Introduction

Amidst corporate scandals and business unethical behavior cases such as child labor, and the Enron affair, among others, organizations are facing more pressure to behave responsibly. Indeed, nowadays, companies are required to be environmentally, socially and ethically responsible toward society, as well as become more transparent, in order to restore the trust of stakeholders (Amaladoss and Manohar, 2013; Arvidsson, 2010; Ingenhoff and Sommer, 2011; Bonson and Bednarova, 2015). Therefore, corrective actions taken by companies to improve consumer attitudes toward and perceptions of them include the implementation of codes of conduct, as well as the engagement in corporate social responsibility initiatives, hereafter referred to as CSR (Amaladoss and Manohar, 2013; Arvidsson, 2010). In fact, CSR is a phenomenon that has received significant attention in recent years and is repeatedly assumed to play an integral role in enhancing corporate image (Huijstee and Glasbergen, 2008; Golob and Podnar, 2014; Ingenhoff and Sommer, 2011). The European Commission defines CSR as “a concept by which companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment by going beyond compliance and investing more into human capital, the environment and the relations with stakeholders” (Arvidsson, 2010, p. 339). Another definition proposed for the concept, by Du et al. (2010, p. 8), interprets it as “a commitment to improve (societal) well-being through discretionary business practices and contributions of corporate resources.” As demonstrated, there are various definitions supplied in the CSR literature to conceptualize CSR; however, it is the definition proposed by Carroll (1991) that is referenced the most by researchers. According to Carroll (1991), “the total corporate social responsibility of business entails the simultaneous fulfillment of the firm’s economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities. Stated in more pragmatic and managerial terms, the CSR firm should strive to make a profit, obey the law, be ethical, and be a good corporate citizen” (Arli and Lasmono, 2010, p. 46). An important facet of CSR is “stakeholder dialogue”. Indeed, CSR efforts will not lead to any business returns and will go unnoticed by stakeholders if they are not communicated (Huijstee and Glasbergen, 2008, p. 298; Golob and Podnar, 2014, p. 248). Hence, CSR communication is a topic that is rapidly gaining attention and becoming widely recognized as crucial to the success of companies, by virtue of the fact that it alleviates consumer skepticism and provides information about companies’ financial as well as non-financial performance (Bonson and Bednarova, 2015; Amaladoss and Manohar, 2013). According to Du et al. (2010), CSR disclosure is distinctive, because, in contrast to information published about the company’s core business and abilities, CSR communication sheds light about the company’s identity. As will be discussed throughout the current paper, CSR communication is crucial to the success of companies, regardless of business size, industry or culture. However, the majority of the studies conducted on this particular topic, according to Amaladoss and Manohar (2010), took place in the USA and Europe. Hence, few insights are provided about the concept in developing countries.