Communicating CSR Through Corporate Image Advertising

The purpose of this chapter is to review the state of play in regard to corporations’ advertising of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, policies, and/or achievements as an identity-building exercise. An organisation’s use of advertising to lay claim to socially-responsible operations is bound to be contentious and inspire responses of scepticism and/or cynicism, especially if such advertising claims appear at odds with stakeholder perceptions of the organisation’s performance. The contentiousness of CSR advertising claims is enlarged by confusion over what constitutes CSR and what does not. Cause-related marketing campaigns, for example, are a form of sales promotion technique yet are enlisted in the hope of a corporation addressing its responsibility to society. Ultimately CSR performance must stand on impacts and outcomes, and anything less will be adjudged spin, greenwashing, or mere impression management. This chapter regards CSR advertising, and indeed other elements of the brand’s integrated marketing communications, in this light.