IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v151y2018i2d10.1007_s10551-016-3225-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure on Corporate Reputation: A Non-professional Stakeholder Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Anastasia Axjonow

    (TU Dortmund University)

  • Jürgen Ernstberger

    (Technical University of Munich)

  • Christiane Pott

    (TU Dortmund University)

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on corporate reputation as perceived by non-professional stakeholders. Proponents of CSR disclosure argue that CSR disclosure can be considered as a tool for reputation management. We empirically investigate this claim using a reputation index which tracks the general public’s perceptions of corporate reputation over time. In our analysis, we focus on disclosure in stand-alone CSR reports and control for CSR performance. We find that, in contrast to the common belief, stand-alone CSR reports do not influence corporate reputation among non-professional stakeholders. However, we are able to document that stand-alone CSR reports influence corporate reputation among professional stakeholders. We also provide some evidence that transparent CSR disclosure on corporate websites can influence corporate reputation among non-professional stakeholders.

Suggested Citation

  • Anastasia Axjonow & Jürgen Ernstberger & Christiane Pott, 2018. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure on Corporate Reputation: A Non-professional Stakeholder Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 429-450, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:151:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3225-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3225-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-016-3225-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-016-3225-4?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Won-Moo Hur & Hanna Kim & Jeong Woo, 2014. "How CSR Leads to Corporate Brand Equity: Mediating Mechanisms of Corporate Brand Credibility and Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 75-86, November.
    2. Linthicum, Cheryl & Reitenga, Austin L. & Sanchez, Juan Manuel, 2010. "Social responsibility and corporate reputation: The case of the Arthur Andersen Enron audit failure," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 160-176, March.
    3. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Sarstedt, Marko & Wilczynski, Petra & Melewar, T.C., 2013. "Measuring reputation in global markets—A comparison of reputation measures’ convergent and criterion validities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 329-339.
    5. Huang, Xiaobei “Beryl†& Watson, Luke, 2015. "Corporate social responsibility research in accounting," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-16.
    6. Béatrice Parguel & Florence Benoît-Moreau & Fabrice Larceneux, 2011. "How Sustainability Ratings Might Deter "Greenwashing": A Closer Look at Ethical Corporate Communication," Post-Print halshs-00561187, HAL.
    7. Larcker, David F. & Rusticus, Tjomme O., 2010. "On the use of instrumental variables in accounting research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 186-205, April.
    8. Patten, Dennis M., 2002. "The relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: a research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(8), pages 763-773, November.
    9. Lys, Thomas & Naughton, James P. & Wang, Clare, 2015. "Signaling through corporate accountability reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 56-72.
    10. Béatrice Parguel & Florence Benoît-Moreau & Fabrice Larceneux, 2011. "How Sustainability Ratings Might Deter ‘Greenwashing’: A Closer Look at Ethical Corporate Communication," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(1), pages 15-28, August.
    11. Unknown, 2014. "Media Coverage 2014," 2014: Ethics, Efficiency and Food Security: Feeding the 9 Billion, Well, 26-28 August 2014 225573, Crawford Fund.
    12. Stephen J. Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2006. "Corporate Reputation and Social Performance: The Importance of Fit," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 435-455, May.
    13. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4687 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Jan Bebbington & Carlos Larrinaga & Jose M. Moneva, 2008. "Corporate social reporting and reputation risk management," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 337-361, March.
    15. Cho, Charles H. & Patten, Dennis M., 2007. "The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 639-647.
    16. Francis, J & Philbrick, D & Schipper, K, 1994. "Shareholder Litigation And Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 137-164.
    17. Dye, Ra, 1985. "Disclosure Of Nonproprietary Information," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 123-145.
    18. Martin, Patrick R. & Moser, Donald V., 2016. "Managers’ green investment disclosures and investors’ reaction," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 239-254.
    19. Martina Panico & Sascha Raithel & Elena Michel, 2014. "The Effect of Media Coverage on Employer Reputation," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 181-198, December.
    20. Manfred Schwaiger, 2004. "Components And Parameters Of Corporate Reputation – An Empirical Study," Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), LMU Munich School of Management, vol. 56(1), pages 46-71, January.
    21. Robert G. Eccles & Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2014. "The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(11), pages 2835-2857, November.
