Visualizing CSR: A visual framing analysis of US multinational companies

Abstract

The aim of this research study is to investigate how different levels of corporate social responsibility are visually framed through corporate publications used in marketing communications. Photographs used as visual marketing communication tools in the annual and sustainability reports of top American multinational companies that practice and promote measures of corporate social responsibility were analyzed. Findings indicate the corporations overall emphasize environmental sustainability efforts and visually communicate their practices through depictions of employees while other social responsibility efforts are often communicated through depictions of consumers. A discussion on the patterns of visual frames that communicate corporate social responsibility and the impact of visuals on organizational identity, brand image, and reputation are offered.

Keywords::

• corporate social responsibility
• marketing communications
• visual framing
• promotions
• sustainability
• annual reports

Notes

^1.[email protected]

^2. The Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index. http://www.sustainability-index.com

^3. The Ethibel Sustainability Index. http://www.ethibel.org/subs_e/4_index/main.html

^4. FTSE4Good Index Series 2010. http://www.ftse.com/Indices/FTSE4Good_Index_Series/index.jsp

^5. Riffe, Lacy, and Fico (1998, p. 123) suggest intercoder reliability can be determined with samples ranging from 5% to 20% of the dataset. A higher percentage was used in this study as a more robust test.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria M. Garcia

Maria M. Garcia, Ph.D. is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Marketing at Florida International University's Business School where she teaches international marketing, consumer behavior, and marketing management. Her field of research is strategic communication, specifically in PR, marketing, and online engagement. She earned her doctorate in journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and has published in Public Relations Review and Journal of Global Mass Communication.

Keith Greenwood

Keith Greenwood, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri. His research focuses on organizational influences on the framing of news photographs and on the adoption of technology. He has published in Visual Communication Quarterly, Journalism Practice, Newspaper Research Journal and the International Communication Gazette.