session 17, tuccillo et al

UNIVERSITY OF SALERNOUNIVERSITY OF SALERNOC

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The role of consumer empowerment in CSR online The role of consumer empowerment in CSR online communication. The case study of an Italian energy communication. The case study of an Italian energy companycompany

(Italy)UNIVERSITY OF SALERNO

Carmela Tuccillo, Agostino Vollero, Maria Giovanna Confetto, Silvia Cosimato, University of Salerno


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PPurpose urpose and and Roadmap Roadmap

Purpose

Investigating the impact of the use of social media tools and the related online consumers’ power in terms of CSR communication activities.

Roadmap

• literature review on communication and marketing theories to describe the role of consumer empowerment in CSR strategies

• a classification of the actions used to implement CSR communication online by Eni

• concluding remarks


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Consumers Companies

Stakeholders’ expectations contribute to influence CSR online communication (Den Hond et al., 2007) .

The use of interactive tools help organizations to gain an increasing “corporate social responsiveness” (Frederick, 2008).

Consumers are interested in blogs and forums that provide real-time information on topical CSR issues (Becker-Olsen et al., 2006; Nan and Heo, 2007).

Social media tools are used by companies: to discuss CSR topics in a friendly context and to spread CSR information more quickly and less expensively among different stakeholders (Schneider et al., 2010).

Through using social media, stakeholders gain “power” as they are increasingly able to participate in, share and collaborate online relative to sustainability issues.

Companies monitor and control stakeholders demands, and design plans and policies to respond to changing conditions in the emerging social media context.

The development of social media platforms, the creation of communities and the interaction on social networks strongly impact on the behaviour of consumers and companies.

The impact of social media tools in CSR online communicationThe impact of social media tools in CSR online communication

Consumer empowerment CSR strategy


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Exploring the role of consumer empowerment in CSR Exploring the role of consumer empowerment in CSR online communicationonline communication

Activities of empowered consumers in CSR online communication

Consumers share information about CSR using social media platforms

Consumers make personal choices about CSR issues in social media

Consumers participate in useful work with each other and co-create new information and other meaningful activities concerning CSR

Consumers can have a significant role in the planning of CSR online communication

The extent of empowerment in CSR online communication represents an opportunity to explore empowerment processes and outcomes.


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Research methodology and objectivesResearch methodology and objectives

The analysis of the Eni case study is based on a questionnaire completed by CSR manager and on the analysis of the official documents and (offline and online) publications.

The research objectives are:The research objectives are:

to explore the increase of social media usage in CSR online communication

to identify the specific tools and actions used by Eni to respond to consumers empowerment

Eni is a major integrated energy company committed to growth through activities of finding, producing, transporting, transforming and marketing oil and gas


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Objectives of Eni’s CSR activitiesObjectives of Eni’s CSR activities

Objectives of Eni’s CSR activities

To spread CSR related information among stakeholders and increase community relations.

To build and maintain a positive image and reputation and legitimate the company’s CSR activities.

To improve dialogue with its stakeholders, using new communication channel in order to prevent the emergence of negative e-WOM.

To establish and maintain relationships with all stakeholders with an efficient and real-time communication.

CSR online communication

Consumer empowerment


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The three main elements of online consumer empowerment, might be useful to identify and categorize the position that Eni holds in its CSR online communication.

E-Wom Social media coverage Strategic partnerships-Facebook: Eni- Tiziano a Milano likes 1001 individuals; Caravaggio at Porto Ercole likes 490 individuals; Eniscuola Net (537 friends), 6000 studends; 7 million pages visited by 950,000 users. - Linkedin 834 - Twitter 1026 - Flickr 15 - Youtube 247 (2 years) - Slideshare 8 presentations 20 documents 15 followers 82 tags-Wikipedia:-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eni

3% strength – is the likelihood that ENI is being discussed in social media. 5:1 sentiment – is the ratio of mentions that are generally positive to those that are generally negative.39% passion – is a measure of the like hood that individuals talking about ENI will do so repeatedly.9 reach% – is a measure of the range of influence.

- In 2009 Eni was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.- In 2009 Eni was ranked first in the CSR Online Award 2009. - In June 2009 Eni’s CEO received the Foreign Policy Association’s CSR Award.- In 2010 Eni has also been confirmed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe for the third consecutive year.- In 2011 Eni awarded "Gold Class" in the SAM Sustainability Yearbook 2011.

AnalysisAnalysis

Some of ENI’s efforts in online communication are linked to a dimension of CSR


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DiscussionDiscussionENI: The “One Report” integration approachENI: The “One Report” integration approach

Eni started a new way of communicating to response to the increasing power of consumers. All suggestions received and all comments will help Eni to create an open, constructive and respectful dialogue with all those who take part.

Objectives:

communicate with all stakeholders;

avoid any gaps between consumer perception and company’s image;

establish, maintain and improve the relationship with the associations and stakeholders.


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An effective CSR strategy involves empowering customers to cooperate in selecting the effective tools to communicate on CSR and in the co-creation of new channel of communication

the necessity to integrate social media tools in marketing communications strategies addressed to sustainability

the possibility of a targeting CSR communication for specific groups

CSR

Conclusions


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10

Thank you for your attention!

For further information, please visit our website:

http://dsc.unisa.it/Siano/index_en.htm

session 17, tuccillo et al

Business