Communicating CSR Activities via Social Media: Agri-Food SMEs

This paper, authored by Meixner et al., investigates the evolving landscape of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication, specifically focusing on the utilization of social media by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the agri-food sector. The study employs a qualitative approach, conducting expert interviews and utilizing computer-aided qualitative content analysis to identify opportunities and challenges associated with this form of communication. The research delves into the current state of CSR communication through social media channels, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of their application. The findings are then compared with existing literature to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic. The paper emphasizes the importance of CSR, its definition, and its evolution, including the three-domain approach (economic, legislative, and ethical) and the concept of sustainability. It also discusses the role of SMEs in the European economy, the definition of SMEs, and the strategic importance of CSR communication for gaining competitive advantages, including the different communication strategies (stakeholder information, response, and involvement). The study concludes by outlining the opportunities and challenges of social media for CSR, such as cost-effectiveness, stakeholder dialogue, and direct communication, along with challenges like public criticism and the potential for negative outcomes if not applied properly.

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The communication of CSR activities via social media
A qualitative approach to identify opportunities and challenges for small and medium-
sized enterprises in the agri-food sector
Oliver Meixner*, Elisabeth Pollhammer and Rainer Haas
* Corresponding author:
Institute of Marketing & Innovation
Department of Economics and Social Sciences
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Feistmantelstr 4
A-1180 Vienna / Austria
[e-mail]
Abstract
Within this paper we analyze a state-of-the-art type of corporate social responsibility (CSR)
communication, communication via social media. This type of communication with stakeholders is of
growing importance. Opportunities and challenges of communication through social media channels are
identified with special emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agri-food sector. 8
expert interviews were conducted on the basis of a broad literature review. The results of the qualitative
interviews are analyzed by means of a comprehensive computer aided qualitative content analysis. The
study enables the reader to get insights into the current situation regarding the implementation of CSR
communication through social media channels in SMEs. Opportunities and threats of the application of
social media are identified. The results are compared with relevant findings from literature.
Keywords: Small and medium sized enterprises, social media, corporate social responsibility
1 Introduction – The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility
The concept of “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) comprises all activities related to the social
responsibility of enterprises, i.e. the responsibility of companies for their impacts on wider society as part
of a sustainable economic development. The concept goes back to the mid 20th
Although there is no single commonly accepted definition of the concept itself – Dahlsrud (2008) alone
identified 37 commonly used definitions of CSR – the definition of the European Commission (EC) can be
considered to reach broad consensus. The EC defines CSR as a concept “whereby companies integrate
social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their
stakeholders on a voluntary basis. Corporate social responsibility concerns actions by companies over and
above their legal obligations towards society and the environment. Certain regulatory measures create an
environment more conducive to enterprises voluntarily meeting their social responsibility” (EC, 2011, p.
3). In brief, we can reduce the available definitions to three main points:
century. Howard R.
Bowen stated in his book “Social Responsibilities of the Businessman” (1953) that this concept “refers to
the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines
of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society” (Bowen, 1953, 6).
Bowen’s considerations can be seen to be the starting point for a worldwide development in
organizational management. Quite often, international guidelines from governmental organizations are
influencing CSR frameworks, but we also see an increase in collaborations between the private and civil
sectors to establish platforms for responsible business practices (Poetz et al., 2013, 59). Actually, no
company is in a position to neglect the import of the CSR concept.

