IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v33y2025i4p5162-5184.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Positive Press, Greener Progress: The Role of ESG Media Reputation in Corporate Energy Innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Weijie Tan
  • Edward Hengzhou Yan
  • Xihui Haviour Chen

Abstract

While the role of media in monitoring corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices is increasingly prominent, limited research focuses on the sustainable impact of corporate ESG reputation from an energy strategy perspective in the media context. To address this critical research gap, this study utilizes news report data from Baidu News and patent text data of Chinese A‐share listed companies (2012–2022), applying machine learning and text analysis methods to construct indicators for ESG news sentiment and corporate energy innovation (CEI). Drawing on reputation theory, the study finds that positive ESG sentiment conveyed by media significantly enhances CEI, primarily by alleviating financing constraints and fostering awareness of green business practices. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive impact of ESG news sentiment on CEI is more pronounced in high‐energy‐consuming firms and in regions with better green finance development and stronger ESG governance. The content and attention of ESG news also exhibit distinct heterogeneity, particularly in the environmental and social dimensions. The findings underscore the importance of integrating media‐driven ESG monitoring mechanisms into energy strategies to promote corporate long‐term sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Weijie Tan & Edward Hengzhou Yan & Xihui Haviour Chen, 2025. "Positive Press, Greener Progress: The Role of ESG Media Reputation in Corporate Energy Innovation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 5162-5184, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:4:p:5162-5184
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.3399
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.3399
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.3399?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
    ---><---

    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:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:4:p:5162-5184. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    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.