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Retailers recently have started communicating their corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments to their consumers directly on social media. That is to say, CSR communication has expanded to social media that allow two-way communication, distinct from traditional CSR communication channels. As transparency has been recognised as a crucial factor influencing the effectiveness of traditional CSR communication, this study investigated its role in the social media context.

A two-level, single-factor (i.e. transparency of a mock retail company's CSR communication) between-subjects experimental design was employed, and 237 responses from an online survey were used for PROCESS macroanalysis.

Transparent CSR communication was found to increase the consumers' perceived CSR credibility and attitude toward the company, which influenced consumers' subsequent purchase intention (functionalistic outcome) and intention to respond to the CSR communication (constitutive outcome). The results of the study also corroborated that consumers' level of elaboration when processing CSR communication on social media depends upon their level of concern over the social issue.

The study extends the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to CSR communication in the social media context by validating that consumers' level of information elaboration is determined by their level of concern over the social issue. In addition, it provides the first empirical support for the significance of transparent CSR communication on social media and explains the mechanism of transparency's influence. Transparency indirectly affects consumers' behavioural intentions by forming a favourable attitude toward a retailer. The findings can help retail practitioners communicate CSR commitments persuasively on social media. The study also integrates functionalistic and constitutive perspectives of social media CSR communication, which is notable and discussed in depth.

When it comes to tactics that organizational communicators can undertake to elicit positive gains with stakeholders, transparent communication ranks high on lists proposed by both the scholarly and trade literatures. However, little is known about why such communication tactics are effective on a psychological level. Thus, this study aims to propose and test a psychological model of transparent communication effectiveness in the context of proactive, socially responsible brand communication. The model was based on three propositions: (1) transparent communication offers audiences an important opportunity to learn more about organizational functioning, (2) learning elicits an organizationally relevant positive affective state and (3) positive affect facilitates a robust relationship between perceived learning outcomes and positive evaluation of the organization.

This study used an experiment to test the hypothesized model.

Support was found for the proposed model. Specifically, the data indicated that the use of transparent massaging elicited higher levels of perceived learning. Perceived learning was associated with positive brand-relevant affect. Finally, positive brand relevant-affect predicted positive summary brand evaluation.

Taken as a whole, the current findings inform theorizing on transparent organizational and brand communication by describing the foundational roles played by perceived knowledge gain and positive affect in encouraging positive message-related outcomes.

When organizations set out to manage their communications in accordance with the corporate ideal, they seem to take for granted that they are transparent, not only to their surroundings but also to themselves. The notion of corporate communications, in other words, builds on the assumption that organizations are able to have a general view of themselves as communicating entities. But is this really the case? And, if not, is it possible to articulate the challenge of corporate transparency in alternative, strategic terms? Since contemporary organizations increasingly relate to their surroundings as if they are transparent, these and related questions are highly relevant in both theoretical and practical terms. Discusses the notion of transparency both as a condition and as a strategy, and deconstructs conventional assumptions associated with the use of the term. Looking at corporate transparency as a staging process that involves strategic disclosure, institutionalisation and mimetic behaviour, asks fundamental questions about organizational openness in an age of transparency.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a significant impact on several aspects of public relations practice. By adopting the theoretical framework of adaptive leadership, this research is designed to explore how an organization’s top leadership can support related adaptive action in strategic communication. Particularly, we hope to explore whether the application of adaptive leadership could facilitate a higher level of communication transparency as well as deliver a sense of caring and empathy in COVID-19 communication.

An international online survey was designed and conducted for this study. The first sample consists of 776 full-time communication professionals in the United States of America with 435 women (56.1%) and 341 men (43.9%). The second sample consists of 268 full-time communication professionals in Canada, with 110 women (41.0%) and 158 men (59.0%). The two samples were merged into the final sample of 1,044 for the data analysis.

Results confirmed that the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic increased communication professionals’ challenges in building trust. It also drives adaptive changes in their coping actions in strategic communication. More importantly, the top leadership within the organization played a key role in this adaptive leadership environment by demonstrating commitment to transparency in COVID-19 communication and delivering a sense of empathy during the pandemic.

This study contributes to our understanding of strategic communication in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 global pandemic, by focusing on the adaptive nature of communication leadership. More importantly, our study confirms the important roles of two leadership attributes (i.e. the sense of empathy and the commitment to communication transparency) in supporting adaptive leadership, which eventually influences trust building.

This study analyzed the explicitness, the salience of ethics and the transparency of messages in firms' social reports based on their significance to strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication.

Drawing on institutional theory, this content analysis investigated 750 social reports from 125 firms for a ten-year period in liberal market economies (LMEs: US, UK), coordinated market economies (CMEs: Germany, Japan) and state-led market economies (SLMEs: France, South Korea).

First, firms in CMEs showed the highest level of transparency, and in all market economies, an overall trend of increase in the level of transparency was found. Second, firms in SLMEs communicated their CSR activities least explicitly. Third, firms in CMEs showed the lowest salience of ethics.

Useful theoretical as well as practical implications are provided in relation to the institutional perspective to CSR, and cross-national CSR communication.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how trust, honesty and transparency impact the willingness and timeliness of communicating financial information between Government Finance Officers (GFOs) and members of the municipal boards they serve.

Survey data was collected from professionals who work with municipalities to ensure government resources are properly managed. Nonparametric local-linear regression was used to analyze the data.

Evidence suggests that trust in the board, GFO preference for honesty and greater transparency of the municipality influence the timeliness of communication. There is evidence that when the GFO and board members have a working relationship built on trust and the GFO has a preference for honesty, the GFO is more willing to share positive information with the board. In addition, there is evidence that with greater transparency and trust in the board, there is a reduction in the time of sharing positive information in situations where there is little discretion in disclosing and less willingness to share information.