    22. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    23. Verrecchia, Robert E., 1983. "Discretionary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 179-194, April.
    24. David Eberle & Guido Berens & Ting Li, 2013. "The Impact of Interactive Corporate Social Responsibility Communication on Corporate Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(4), pages 731-746, December.
    25. Hasseldine, J. & Salama, A.I. & Toms, J.S., 2005. "Quantity versus quality: the impact of environmental disclosures on the reputations of UK Plcs," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 231-248.
    26. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    27. Baruch Lev & Christine Petrovits & Suresh Radhakrishnan, 2010. "Is doing good good for you? how corporate charitable contributions enhance revenue growth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 182-200, February.
    28. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    29. Larkin, Yelena, 2013. "Brand perception, cash flow stability, and financial policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 232-253.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Fatemi, Ali & Glaum, Martin & Kaiser, Stefanie, 2018. "ESG performance and firm value: The moderating role of disclosure," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 45-64.
    2. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    3. Zabihollah Rezaee & Ling Tuo, 2019. "Are the Quantity and Quality of Sustainability Disclosures Associated with the Innate and Discretionary Earnings Quality?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 763-786, March.
    4. Lu Zhang & Yuan George Shan & Millicent Chang, 2021. "Can CSR Disclosure Protect Firm Reputation During Financial Restatements?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 157-184, September.
    5. Rezaee, Zabihollah & Tuo, Ling, 2017. "Voluntary disclosure of non-financial information and its association with sustainability performance," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 47-59.
    6. Radhakrishnan, Suresh & Tsang, Albert & Liu, Rubing, 2018. "A Corporate Social Responsibility Framework for Accounting Research," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 274-294.
    7. Patrick J. Ferguson & Jane Hronsky & Matt Pinnuck, 2023. "Who pays attention to sustainability reports and why? Evidence from Google search activity," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3519-3551, September.
    8. Jieun Chung & Charles H. Cho, 2018. "Current Trends within Social and Environmental Accounting Research: A Literature Review," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 207-239, June.
    9. Mohammed Benlemlih & Amama Shaukat & Yan Qiu & Grzegorz Trojanowski, 2018. "Environmental and Social Disclosures and Firm Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 613-626, October.
    10. Tesfaye T. Lemma & Martin Feedman & Mthokozisi Mlilo & Jin Dong Park, 2019. "Corporate carbon risk, voluntary disclosure, and cost of capital: South African evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 111-126, January.
    11. Tsang, Albert & Frost, Tracie & Cao, Huijuan, 2023. "Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure: A literature review," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    12. Cao, Feng & Peng, Songlan (Stella) & Ye, Kangtao, 2019. "Multiple large shareholders and corporate social responsibility reporting," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 287-309.
    13. My Hanh Doan & Remmer Sassen, 2020. "The relationship between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: A meta‐analysis," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(5), pages 1140-1157, October.
    14. Jared F. Egginton & Garrett A. McBrayer, 2019. "Does it pay to be forthcoming? Evidence from CSR disclosure and equity market liquidity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 396-407, March.
    15. Jiang, Yan & Luo, Le & Xu, JianFeng & Shao, XiaoRui, 2021. "The value relevance of corporate voluntary carbon disclosure: Evidence from the United States and BRIC countries," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3).
    16. Nadia Gulko & Catriona Hyde, 2022. "Corporate perspectives on CSR disclosure: audience, materiality, motivations," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 389-412, December.
    17. S. Zeng & X. Xu & H. Yin & C. Tam, 2012. "Factors that Drive Chinese Listed Companies in Voluntary Disclosure of Environmental Information," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 309-321, September.
    18. Mahoney, Lois S. & Thorne, Linda & Cecil, Lianna & LaGore, William, 2013. "A research note on standalone corporate social responsibility reports: Signaling or greenwashing?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 350-359.
    19. Rezaee, Zabihollah, 2016. "Business sustainability research: A theoretical and integrated perspective," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 48-64.
    20. Guidry, Ronald P. & Patten, Dennis M., 2012. "Voluntary disclosure theory and financial control variables: An assessment of recent environmental disclosure research," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 81-90.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate reputation; Corporate social responsibility disclosure; Non-professional stakeholders’ perceptions; Professional stakeholders; Voluntary disclosure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:kap:jbuset:v:151:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3225-4. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.