Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement through Social Media. Evidence from the University of Salerno

Abstract

Over the last few decades, stakeholders’ growing attention towards social and environmental issues has challenged universities’ traditional accountability boundaries, imposing the adoption of innovative reporting tools that facilitate stakeholders’ engagement in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and performances. Against this backdrop, online communication tools, such as websites and social media platforms, have gained momentum as a pivotal means to increase dialogue with the myriad of stakeholders, especially during the pandemic period, as it has dramatically reduced physical interactions. Based on these premises, this study aims to dive deep into the use of social media to communicate CSR strategies in the university context by exploring the case of the University of Salerno. To this end, all posts published by the University of Salerno’s official Twitter account from 2015 to 2021 have been extracted and analyzed. Accordingly, the degree of interactions with stakeholders and the communication direction and balance level have been examined based on Carroll’s pyramid. Findings show a higher level of engagement for CSR posts and, in particular, for the philanthropic dimension. Results also highlight that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Salerno has empowered CSR disclosure through Twitter. The methodology adopted could be replicated for other universities to understand better how public universities use social media to involve a broader range of stakeholders in their CSR practices.

Corporate Social Responsibility, Stakeholder Engagement, and Universities

“…Universities have been called to integrate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability pillars in their curricula to prepare future leaders and decision-makers to contribute to driving the transition toward a more sustainable society (del Mar Alonso-Almeida et al 2015;Di Tullio et al 2021;Venturelli et al 2021). Attuned, they have been enticed to exploit their multifaceted sources of knowledge and technological resources to develop research projects based on fostering the exploitation of renewable energy, waste reduction, green mobility, and transport, and circular economy (Lourenço et al 2022;Di Tullio et al 2021;Esposito et al 2021). Thus, Higher Education institutions have been forced to abandon the "ivory tower" that for a long period has isolated them from external socio-economic systems to increase their engagement with local, regional and national communities and foster their economic prosperity, environmental integrity, and social equity (Marhl and Pausits 2011;del Mar Alonso-Almeida et al 2015;Di Tullio et al 2021).…”

“…In 2012, at the United Nations (UN) Conference on Sustainable Development "Rio + 20", University leaders signed an agreement to proclaim their commitment to supporting the journey towards sustainable development through five actions: (1) Teach sustainable development concepts; (2) Encourage research on sustainable development issues; (3) Create Green campuses; (4) Support sustainability efforts in the communities in which they operate; and (5) Engage with and share results through international frameworks (UN 2012). The Rio + 20 Summit laid the foundations for adopting the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015 (Fonseca and Carvalho 2019;Esposito et al 2021;Venturelli et al 2021). The 2030 Agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets that aim to represent a roadmap for private and public organizations to address the world's most urgent sustainability challenges and create a better future for all (UN 2015;Fonseca and Carvalho 2019).…”

“…The recognition of a pivotal role in enabling change toward sustainable development and the pressure for interiorizing CSR tenets within academic core functions have gone hand in hand with the need to enhance stakeholders' engagement through non-financial reporting practices (Gamage and Sciulli 2017;Nicolò et al 2021;Esposito et al 2021). Universities are required to be accountable to internal and external stakeholders for the impact exerted by their daily activities on social, economic, and natural environments and their commitment to ensuring sustainable development (Sepasi et al 2019;Trireksani et al 2021).…”

“…In response to stakeholders' accountability pressures, universities have started to include non-financial information as an addendum to their traditional financial reports or as part of specific stand-alone non-financial documents such as CSR or Sustainability Reports prepared according to Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines (Sepasi et al 2019;Nicolò et al 2021;Trireksani et al 2021). Furthermore, there is an increasing trend of transmitting non-financial information through universities' institutional websites or more interactive web tools based on two-way communication paths such as social media, including Facebook and Twitter (Esposito et al 2021). In particular, the dialogic and interactive potential of social media allows universities to integrate dynamic stakeholder expectations and needs in their decision-making (Lodhia et al 2020;Esposito et al 2021), shifting from an "inform me" to an "engage me" paradigm (Kaur and Lodhia 2019, p. 340).…”

“…Furthermore, there is an increasing trend of transmitting non-financial information through universities' institutional websites or more interactive web tools based on two-way communication paths such as social media, including Facebook and Twitter (Esposito et al 2021). In particular, the dialogic and interactive potential of social media allows universities to integrate dynamic stakeholder expectations and needs in their decision-making (Lodhia et al 2020;Esposito et al 2021), shifting from an "inform me" to an "engage me" paradigm (Kaur and Lodhia 2019, p. 340).…”