Social Media in the CSR Communication: a theoretical framework

The aim of the paper is to develop a theorethical framework in order to understand which are the predictors and the outcomes related to the adoption of the Social Media in the CSR Communication. This question is worthy of investigation because, thanks to the literature review about the CSR Communication, we have observed an increasing attention towards the topic of Social Media i n the CSR field. Social Media are indeed becoming even more important in the firms’ communication strategies. Relying on the literature, internal and external predictors of CSR Communication are developed. After having analyzed the relationship between strategic/tactical CSR Communication and the adoption of Social Media, we will gain insights about the outcomes related to the institutional, organizational and individual level of analysis. In this paper, in particular, we will analyze the institutional level of analysis by comparing the outcomes of the CSR practices highlighted by the literature and the ones mentioned by the Social Media literature. Then we will present the research propositions, which, in a second step of the research, will be tested thanks to an empirical investigation. Finally some managerial implications and streams of future research are developed.