Socially Responsible Corporate Communications in Mexico: Evidence of the Large Companies by Their Operational Levels

Abstract

The aim of this study is to know the general condition of business communications regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in large Mexican companies, and identify the significant differences in terms of a set of indicators and in comparison with three different operational levels. Specifically, based in a relevant previous research work by Maignan and Ralston (2002) and analyzing the content of 150 Mexican business websites as a sample frame, the study evaluates the differences in a set of CSR indicators divided in principles, processes and stakeholder issues. And then, compare these indicators among the national, international and multinational level by utilizing the statistical Chi-square test. The main findings suggest a high prevalence of corporate communications regarding social responsibilities in large Mexican companies, especially from those that operate on a multinational level and coming from abroad. The performance-driven principle was found to be the main motivation behind CSR communications for all levels; quality programs were the most employed CSR process in order to build a good citizenship image; and the stakeholder issues related to shareholders and the indicator of service/product quality from the customers group, were those found more significantly similar among the groups.