CSR Communication out of the box: exploring how CSR communication is a process of meaning development

The general public seems to have lost trust in the disclosures of major corporations (Havas Media and Globescan, 2009). Worldwide, 64% of consumers believe that companies act socially or environmentally responsibly mainly to improve their image. Also, through CSR is generally associated with positive virtues, corporate CSR messages have also been proven to attract critical attention (Morsing and Schultz 2006). Research suggests that the more companies expose their ethical and social ambitions, the more likely they are to attract critical stakeholder attention (Ashforth and Gibbs, 1990; Pirson and Malhotra, 2008). Reality confirms this result. In the aftermath of the British Petroleum accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, one might question the merits of engaging in aggressive CSR campaigns