CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA AND THE CHARACTERISTIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GREENWASHERS AND SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMPANIES

The modern understanding of business responsibility is shifting towards an understanding that includes responsibility to multiple stakeholder groups instead of only to shareholders. Given this trend it is important to understand the role of the media in the motivations that companies engage in corporate social responsibility and conversely those that greenwash. Furthermore, it is also important that an understanding be achieved of what differentiated companies engaged in corporate social responsibility form those that greenwash. Understanding these two factors will lead to a better understanding of what motivates and differentiates the two groups of companies. In order to measure the mainstream media coverage of corporate social responsibility, a content analysis will be conducted of seven newspapers? coverage during 2008 of three companies perceived as socially responsible and three perceived as greenwashers. Company reports will be analyzed to determine the different characteristics of the two groups.