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Business Infomediary Representations of Corporate Responsibility

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Abstract

Drawing on the recent discussion about the role information intermediaries (infomediaries) play in affecting corporate responsibility (CR) adoption, we analyze the representation of CR issues in a business infomediary distributed by a leading business organization. The explicit task of the business infomediary is to promote a competitive national business environment. This paper contributes to (1) research on CR, by providing new knowledge on the current CR discourse within the business community, and (2) research on infomediaries, by introducing a distinction between watchdog-oriented and business-oriented infomediaries. The findings show that the business infomediary promotes green practices and constructs a national business identity in terms of environmental business when responsible practices are voluntary. We argue that as business-oriented infomediaries shape the meaning of CR according to their own interests, signifiers that refer to the positive contributions of business become preferred in the articles.

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Notes

  1. The subsequent word count of the exact term (including all the times “CSR” or “CR” is mentioned and also considering how often it is mentioned within each article) revealed that “corporate social responsibility” [yhteiskuntavastuu] is mentioned only three times (once per article in Prima, June 10, 2010, p. 48; Prima, October 11, 2012, p. 24; Prima, June 13, 2013, p. 42). One article was coded with the representative word “CSR,” as it covered best what is discussed in the article, while in the two other cases, the terms “sustainability” and “transparency” represented the content of the articles better. In addition, two articles mention “corporations’ responsibility,” one article mentions a specific “corporation’s responsibility,” and one article mentions “social responsibility.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, Hanken School of Economics, PO Box 479, 00101, Helsinki, Finland

    Meri Frig, Veronica Liljander & Pia Polsa

  2. Department of Management and Organisation, Hanken School of Economics, PO Box 479, 00101, Helsinki, Finland

    Martin Fougère

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  1. Meri Frig
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  2. Martin Fougère
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Correspondence to Meri Frig.

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Frig, M., Fougère, M., Liljander, V. et al. Business Infomediary Representations of Corporate Responsibility. J Bus Ethics 151, 337–351 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3200-0

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