@article{2017:rttger:the_perspe,
title = {The perspective of citizens on the responsibility of corporations: A multidimensional study of responsibility assessments},
year = {2017},
note = {On the basis of four focus group discussions (N = 32) that were
conducted in June 2015, the present study investigates the attribution
and assessment of corporate responsibility by citizens. To obtain more
differentiated insight into the attribution of responsibility to
corporations, not only the objects of responsibility, but all the
dimensions of judgments concerning responsibility were analysed,
including the reasoning behind them. The findings show that in the
context of corporate activity, citizens attribute responsibility not
only to corporations themselves, but also to other social actors, like
consumers and politicians, and situate responsibility on the levels of
both individual and collective action. The objects of corporate
responsibility, on the contrary, are narrowly defined along the chain
of value-creation. It thus becomes clear that, contrary to the
established practice of CSR communication, corporations should place
particular focus on fulfilling their core responsibilities. After all,
research on CSR communication needs to consider the attribution of
corporate responsibility in its broader social context to take the
complexity of responsibility assessments into account.},
journal = {SCM Studies in Communication and Media},
pages = {300--314},
author = {Röttger, Ulrike and Thummes, Kerstin},
volume = {6},
number = {3}
}