TY - JOUR
T1 - Symbolic and substantive legitimation
T2 - examining corporate commitments to sustainable development goal 12
AU - Eng, Nicholas
AU - Troy, Cassandra L.C.
AU - Bortree, Denise S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2024/3/18
Y1 - 2024/3/18
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess online corporate communication around commitments to sustainable development goal (SDG) 12, sustainable production and consumption. Design/methodology/approach: Guided by legitimacy theory, a qualitative directed content analysis was conducted on 13 companies' webpages (81 webpages, 78,947 words). Findings: Companies broadly failed to communicate about all 11 SDG 12 targets, neglected to consistently address multiple stakeholder groups, missed opportunities to provide concrete evidence of progress and relied on a mix of substantive and symbolic legitimation strategies. Originality/value: SDG 12 has been under-researched and this paper is one of the first to offer an in-depth analysis of corporate communication regarding SDG 12.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess online corporate communication around commitments to sustainable development goal (SDG) 12, sustainable production and consumption. Design/methodology/approach: Guided by legitimacy theory, a qualitative directed content analysis was conducted on 13 companies' webpages (81 webpages, 78,947 words). Findings: Companies broadly failed to communicate about all 11 SDG 12 targets, neglected to consistently address multiple stakeholder groups, missed opportunities to provide concrete evidence of progress and relied on a mix of substantive and symbolic legitimation strategies. Originality/value: SDG 12 has been under-researched and this paper is one of the first to offer an in-depth analysis of corporate communication regarding SDG 12.
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U2 - 10.1108/JCOM-06-2022-0075
DO - 10.1108/JCOM-06-2022-0075
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85165463587
SN - 1363-254X
VL - 28
SP - 74
EP - 92
JO - Journal of Communication Management
JF - Journal of Communication Management
IS - 1
ER -