• Voluntariness, beyond a company’s legal obligations
• Integration into all business operations and interactions with stakeholders
• Sustainable development towards society and environment
The precise definition of CSR affects business organizations in the long run, therefore, the concept is of
strategic relevance. In particulars, we could talk about a pyramid of CSR: “Corporate social responsibility
encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic expectation placed on organizations by
society at a given point in time“ (Carroll, 2009, 35). The pyramid of CSR can be described as follows from
economic responsibility, the base of this pyramid to the top, philanthropy (Carroll, 1991, 42):
1. Economic responsibility: be profitable (the foundation)
2. Legal responsibility: obey the law (society’s codification of what is right and wrong)
3. Ethical responsibility: be ethical (right, fair, just)
4. Philanthropic responsibility: be a good corporate citizen (improvement of quality of life in society)
Consequently, a company’s responsibility goes towards a three domain approach (Schwartz and Carroll,
2003, 505pp): economic, legislative, and ethical (including philanthropy), with none of these components
outweighing the other ones (cf. Himpel et al., 2008, 119). The concept of CSR is comparable to the more
general concept of sustainability 1
In summary, we can assume that enterprises are responsible for their impact on society (European
Commission, 2011, 6), which encompasses the economic, ecological and social aspects, the so-called
“triple-bottom line” (Elkington, 1994; Crane und Mattens, 2004, 24f). Within the food sector, companies
are forced to make all efforts to guarantee resources-saving, energy-optimizing, and low-emission
production processes (Maloni und Brown, 2006, 44). Given that a specific company is makinging these
efforts and initiating relevant CSR projects or activities, one core question arises: How should this
company inform the public about these activities?
which is a part of modern management (Garriga and Melé, 2004, 58).
CSR means that companies are responsible for their direct and indirect stakeholders (cf. Bassen et al.,
2005, 234). Following Freeman’s (1984) distinction between internal and external stakeholders, they
should aim to maximize the creation of “shared value” for the internal stakeholders (shareholders,
investors, employees, etc.) and external stakeholders (the public, clients, NGOs, etc.) as well (Clarkson,
1995, 105ff; Mitchell et al., 1997, 853).
2 CSR communication via social media
A key function of the CSR management approach is the adequate communication of CSR activities to the
interested public. Companies want to achieve credibility. They inform transparently about CSR activities
and integrate stakeholders into the CSR progress and all related processes. Topics like food security,
traceability, origin, animal welfare, and environmental impacts are of growing interest for a number of
stakeholders and companies, NGOs and the public administration is obliged to deliver relevant
information (Forsman-Hugg et al., 2008, 1; Maloni and Brown, 2006, 36; Heyder and Theuvsen, 2008,
177). This is getting even more important as a number of food scares shocked the whole supply chain in
the past. Food companies can reduce disparities by implementing an appropriate CSR strategy including
appropriate communication.
However, traditional communication tools like the mass media are loosing importance, as up to date
communication tools try to initiate a true stakeholder dialog via social media like weblogs, wikis, video
postcasting via social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The application of social media demands
specialized knowledge. For larger companies in the food sector Meixner et al. (2013) show that, even
1 Confirming the Brundtland-Report “sustainable development meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need “ (United Nations World
Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, 8).

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though social media are innovative alternatives to initiate a true customer dialog, social media tools have
not to be applied on a broad basis; and 2 way communication depends on the size of companies as to
which social media tools are applied. “Smaller companies still seem to be less interested in social media –
or they do not have adequate know how and/or resources” (Meixner et al., 2013, p. 32).
3 Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and CSR communication
The focus of this study, the application of social media for CSR purposes, does not include the whole food
sector. It only addresses SMEs, and important opportunities and challenges of this specific type of
communication for SMEs are identified. Confirming Günter Verheugen, a member of the European
commission “Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the engine of the European economy.
They are an essential source of jobs, create entrepreneurial spirit and innovation in the EU and are thus
crucial for fostering competitiveness and employment” (EC, 2005, p. 4). In the EU 28 there are over 20
million SMEs representing 99% of all businesses and almost 90 million jobs (Muller et al., 2014, p. 14). The
definition of SMEs conforming to the EC regulation 2003/361/EC can be taken from Table 1.
