1,721,016 research outputs found
When Talk Is Not Cheap:The Performative Potentials of Strategic Sustainability Communication
No full textCorporate sustainability communication is often met with stakeholderskepticism, focusing on what is perceived as insincerity and a lack of alignmentwith current sustainability practices. While acknowledging the significance of suchskepticism, this chapter challenges common-sense understandings of sustainabilitycommunication as inherently cheap or inconsequential. Amidst urgent calls for sub-stantial sustainability action, we explore the potential of strategic sustainabilitycommunication to catalyze further sustainability practices. Drawing on a performa-tive perspective on communication, we focus on the conditions under which suchcommunication can unfold its performative potential. We take our point of depar-ture in a recent sustainability campaign by Apple Inc. in which the audience isinvited to participate in a simulated meeting between the company’s sustainabilitystaff and Mother Nature. Analyzing this campaign, we identify and discuss a set ofprocessual boundary conditions for such communication to bring about more sus-tainable practices. Our performative communication perspective, in other words,offers an alternative to the conventional a priori denigration of sustainability claims.Ultimately, our analysis underscores the importance of strategic sustainable com-munication in advancing sustainability agendas and shaping responsible corporatebehavior. At the same time, we do not suggest that such communication automati-cally or in any easy way unfolds into more sustainable corporate practices. Severalfactors, such as aspirational inflation, corporate self-absorption, stakeholder cyni-cism, and jamming, can disrupt the performative process and, eventually, preventsociety from attaining its sustainability goals.Corporate sustainability communication is often met with stakeholderskepticism, focusing on what is perceived as insincerity and a lack of alignmentwith current sustainability practices. While acknowledging the significance of suchskepticism, this chapter challenges common-sense understandings of sustainabilitycommunication as inherently cheap or inconsequential. Amidst urgent calls for sub-stantial sustainability action, we explore the potential of strategic sustainabilitycommunication to catalyze further sustainability practices. Drawing on a performa-tive perspective on communication, we focus on the conditions under which suchcommunication can unfold its performative potential. We take our point of depar-ture in a recent sustainability campaign by Apple Inc. in which the audience isinvited to participate in a simulated meeting between the company’s sustainabilitystaff and Mother Nature. Analyzing this campaign, we identify and discuss a set ofprocessual boundary conditions for such communication to bring about more sus-tainable practices. Our performative communication perspective, in other words,offers an alternative to the conventional a priori denigration of sustainability claims.Ultimately, our analysis underscores the importance of strategic sustainable com-munication in advancing sustainability agendas and shaping responsible corporatebehavior. At the same time, we do not suggest that such communication automati-cally or in any easy way unfolds into more sustainable corporate practices. Severalfactors, such as aspirational inflation, corporate self-absorption, stakeholder cyni-cism, and jamming, can disrupt the performative process and, eventually, preventsociety from attaining its sustainability goals
Framing and Argumentative Strategies in Modern Slavery Statements: Debating Sustainability or Avoiding Responsibility?
No full textThis chapter develops an analysis of the linguistic content of modern slavery statements by UK-based businesses, which represent a genre of sustainability communication that has emerged in recent years. We built a dataset of all modern slavery reports filed in 2019 by FTSE100 firms. Our analysis followed a multi-step procedure including qualitative and quantitative discourse-analytic methods. First, a small sample was screened to find claims and supporting arguments. Subsequently, a corpus-assisted analysis of keywords-in-context was undertaken to identify micro-level framing strategies. Our results provide evidence of a very minimalistic argumentative engagement. Rhetorical appeals to ethos prevail over logos and pathos appeals, to construct trust-building and responsibility-shifting frames while avoiding critical discussion. The main rhetorical strategy that emerges from these frames consists in (a) companies portraying themselves as reliable and compliant agents of social sustainability and (b) companies putting themselves in the expedient position of a benevolent intermediary between governments and stakeholders towards whom ultimate responsibility is shifted. Our findings advance our understanding of how companies communicate rhetorically to comply with regulatory demands of accountability while promoting the desired image of ethics and sustainability in front of markets and society. Our study is the first to offer a systematic analysis of the content of modern slavery statements from a discourse perspective. It contributes to strategic communication research on framing with a focus on its linguistic aspects. The findings have implications also for policymakers and their attempt to design a more effective disclosure framework to enhance transparency and accountability on modern slavery and other social sustainability issues
Introducing “Corporate Environmental Efficacy” Beliefs:A Stakeholder-Centric Perspective on Strategic Sustainability Communication
No full textOne of the fundamental questions in strategic sustainability communication is how to foster sustainable transformation utilizing purposeful communication. As stakeholders act in the context of their own perceptions of the capability and effectiveness of corporations to tackle the climate crisis, it is vital to approach strategic communication from a perceptual perspective in addition to functional, managerial, and others. This theoretical contribution proposes “corporate environmental efficacy” as a set of beliefs of the capability (corporate self-efficacy, corporate efficacy, and corporate responsiveness efficacy) and effectiveness (corporate response efficacy) of corporate environmental action. Standing on firm interdisciplinary legs, we propose an integrative framework to understand stakeholders’ confidence in sustainable transformation. Key takeaways include a nuanced understanding and operationalization of corporate environmental efficacy, as well as a communication strategy for corporate efficacy. We suggest that further development of an empirical corporate environmental efficacy construct may offer scholars and, not least, practitioners a stakeholder-centric framework to constitute, organize, and evaluate strategic communication for sustainability. In doing so, corporations can effectively engage with stakeholders and reciprocally drive sustainable transformation—moving beyond strategic communication of sustainability to acknowledge that corporate environmental efficacy has the potential to initiate a new cycle of stakeholder-driven and, therefore, more resonating communication
