Sustainability-Related Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Communications in the Canadian Grocery Industry

Abstract

As consumers become more socially and environmentally aware, organizations provide in-depth corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, sustainability reports, and communicate about CSR on various social media channels. This study consists of an exploratory content analysis of sustainability-related CSR social media communications from Canada’s three largest grocery retailers, including Loblaw, Metro, and Sobeys. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which sustainable business practices are being discussed through social media postings. The findings demonstrate that the retailers include more content related to sustainable business practices on Instagram as compared to Facebook and LinkedIn. Additionally, the results demonstrate that two out of the three retailers within the study do not communicate their CSR initiatives in alignment with previous research that provides best practices for CSR communications. These results have valuable implications for grocery managers, public policy writers, and researchers.