Table 1. Definition of SMEs according EC recommendation
Compulsory
attribute
Interchangeable attributes (in Euro)
No. of
employees
Annual turnover Annual balance sheet total
Medium-sized < 250 ≤ 50 million or ≤ 43 million
Small < 50 ≤ 10 million or ≤ 10 million or
Micro < 10 ≤ 2 million or ≤ 2 million or
Source: EC, 2005, p. 14
The main goal why companies try to achieve an adequate CSR communication strategy is gaining
competitive advantages (Hooghiemstra, 2000, 64). CSR communication is part of public relations (PR)
(Huck-Sandhu, 2011, 207). Confirming Morsing und Schultz (2006) there are 3 particular strategies
available concerning PR and stakeholders: the “stakeholder information strategy”, the “stakeholder
response strategy” and the “stakeholder involvement strategy”. The stakeholder information strategy
mainly aims to provide objective, company related information to the public (Morsing und Schultz, 2006,
326f.). When applying a stakeholder response information strategy, feedback and opinions of
stakeholders are considered. There is a true stakeholder dialogue but only based on the information
provided by the enterprise itself (asymmetric communication; Osburg, 2012, 473). If companies are eager
to implement open and interactive communication with stakeholders they should follow a stakeholder
involvement strategy. Both, companies and stakeholders are defining the contents (symmetric
communication). It “... assumes a dialogue with its stakeholders. Persuasion may occur, but it comes from
stakeholders as well as from the organization itself, each trying to persuade the other to change”
(Morsing und Schultz, 2006, 328).
If SMEs want to include stakeholders in their CSR strategy (by means of a stakeholder dialogue), a further
integration of social media into the strategic communication policy would be extremely valuable. In brief,
“Social Media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological
foundations of Web 2.0, and that allows the creation and exchange of User Generated Content” (Kaplan
and Haenlein, 2010, 61). The core elements here are Web 2.0 2
2 Instead of only passively consuming internet-based web content, Web 2.0 refers to a more participatory
approach of actively creating and sharing content. “Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer
industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for
success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network
effects to get better the more people use them” O'Reilly (2006).
and the creation and exchange of User
Generated Content, in other words interaction and dialogue.

On the one hand, there are some important barriers in SMEs (Kuhndt et al, 2008, 67ff), mainly a lack of
financial and human resources, a lack of know how with regard to social media and only limited
availability of SME specific tools. On the other hand, there are some important advantages to SMEs when
using social media for CSR communication, amongst others a usually manageable business field, high
flexibility, easiness of identification of CSR potentials, narrow relation to stakeholders, etc. In brief, the
following opportunities and challenges can be identified by means of existing publications. Opportunities
are that:
• Compared to classic mass media, social media are available at comparable low cost (Jarolimek, 2011,
137).
• A real, two sided dialogue with stakeholders is possible. This might be an incentive for stakeholders
to interact with enterprises (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).
• A comparable high share of communication with direct contact to target groups can be realized
(Fieseler et al., 2010, 24).
• Stakeholders can be addressed in a direct and focused communication (Fieseler et al., 2010, 25)
• Stakeholders get an integral, highly involved participation in the CSR strategy of an enterprise.
Challenges are that:
• The interested public is getting more and more critical (Osburg, 2012, 470).
• Pressure on enterprises is increasing, as even small groups are able to effectively publish opinions,
needs and requests.
• They are transforming the classic split between information sender and information recipient which
increases complexity for organizations. In fact, this can lead to undesirable developments (e.g.
“shitstorms”) because companies no longer control the launched information (Mavridis, 2012, 246).
• If social media are not applied properly (e.g. “greenwashing” campaigns to manipulate a companies
image as being ecological; Reilly and Hynan, 2014, 756), it usually leads to negative judgment of users
and quite often to a dramatic loss of credibility.
• Financial resources and human manpower must be available.
• Social media and the Web in general are changing rapidly, including a hardware change to phones,
phablets and tablets and away from desktop/laptop.
The following empirical findings will try to identify and evaluate important opportunities and barriers for
SMEs concerning the communication of CSR related topics via social media. Compared to other fields in
management sciences, only a limited number of scientific publications are available concerning CSR and
SMEs. E.g., Ciliberti et al. (2008) investigated the application of CSR in supply chains using a multiple case
study approached from a SME perspective. They analyzed the implications for supply chains and how
SMEs could get their stakeholders within the supply chain more involved into the corporate CSR activities.
Ma (2012) published a study on models of CSR for SMEs. However, it is questionable if traditional
communication theories are still valid for social media and CSR – even more if we want to apply them for
SMEs. Therefore, we used a qualitative, hypotheses generating approach using expert knowledge to get
more insights into this more or less unexplored scientific field.
