CSR in banking

Can I trust your business with my money or my skills?

Elisabeth Houe Thomsen 1

How my interest was sparked

• “Do what you're best at – that's what we do”Danske Bank slogan until early June 2009Source: http://www.information.dk/193317

• A lot of customers were very disappointed with DB due to bad investments and bad advice – in connection with the financial crisis. Therefore DB thought it necessary to stop using this slogan.

• Banks’ images suffered – bad advice or not

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How my interest was sparked

• “In the aftermath of the ‘corporate meltdown’ and the financial crisis of 2008, it is not surprising to find a widespread skepticism toward corporate messages and intensified calls for corporate transparency and consistency” Christensen, Morsing and Thyssen mention in “The Polyphony of CSR” (2010) p. 469

• “Banks and financial institutions do not usually come across as heroes of morality or CSR” Jahdi & Acikdilli: “Marketing Communications and CSR: Marriage of Convenience or Shotgun Wedding?” (2009) p. 109

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Image branding

• Most banks – or any business – have an interest in appearing as responsible businesses – whom you can trust. This interest may be even bigger now due to recent bad experiences.

• So how do banks do in the eyes of customers and employees?

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How do banks communicate responsibility?

• In the way they act – and through correspondence between action and words

• In communication via text – (or other modes that you can more easily document)

• On their websites – my focus so far

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What to look for?

• As there is no consensus as to the definition of CSR the project will focus on environmental issues and corporate citizenship when comparing the CSR communication of various banks – environmental issues may of course be one aspect of corporate citizenship.

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Is CSR communication perceived as CSR communication?

• Much research has focused on the sender perspective

• But what about the receivers? How is CSR communication perceived by customers and employees?

• Using the term CSR vs responsibility

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Banks to look at

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Communication aspects to look at

• Multimodality – Kress & van Leeuwen

• Other relevant theories?

• Other approaches?

• Other suggestions?

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Methodology

1. Pilot among students

2. Interview with relevant person responsible for website to identify intended CSR communication

3. Own analysis of websites

4. Focus group interviews with employees and customers

5. Questionnaire to larger sample of employees and customers based on findings from focus group interviews

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On the downside

• Who are actually interested in websites?

• Do businesses just use the ”About …” part of the website for washing their hands so to speak – ”Now we have communicated, so let’s get down to business”?

• When did you last read this part of your bank’s website?

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Research questions

• What do stakeholders recognize as elements of CSR communication?

• Do stakeholders make sense of CSR communication the way various banks intended them to?

• And does CSR communication influence stakeholder action – as to e.g. choice of bank, deciding on investments, etc.?

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