earticle

영어

This study examines the role of culture in shaping publics’ expectations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication through survey research in the United States (N = 316) and China (N = 315). Based on Kim and Ferguson’s (2014) investigation of what and how to communicate CSR among U.S. publics, this study aims to further contribute to CSR communication literature by examining public expectations of corporations’ CSR activities in a global context. Furthermore, this study applies Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as adapted by Vitell et al. (2003) to determine how various cultural elements may serve as predictors for why and how publics in both the U.S. and China develop expectations and perceptions of companies’ CSR efforts. Two online surveys were administered through a Qualtrics panel to include a representative sample of general U.S. consumers and general Chinese consumers. The English survey was administered to the U.S. sample, while the Chinese survey (translated and examined by two bilingual researchers) was administered to the sample in China. Questionnaire items measured participants’ expectations of companies’ CSR communication and several cultural dimensions that could potentially impact participants’ expectations of effective CSR communication. Results highlight differences in each public’s expectations of what and how companies should communicate CSR. Specifically, this study found that Chinese consumers seem to place higher importance on CSR communication content (e.g., what to communicate) than U.S. consumers. Also, U.S. consumers prioritized communicating about who is benefitting from a company’s CSR activities while Chinese consumers felt that it was most important to communicate the consistency of the company’s commitment to its CSR initiatives. Both samples felt that message tone was the most important factor when considering how companies should communicate CSR information. Among Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity are identified as the strongest predictors for CSR variables, but results regarding what and how publics expect from companies’ CSR communication efforts highlight different items that participants in each country rate as the most important factors to them. Overall, results suggest that the role of culture might be slightly stronger in shaping CSR expectations in China than in the U.S. since there were more predictor variables and stronger coefficients in the Chinese sample than in the U.S. The study broadens theoretical developments in CSR and public relations research and provides insight for public relations practitioners and companies who continue to search for best practices to effectively communicate about social responsibility with key publics on a global level.