Most of the times reports of CSR impacts are published on companies’ websites. However, one of the problems could be that these reports are too detailed and difficult to read, therefore, consumers do not spend their time to read them.
CSR can also be communicated through advertisement however, if consumers feel that the marketers are trying to persuade and manipulate them, they may disengage from the ad message or give less importance to its content (Kim and Mattila 2012).
Moreover, the advertising must be truthful and meet an ethical standard otherwise it will be seen as deceptive by the public and it will consequently affect negatively the reputation of the company (Thompson 2016).
A good tactic used by companies to persuade and drive the decision people make is the use of emotions such as “hope”. Prevention and promotion hope can be applied to the CSR advertising (Kim an Mattile 2012). By engaging with people at a deeper, subconscious level advertisement can really make a difference in the consumers’ behavior.
PREVENTION HOPE
At first, the advertisement identifies and shows a problem, a negative situation or a negative aspect of the society. Afterwards, it shows how the company can prevent those outcomes through CSR activities.
PROMOTION HOPE
The advertisement only shows how positive and desirable outcomes can be reached through CSR activities.
Technology companies also make use of advertising to communicate their contribution to the world through CSR activities however, there are only a few advertisements of this kind and they do not get much coverage on the media. Most of the people would not see them unless they actually looked for them.
The two videos below are examples of prevention hope advertisements.
Samsung, a technology company founded in South Korea in 1938, is involved in CSR projects to help poor countries such as India and Ethiopia develop.
In the first video, the advertisement shows how most of the girls in India do not have the possibility to get an education and how the Samsung e-learning centre built in New Delhi is an attempt to fight this problem (YOUTUBE 2013 a).
The second advertisement shows how bad it is to live in Ethiopia in poor lighting conditions and how Samsung is trying to help the local communities by bringing solar-powered lanterns to areas where electricity is scare (YOUTUBE 2013 b)
The research shows that companies usually fail in communicating effectively their CSR activity. The issue is not only the content of the message, but also the channels and platforms used to communicate. They should take into consideration consumers’ preferences. It is clear that CSR campaigns cannot be advertised as if they were products or services.
CSR ADVERTISING
