Exploring consumers, emotional and cognitive engagement with digital CSR communication

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how digital corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication, in the form of information, response and involvement strategies, shapes consumer engagement across cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a netnographic approach and analyses more than 3, 237 rich Facebook comments to six coffee chains’ posts related to no plastic waste initiatives. Findings – Findings illustrate how consumers use CSR messages on social media as spaces for sharing knowledge, expressing emotions and participating in CSR initiatives. Specifically, the results show that different digital CSR communication strategies shape how conversations with and among consumers evolve by triggering distinct types and valences of engagement. Moreover, the study identifies the objects of engagement (CSR activity, brand and community) and traces how engagement flows dynamically among these focal points. Research limitations/implications – The data were collected from a specific social media platform (Facebook) and focus on a specific CSR activity, which is plastic waste. Practical implications – The study offers guidance for brands seeking to navigate the interactive and often unpredictable nature of CSR communication online. It highlights that engagement is multidimensional and may not always signal endorsement, but, nonetheless, can contribute to the ongoing negotiation of corporate responsibility. Originality/value – By integrating cognitive and emotional dimensions into the analysis of digital CSR engagement, this study extends prior research that has largely focused on behavioral metrics. It interprets digital CSR communications as the space for consumer engagement and reveals the role of such communications as both enablers of co-creation processes between companies and consumers – and among consumers – and inputs for criticism with companies’ concern for society.