Corporate social responsibility communication: presentation through print advertisements

Companies are faced with increasing expectations on the part of stakeholders to engage in social responsibility and are consequently expected to communicate their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts to a varied, influential, and alert audience. Despite this, CSR communication remains an emerging field, with research focusing on corporate social disclosure mainly through websites and corporate reports, while little is known about CSR advertisements. This thesis addresses this gap in the research and explains how companies publicise their CSR actions through print advertisements in order to disclose the CSR image they want to signal to their public(s).