5. Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives: A Focus on COVID-19

Increasingly, firms are playing a key role in resolving societal problems, including pandemics. The contribution of firms in pandemics can be performed through corporate social responsibility initiatives. Consequently, firms make their target audience aware of their corporate social responsibility activities through communication efforts. However, there is an advocacy to adopt a strategic approach in corporate social responsibility communication. In emerging economies, the performance of CSR has been widely viewed as a philanthropic gesture, thus leading to firms not using innovative ways such as CSR communication to enhance its effectiveness and strategic benefits. This paper, therefore, seeks to identify the various CSR communication activities within the CSR communication strategy domain. The study adopted a semi-systematic literature review approach to understanding ways to perform CSR communication, with a close look at communications on firms COVID-19 initiatives. Some examples of COVID-19 CSR communications in emerging economies are also provided. The paper suggested that a strategic CSR communication on COVID-19 is determined by the strategy (informational, reactive, and deliberative), the creative message and content of the message (CSR initiative, CSR fit, CSR motive, and CSR impact), communication channel (advertisement, website, annual report and sustainability report, social media) and must be results-driven. The paper contributes to how firms must undertake CSR communication in emerging economies.