A principal limitation of this study is the small sample size. In addition, the study was conducted using only participants from the pool of members of the Government Finance Officers Association of Texas. As an exploratory study, the survey included a minimal number of questions to gather data from actual GFOs and included only six possible scenarios. The time constraint resulted in a reduced number of questions related to the models used. Other limitations include the potential of missing variables, factors or perceptions related to scenarios not presented in the survey instrument.

The findings suggest that with greater transparency, there is less time between the event and the GFO communication to the board providing the opportunity to improve the effectiveness of the decision-making process.

This study is the first to explore the effects of increased transparency on the level of communication between the GFO and the board.

The purpose of this study is to situate information and communications technology (ICT) “transparency reports” within the theoretical framework of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. The self-denominated transparency report serves a dual purpose of highlighting an ICT company’s socially responsible behavior while also holding government agencies accountable for surveillance and requests for user data. Drawing on legitimacy theory, neo-institutional theory and stakeholder theory, this exploratory study examines how ICT companies are implementing industry-specific voluntary disclosures as a form of CSR.

A content analysis of ICT voluntary nonfinancial reporting (N = 88) was used to identify motivating principles, the company positioning to stakeholders, the relevant publics and intended audience of these disclosures and the communication strategy used to engage primary stakeholders.

Key findings suggest that most ICT companies used transparency reporting to engage consumers/users as their primary stakeholders and most used a stakeholder information strategy. A majority of ICT companies signaled value-driven motives in their transparency reports while also positioning the company to stakeholders as a protector of user data and advocate for consumer rights.

This study enriches the literature on CSR communication strategies and reporting practices by extending it to an underdeveloped topic of study: novel voluntary disclosures as CSR activities of prominent ICT companies (i.e. “Big Tech”). These polyphonic reports reflect varied motives, varied positioning and varied stakeholders. For market-leading companies, transparency reporting can serve to legitimize existing market power. And for midsize and emerging companies, transparency reporting can be used to signal adherence to industry norms – set by market-leading companies.

This study aims to examine some of the benefits and drawbacks of communication visibility. Specifically, building on communication visibility theory, the authors study how and why message transparency and network translucence may increase knowledge reuse and perceived overload through behavioral responses of vicarious learning and technology-assisted supplemental work.

Drawing on survey data obtained from 1,127 employees of a global company operating in the industrial machinery sector, the authors used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized model.

The results demonstrate that the two aspects of communication visibility yield somewhat differential benefits and drawbacks in terms of knowledge reuse and communication overload, through vicarious learning and supplemental work practices.

The results demonstrate the relationship between different aspects of communication visibility and knowledge reuse, specifically through vicarious learning. Furthermore, the findings highlight a potential drawback of visibility – communication overload – specifically through technology-assisted supplemental work. Overall, network translucence seems more beneficial compared to message transparency in terms of knowledge reuse and communication overload.

The study connects with recent work on communication visibility by distinguishing differential direct and indirect effects of message transparency and network translucence. It also extends this work by testing relationships between communication visibility and a potential drawback of visibility – communication overload – specifically through technology-assisted supplemental work.

This paper aims to systematically unpack the ideal of organizational transparency by tracing the concept's origins in the era of Enlightenment. Based on a genealogical reconstruction, the article explores different transparency understandings in key areas of online public relations (PR) and discusses the opportunities and challenges they present for the field.

This is a conceptual paper that unfolds a genealogical reconstruction to uncover different transparency ideals of modernity. These perspectives are then transferred to the field of online PR to discuss their ethical and practical implications in the context of digitalization.

Claims for transparency manifest in three distinct ideals, namely normative, instrumental and expressive transparency, which are also pursued in online PR. These ideals are related to associated concepts, like dialogue, control and authenticity, which serve as transparency proxies. Moreover, each transparency ideal inherits an ambivalence that presents unique opportunities and challenges for PR practitioners.

Instead of an unquestioned belief in the ideal of organizational transparency, the paper urges communication practitioners to critically reflect on the ambivalent nature of different transparency regimes in the context of digitalization and provides initial recommendations on how to manage digital transparency in online PR responsibly.

The paper contributes to the vivid debate surrounding organizational transparency in the context of digitalization by offering a novel and systematic analysis of the multifaced concept of transparency while opening new research avenues for further conceptual and empirical research.

The study focuses on the negative implications that an organizational crisis can have for individual employees. Specifically, it considers job-related uncertainty, negative emotions (anxiety and frustration) and job disengagement. Through the lens of the social exchange theory, it is argued that internal crisis communication needs to provide sufficient socioemotional resources to their employees in order to mitigate these negative outcomes. In particular, the study argues for internal crisis communication that fosters organizational transparency and organizational support to achieve these mitigating effects.

An online survey among employees in Austria was administered one year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic – this specific crisis context particularly evoked job-related uncertainty and negative emotions which are considered relevant drivers of job disengagement. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling based on a sample of N = 410.

Results show that employees' perceptions of job-related uncertainty are strongly linked to job-related anxiety and frustration; job-related frustration, in turn, strongly influences job disengagement. Overall, employees' perceptions of organizational transparency and organizational support contribute both to prevent the risk of job disengagement; however, the processes how these effects evolve differ. Whereas organizational transparency works on the cognitive level via a reduction of employees' perceptions of uncertainty, organizational support shows its effect on the emotional level through a reduction of job frustration.

The study contributes to the scarce research on how internal crisis communication can address employees' uncertainty, negative emotions and job disengagement during a crisis. Moreover, despite the lack of organizational responsibility for creating the crisis, the study emphasizes organizational accountability to respond to the needs of its employees to mitigate negative effects.