Energy and Sustainable Communication
Get PDFIn dit hoofdstuk worden communicatieve interventies over de energietransitie gepresenteerd, volgens het onderzoeksmodel Van A naar Duurzaamheid, dat de volgende stappen omvat: urgentie, bewustwording, actie & collectief handelen, maatschappelijk draagvlak en in dialoog met de samenleving. evenals diverse punten die interessant zijn voor communie-onderzoekers en professionals. Aan het einde van het hoofdstuk worden enkele discussiepunten gegeven.In this chapter communicative interventions on the energy transition will be presented according to the research model, from A to Sustainability, that includes the following steps, urgency, awareness, action & collective action, public support and in dialogue with society. The research model is discussed as well as various points interesting for communication researchers and professionals. At the end of the chapter some discussion points are issued
Energy and Sustainable Communication
Get PDFIn dit hoofdstuk worden communicatieve interventies over de energietransitie gepresenteerd, volgens het onderzoeksmodel Van A naar Duurzaamheid, dat de volgende stappen omvat: urgentie, bewustwording, actie & collectief handelen, maatschappelijk draagvlak en in dialoog met de samenleving. evenals diverse punten die interessant zijn voor communie-onderzoekers en professionals. Aan het einde van het hoofdstuk worden enkele discussiepunten gegeven.In this chapter communicative interventions on the energy transition will be presented according to the research model, from A to Sustainability, that includes the following steps, urgency, awareness, action & collective action, public support and in dialogue with society. The research model is discussed as well as various points interesting for communication researchers and professionals. At the end of the chapter some discussion points are issued
Born to be fossil
Get PDFEffectiveness of stakeholders’ engagement strategies – the case of Dutch oil and gas exploration industr
Frame building on climate change in Indonesia: framework and summary
Get PDFDiese Doktorarbeit untersucht den Prozess der frame-building in Bezug auf den Klimawandel in Indonesien, einer aufstrebenden Nation des Globalen Südens, die erheblich zu den Kohlenstoffemissionen beiträgt und stark von der Klimakrise betroffen ist. Anhand einer quantitativen Inhaltsanalyse von Pressemitteilungen der indonesischen Regierung und von Umwelt-NGOs sowie der Medienberichterstattung über den Klimawandel ermittelt die Studie, welche Art von Frames die politischen Akteure nutzen und welche Frames die Print- und Online-Medien in Indonesien verwenden. In dieser Doktorarbeit wurde der Ansatz der Process tracing approach verwendet. Durch den Vergleich der strategischen Frames der Akteure und der Medien-Frames zum Klimawandel zeigt sich, dass Journalisten häufig Frames zum Klimawandel verwenden, die nicht von politischen Akteuren oder NGOs gefördert werden. Nichtsdestotrotz sind die Pressemitteilungen der Regierung die einflussreichsten Quellen für Journalisten in ihrer Berichterstattung über den Klimawandel. Die Studie untersucht außerdem, wie unterschiedliche Kontextbedingungen die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Journalisten und ihren Quellen im Entstehungsprozess von Frames beeinflussen. Die Studie stützt sich auf die Modelle der Einflusshierarchie (HI) und der Intereffikation (IE), um diese Dynamik zu ergründen. Es wurden Interviews mit Journalisten, Wissenschaftlern und PR-Verantwortlichen von Regierungsorganisationen, Umwelt-NGOs und Palmöl-Lobbygruppen in Indonesien durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Organisationsstruktur, die finanziellen Ressourcen und die persönlichen Netzwerke einen Einfluss darauf haben, wie erfolgreich PR-Verantwortliche ihre Frames verbreiten, während die Auswahl der Frames durch die Medienplattform, den internationalen Nachrichtenfluss, die Routine, die Berufserfahrung und die Interessen der Journalisten beeinflusst werden. Darüber hinaus untersucht die Studie, wie Faktoren auf der Makroebene in Indonesien, wie das soziale System und der spezifische kulturelle und historische Kontext, diese Prozesse auf der Mikro- und Mesoebene beeinflussen.This dissertation explores the process of frame-building related to climate change in Indonesia, an emerging Global South nation that significantly contributes to carbon emissions and is heavily impacted by the climate crisis. By conducting a quantitative content analysis of press releases from the Indonesian government and environmental NGOs, as well as media coverage of climate change, the study identifies what kind of frames promoted by policy actors and which frames used by print and online media organizations in Indonesia. The process tracing approach was used in this dissertation project. By comparing actors‘ strategic frames and media frames on climate change, it reveals that journalists frequently employ frames on climate change that are not promoted by political actors or NGOs. Nonetheless, government press releases are the most influential sources for journalists in their climate change reporting. The study further investigates how different contextual conditions influence the collaboration between journalists and their sources in the frame-creation process. It relies on the hierarchy of influence (HI) and intereffication (IE) models to delve deeper into these dynamics. Interviews were conducted with journalists, academics, and PR officers from Indonesia’s government organizations, environmental NGOs, and palm oil lobby groups. The findings indicate that organizational structure, financial resources, and personal networks affect how successfully PR officers disseminate their frames, while journalists’ frame selection is shaped by their media affiliations, international news flow, routines, professional experience, and interests. Additionally, the study discusses how macro-level conditions in Indonesia, such as the social system and unique cultural and historical contexts, influence these micro- and meso-level processes
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