The role of the media in corporate philanthropy: Media amplification

Does corporate philanthropy affect firm performance? Over the past decades, a considerable amount of scholarly attention has been devoted to examining this relationship. Some studies provided evidence for the positive relationship between corporate philanthropy and corporate performance, while others found no empirical support for such relationship. This mixed and inconclusive evidence calls for the need to scrutinize the underlying mechanisms by which corporate philanthropy can be beneficial for firm performance. The proposed project will explore whether a firm’s success in drawing positive media attention to its donations is the precise mechanism by which corporate philanthropy affects firm performance. Engaging in corporate philanthropy is inevitably costly to a firm. The primary economic benefits accruing to a firm from spending resources on charitable giving may come through obtaining social approval from external stakeholders. Corporate philanthropic activities failing to draw attention from the media are likely to be insufficient to outweigh the costs of giving, because those activities have little or no influence on stakeholders’ perceptions of how much a firm cares about and gives back to its communities. To be cont’d.

Faculty Supervisor:

Young-Chul Jeong

Student:

Partner:

Sungkyunkwan University

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Education

University:

Concordia University

Program: