social media tools are applied. “Smaller companies still seem to be less interested in social media – or they do not have adequate know how and/or resources” (Meixner et al., 2013, p. 32). 3 Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and CSR communication The focus of this study, the application of social media for CSR purposes, does not include the whole food sector. It only addresses SMEs, and important opportunities and challenges of this specific type of communication for SMEs are identified. Confirming Günter Verheugen, a member of the European commission “Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the engine of the European economy. They are an essential source of jobs, create entrepreneurial spirit and innovation in the EU and are thus crucial for fostering competitiveness and employment” (EC, 2005, p. 4). In the EU 28 there are over 20 million SMEs representing 99% of all businesses and almost 90 million jobs (Muller et al., 2014, p. 14). The definition of SMEs conforming to the EC regulation 2003/361/EC can be taken from Table 1. Table 1. Definition of SMEs according EC recommendation Compulsory Interchangeable attributes (in Euro) attribute No. of Annual turnover Annual balance sheet total employees Medium-sized < 250 ≤ 50 million or ≤ 43 million Small < 50 ≤ 10 million or ≤ 10 million or Micro < 10 ≤ 2 million or ≤ 2 million or Source: EC, 2005, p. 14 The main goal why companies try to achieve an adequate CSR communication strategy is gaining competitive advantages (Hooghiemstra, 2000, 64). CSR communication is part of public relations (PR) (Huck-Sandhu, 2011, 207). Confirming Morsing und Schultz (2006) there are 3 particular strategies available concerning PR and stakeholders: the “stakeholder information strategy”, the “stakeholder response strategy” and the “stakeholder involvement strategy”. The stakeholder information strategy