The Frames of Corporate Social Responsibility

Benjamin R. Luikart*, Reed College of Media, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Field (Broad Category): Public Relations (Oral-Human Engagement) 

Student’s Major: Public Relations and Advertising and Business Administration 

This study sought to determine, in accordance with framing theory, if specific corporate social responsibility (CSR) frame categories can be identified as predominant in certain types of companies. It does this by identifying patterns of CSR between different business sectors i.e. finance, retail, energy, tech, and media. These trends were identified by examining the reports of Fortune 100 companies over a 5-year period. The keywords “community”, “social justice”,” sustainability”, “better tomorrow”, and “diversity” were searched for in the annual reports. The results were checked for CSR relevance, recorded and categorized according to the terms used. The data is expected to demonstrate that certain industry sectors predominantly use specific CSR frames: finance businesses focus on “community”; retail corporations focus on “social justice” issues; energy companies promote “sustainability”; tech corporations pursue a “better tomorrow”; and, media businesses focus on “diversity”. It is argued that these frames are linked to key stakeholders targeted with the CSR efforts. 

Funding: 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course