Partnerships between brands and non-profit-organisations (NPOs) must be strategically managed for each to maximise their benefit from the relationship. Twitter, with its potential for pass-along of messages, provides an ideal channel for reciprocal promotion within the network of an NPO and its supporting brands. For any one brand within that network, brand building will be amplified if messages are passed on to others using co-branded and/or cocreated communications, providing an opportunity for a brand to engage a new audience of consumers who are part of another organisation's network. This research examines the extent of co-branded and co-created communications by a popular NPO and its network of corporate partners on Twitter, and compares that Twitter promotion with promotion of the same activity in traditional news media. The findings revealed surprisingly limited use of Twitter to promote brands' partnership efforts with the NPO, and only limited evidence of the expected reciprocity between the NPO and its partners. We find even less evidence of co-branded communications between partner brands in the network, and no co-created communications. The results have important implications for CSR partnerships, suggesting that more innovative use of social media could provide reciprocal benefits from brands' partnerships with NPOs.
Recent years have seen a rapid rise in the number of firms publicly touting the environmental merits of their products or their operational practices. This is driven by the changing societal concern and public discourse around environmental issues. What was once an infrequent conversation has emerged as a moral obligation. While the number of "green" products available in the market has grown, these conditions have also resulted in firms deliberately misleading consumers about their environmental performance or the environmental benefits of their products, a condition commonly known as "greenwashing." This paper will argue that the urgency to address our rapidly deteriorating environment requires that tangible steps be taken to control incidents of greenwashing. It examines the merits and drawbacks associated with government's taking an active role in the regulation of greenwashing and argues that the current regulatory instruments being used by governments to address greenwashing are not likely to be successful in addressing the problem. Finally, the paper proposes a new regulatory instrument where governments and interested stakeholders work together to collect and disseminate information on sustainable business practices and the impact of goods and service production on the environment.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review a possible link between the theory of stakeholder identity and salience (TSIS) and environmental justice and suggest a possible resolution.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper which also uses examples from industry.
Findings
The TSIS is a common management approach that helps companies determine stakeholders’ priority in building relationships and making decisions. The weakness of this theory is that it suggests that stakeholders lacking power, legitimacy and urgency be de-prioritized. This can lead to vulnerable populations’ interests being subjugated to those of more powerful stakeholders, leading at times to environmental injustice. This occurrence can jeopardize a company’s social license to operate. Therefore, it is suggested that TSIS be embedded in a situational analysis where the legitimacy and urgency criteria are applied beyond just stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
Further research should look at the results of modifying the TSIS such that vulnerable populations are not de-prioritized.
Practical implications
This paper provides a way for organizations to be more cognizant of vulnerable populations and include them in decision-making to help avoid situations of environmental injustice.
Social implications
If organizations can recognize the impact of their decisions on vulnerable populations and include them in the decision-making process, situations of environmental injustice might not occur.
Originality/value
This paper brings to light one weak aspect of a commonly used and well accepted theory and suggests a way to mitigate potential harm that at times may arise in the form of environmental injustice.
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