Corporate Social Responsibility and Communication during COVID-19 Pandemic

Dear Colleagues,

At present, companies are increasingly committed to fulfilling their social duties. Despite that, they are less inclined to communicate their social commitment, since stakeholders display a certain degree of skepticism and interpret their CSR actions as corporate hypocrisy. Surprisingly, during the health crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have started new social initiatives related to their business and have intensively communicated their responsibility toward society. Businesses such as General Motors, Louis Vuitton, and Ferrari have adapted their production lines to produce medical and sanitary products and have promoted their initiatives, including among other businesses; Audi and McDonald’s launched campaigns inviting consumers to respect safety measures during the COVID-19 emergency such as social distancing; Burger King invited consumers to go to competitors in order to sustain the local economy and protect the restaurants and food service industry. These actions suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic might be redefining the relationship between business and society, especially concerning:

1. Launching CSR initiatives that mitigate an external societal risk, rather than a business-related risk;
2. Embedding CSR into business-related activities, despite audience skepticism;
3. Boosting utilitarian CSR efforts at the industry level, rather than egoistic attempts at the business level.

This Special Issue aims to explore this evolution of CSR and its communication in light of the recent COVID-19 emergency. We welcome papers that either provide empirical studies or a theoretical discussion. Relevant topics/questions for this Special Issue might include, but are not limited to:

• Do current CSR communication theories make it possible to explain why and how corporations do not fear audience skepticism when it comes to CSR actions addressing the COVID-19 pandemic?
• Are the CSR communications derived from the COVID-19 Pandemic welcomed by consumers and stakeholders, or are they rather boosting even more skepticism towards businesses and their hypocrisy?
• Does current theory of CSR communication offer a good ground to understand current challenges of CSR initiatives during pandemics, or do we need new theoretical lenses?
• Which CSR initiatives have companies initiated, in which industries, and how are these related to creating shared value for society?

Prof. Dr. Laura Illia
Dr. Elanor Colleoni
Guest Editors

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