Do Consumers Really Care About Corporate Social Responsibility Messages on Social Media? An Investigation on Turkish Telecommunication Companies

Abstract

Over the last two decades, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been regarded as obligatory rather than voluntary. The literature review suggests that these activities provide benefits such as increasing sales, developing the companies' positive image, reducing the costs, protecting the environment, and many other issues. However, it is questionable whether it is valid for all sectors and platforms. In this sense, this study investigates whether the consumers care about companies' CSR messages on social media. From this perspective, an investigation on Turkish telecommunication companies was conducted. The researchers made a qualitative content analysis, and in this regard, the documents of the study were analyzed with qualitative analysis software MAXQDA. According to the obtained results, most consumers do not believe in the sincerity of the cases' CSR activities. Moreover, this insincerity leads to negative credibility in the field. Both of these negative dimensions in the consumers' minds prevent the correct message conveying about CSR activities of the cases.

Keywords

• sosyal medya
• tüketici davranışları
• kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk
• consumer behavior
• social media
• corporate social responsibility