4 Methodology
In order to gain insights concerning opportunities and obstacles for the successful implementation of
social media in CSR communication for agri-food SMEs, a qualitative approach was used. 8 Experts from
the food sector, media, and consulting were interviewed. The interviews roughly followed a semi-
structured interview guide. However, the interviewees themselves determined the course of the
interviews to guarantee a natural and vivid discussion about all relevant topics. Each interview was audio
recorded and transcribed, the contents were coded and aggregated by means of a qualitative, computer
aided content analysis. The main aim of this approach is to systematically condense all information to
more compact data without significant information loss. The core contents of an interview should persist
and irrelevant information should be omitted. The outcome of this approach are hypotheses, helping to
evaluate findings from literature and to expand theory where applicable.

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The main topics of the interviews referred to CSR in general, CSR communication in general, and CSR
communication via social media.
5 Results
CSR in SMEs. In general, the results show that the CSR concept is already integrated in the strategic
planning of most SMEs. During the last 5 to 6 years, CSR developed significantly, mainly because “big
players” in the food supply chain focused on the topic. Further, we have to consider the specifics of the
food supply chain: Transparence and traceability are of increasing importance, food scares forced
companies to actively use applications to interact with stakeholders and to improve communication with
them. However, confirming the experts this could also be due to omissions of SMEs in the past. SMEs are
following concepts that large-scale enterprises already successfully applied.
The triple bottom line. Confirming the interviewees, the triple bottom line is broadly accepted. Economic,
ecological, and social aspects are equally important (“CSR means more than reduction of CO 2 emissions”).
It requires an open discussion with stakeholders about shortfalls in order to gain credibility. There was a
consensus about the definition and the understanding of the concept “CSR”. Probably, the practical
applicability of the CSR concept dominates SMEs’ strategies. In this respect, the experts see a lot of work
which has to be done for SMEs.
CSR communication. Most SMEs are not explicitly including social media in their overall communication
policy. They are not benefiting from the opportunities of these interactive communication tools and still
rely on “mainstream” communication channels (like corporate Website, CSR reports, etc.) enabling only a
one sided communication without the possibility to develop real interaction with stakeholders. It has to
be mentioned, that personal, verbal communication is still the best form of achieving credibility. This
implies that, e.g., employees should be aware that they act as corporate ambassadors when interacting
face-to-face with clients or other stakeholders. Classic media like print media or corporate publications
(sustainability reports), as well as the corporate website are useful and broadly used tools to spread
information about CSR activities. The experts suppose that “modern” agri-food SMEs have already
implemented social media into their CSR communication strategy, (but as mentioned above, most SMEs
didn’t). These tools can be beneficial and helpful in building (brand loyal) communities and transporting
messages. It depends on what an enterprise wants to achieve and which target groups and stakeholders
should be reached. However, up to now companies are rather reluctant to open themselves towards a
real stakeholder dialogue. Obviously, the possibilities and limitations of social media are misinterpreted
and mainly connected to traditional marketing purposes. The experts assume that most of the social
media tools like Facebook or Twitter are applied because the enterprises want to increase sales or
improve the overall image of the company. The mistake here is that the responsible persons want to
manage the processes like in the past as was with other media channels. But the professional application
of social media demands a lot of authenticity and much higher efforts; enterprises must be willing to
interact with their stakeholders. They must react immediately and this dialogue should be maintained on
a permanent basis. We can consider this to be the core success factor for the efficient implementation of
social media into one’s CSR communication strategy. In particular within the organizational structure of
SMEs it demands permanent financial and personnel resources. Confirming the experts it is highly
questionable if SMEs in general can provide the required structures.
Stakeholders / target groups. Not all internal and external stakeholders are reachable via social media. It
highly depends on the relevant target group. E.g., usually it is easy to reach employees and potential
employees via social media. There are particular applications available that are specialized in employer
related communication. Enterprises present themselves as socially responsible organizations to gain
attractiveness as employers. To attract customers, Facebook and Twitter are usually excellent tools.
