Do corporate carbon policies enhance legitimacy? A social media perspective

Abstract

Stakeholders are increasingly concerned about climate change and companies' commitment to anticipate future carbon-related risks, and grant or withdraw support depending on their perceptions of firms' carbon performance. The aim of this research is to analyse which carbon-related factors influence stakeholders with regards to the legitimacy-granting process. The sample in this study includes 146 firms from North America and Europe committed to carbon mitigation, whose legitimacy is measured via social media interactions. Findings show that setting a corporate carbon policy and disclosing an internal price of carbon are positively linked to legitimacy, while other factors are negatively or not related to legitimacy. This study makes theoretical contributions, proposing a metric based on social media stakeholder engagement to measure corporate legitimacy, as well as practical implications, revealing which carbon information shapes stakeholders' perception of firms' climate performance, and opening new possibilities for future research.