From CSR to CSI: analysing consumers' hostile responses to branding initiatives in social media-scape

Purpose - The paper analyses consumers’ hostile responses and ‘creative’ re-interpretation of a proactive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) brand communication campaign on social media by a leading Italian company in the energy industry that came to be perceived as a reactive Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI) performance. Design/methodology/approach - Taking Palazzo and Basu’s framework of scapes (2007) as a starting point, the paper explores the intersection between branding and CSR studies. After consideration of the lack of empirical studies on this subject, a content analysis of tweets generated from the campaign ‘Guerrieri’ of Enel is performed. Findings - Findings show the dialogic bottom-up approach results are ineffective due to the hijacking of original intent of the company in implementing its CSR communication initiatives. That is to say that corporate brand (CB) strategies can be easily re-interpreted in social media-scape in an opposing perspective, raising the risk of digital hijacking and boycotting initiatives. Practical implications - From a practical standpoint, the study informs managers so that they can evaluate complex problems implicated in the creation of CSR activities aimed at engaging consumers and virtual communities. Besides, the paper would like to aid managers when they face discontent or activism, suggesting they should turn the attention of their stakeholders through a re-evaluation of relevant CSR activities, potentially leveraging on a loyal public which has completely interiorised CB values and can act as brand ambassadors. Originality/value – The paper is one of the first attempts to study the nexus between CSR and CB in digitally-empowering contexts, clarifying the crucial role of social media-scape

From fragmentation to collaboration in tourism promotion: an analysis of the adoption of IMC in the Amalfi coast

The fragmentation in decision-making among different stakeholders severely influences the effectiveness of tourism promotion, also in well-known destinations. Through the lens of collaboration theory, the paper empirically aims at exploring how an Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) approach may be preferred to traditional communication programs to boost collaboration of different players. Depth interviews from tourism body stakeholders, organisations and other local government associations from the Amalfi coast region of Italy are conducted to identify incentives and barriers to adopting an integrated approach of communication to tourism promotion. The findings underpin the development of an implementation model aimed at pushing local stakeholders to attain the main benefits of creating and maintaining a network of relationships, implemented as a way to overcome uncertainty in tourism. The paper thus advances IMC in a tourism context, supporting the need to help economic actors to overcome boundaries that hinder them from joining their forces

Avoiding the greenwashing trap: between CSR communication and stakeholder engagement

The paper analyses key elements of communication that may lead to accusations that a company is engaging in practices of greenwashing failing to create stakeholder engagement. According to sensemaking and sensegiving approaches, the theoretical foundations that underpin the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication and greenwashing practices are explored and a comparison between two energy companies in the Italian and Dutch context is set up for exploratory purpose. The integration of a company's strategic CSR approach and its communication practices may help to enhance effective stakeholder engagement, prevent accusations of greenwashing and avert the negative associated consequences (e.g., scepticism among stakeholders). The research provides a theoretical contribution to CSR communication by identifying several pitfalls that can lead to the appearance of greenwashing and provides caveats for the further development of both theory and managerial practices

A VSA Communication Model for Service Systems Governance.

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for governance and management of the decision making process for corporate communication. The aim is to address a gap in the literature in that to date, by adopting some basic assumptions from Viable Systems Approach, integrated with Service Science perspective, in order to identify communication resources, the nature (static and dynamic) of the corporate communication activities, and “engineering” communication process. Parsons’ sociological approach, with reference to the classification of organisational decisions (policy, allocation and coordination) results fundamental to contextualise this approach to the decision-making within corporate communication function/departmen