However, other stakeholders like governmental agencies or other companies quite often limit access to

social media. For these target groups CSR relevant topics are barely transportable by means of social
media.
Success factors. Important success factors for the implementation of social media are credibility,
transparency, an open dialogue, and integration of stakeholders (not to forget the inclusion of the
employees of an enterprise). External stakeholders should be invited into this dialogue even if they are
skeptical. Only then a transparent discussion about CSR-related topics will be feasible. Further,
enterprises must be willing to maintain the activities on a long term basis. It is not easy to reach the
proper level of social media activities (“A company should not over-stress the topic”). Therefore,
companies should develop specific topics in their communication efforts and work on these topics in the
long run. For the agri-food sector these topics can be related to food security, food production, additives,
health, packaging, ecological impacts, etc.
Cost. Concerning budgetary aspects of the application of social media, the experts confirm assumptions
from theory: Usually, social media are significantly less costly compared to traditional mass media.
Nevertheless it is necessary to calculate and provide resources. Adequate personnel and financial
resources are a must for the successful application of social media. They are a low-cost but not a no-cost
alternative to traditional communication channels. In this context adequate training of the staff is
necessary to guarantee the necessary know how. Further it has to be considered that the rules for the
professional application of social media might change in the future. Channels that can actually be used at
no or only low cost for companies might require e.g. licensee fees in the future. In this situation a shift
away from these channels is time consuming and not always possible.
6 Résumé
In total, it is possible to make use of the advantages of social media for communication purposes.
Considering the above mentioned opportunities and challenges the following extension of theoretical
findings are feasible:
• Low cost alternative: In general, the experts agree that up to now social media are available at
comparatively low cost for SMEs. However, effective cost management is necessary and in the future,
the general free availability of some channels might change. In order to guarantee the required know
how, employees must be trained. This too has to be considered when calculating personnel and
financial resources.
• Wide reach: Experts agree, social media are an excellent to tool to reach the public. However,
especially in the food sector, for CSR other possibilities in the marketing mix like packaging are of
huge importance (in view of end consumers). And, as mentioned before, adequate know how and
resources are mandatory.
• Image and brand awareness: Social media can support a positive image of a company. However,
confirming the experts these media are less controllable. This could also have negative effects
(“shitstorms”). However, confirming the experts a “shitstorm” usually can be avoided if a company
respects the above mentioned success factors (transparency, credibility, etc.).
• In general, stronger relations between enterprises and stakeholders are probable if a proper strategy
was adopted.
• Target groups: In particular younger persons can be reached via social media; other important target
groups might be difficult to be reached via social media. A company should consider that when
applying social media for communication purposes.
• Critical public: Experts agree that in particular, in the food sector the public is highly sensitive to
undesired developments (also due to food scares). There are opinion leaders out there influencing
others also via social media (boycotts etc.). Companies must learn to properly deal with this kind of
criticism. In particular, they should be able to make trustful, open-minded, and factual replies to
criticism coming from these opinion leaders.

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7
• Messages: A proper language and informative and entertaining contents are required. Compared
with traditional communication channels, recipients are gaining power. Enterprises must react
promptly.
• The Web: Because of their openness, enterprises are exposing their vulnerablities to attack. And
finally further requirements have to be considered, e.g., protection of individual rights (protection of
data privacy), unlimited permanence of published contents, etc.
Most of the findings are confirming what we know from former studies and publications. The
requirements for the successful application of social media for CSR communication are quite specific for
SMEs. Limited resources and know how still limit the efforts of SMEs in the food sector, at least on a
broad basis. But considering the flexibility, creativeness, and innovativeness of SMEs, we might agree to
the European Multistakeholder Forum when arguing: “Just as the best of SMEs are a source of innovation
for business generally, so it can be assumed that the best of environmentally and socially responsible
SMEs will offer CSR innovations. Efforts to engage more SMEs in CSR should be mindful of this fact” (Emsf,
2004, 3). Confirming our study, CSR is already broadly accepted by SMEs. The next step, an innovative
implementation of powerful communication tools like social media might therefore be only a question of
time.
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