Corporate Social Responsibility In The Chinese Context:Identifying Influencing Factors And Consumer Roles In A China-specific CSR Approach

The concept of "Corporate Social Responsibility"(CSR) has become increasingly important for companies to consider as part of their business strategies on global and local levels. As an originally Western concept it is however doubtful to what extent CSR can be adapted to the Chinese context, given the country’s unique political and economic conditions. Due to the strong state-corporate relationships in China, businesses may put greater emphasis on elements of CSR which nurture this relationship. Although there is evidence of Chinese consumers paying increasing attention to sustainability and responsibility issues of companies, little research has been conducted on whether companies operating in China in fact consider the Chinese public and the consumers as a primary stakeholder in their CSR communications. Through interviews conducted with top-level CSR employees in multinational companies and analysis of these companies’ posts on the Chinese social media platform "Weibo", this research identifies a localised CSR approach in China and the still minimal role of consumer communications in the conveyance of their CSR activities. The "Weibo" analysis pays particular attention to the time frame of April2013and the Sichuan earthquake, and finds that philanthropy and investment in the Chinese country are the most prominent elements of a China-specific CSR approach.