The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility Communication Strategies on Corporate Identity: A Case Study of Standard Chartered Bank’s Nairobi Marathon, 2022

Abstract

A CSR activity without communication is likely to fail due to its limited effects. Adopting appropriate CSR communication strategy positively contributes to the tripartite corporate identity mix components – behavior, symbolism and communication. The study has assessed effects of CSR Communication strategy on corporate identity of an organization to inform on the most appropriate CSR communication strategy throughout the CSR life-cycle. A qualitative research design was used to study Standard Chartered Bank’s Nairobi Marathon 2022. The population of the study was Nairobi City County (NCC) residents exposed to the 2022 marathon. A sample size of 30 informants which was obtained through exponential discriminative snowball sampling was used. Content analysis was used to collect secondary data while semi-structured interviews were used to collect primary data. The bank used a CSR Communication strategy with three communication tactics- stakeholder informational, stakeholder response and stakeholder involvement tactics. The stakeholder informational approach was used to share information with the stakeholders to rally for support and update them. The stakeholder response tactic allowed stakeholders to get into a conversation with the bank. The conversation drew stakeholders closer and cleared their doubts. The stakeholder involvement tactic was used to allow stakeholders run, contribute, donate and tell others about the marathon. All CSR Communication tactics improved the corporate identity of the bank. Conclusively, all CSR Communication tactics sort to bring stakeholders closer to the bank allowing them to understand better what the bank does. Therefore, the corporate identity of the bank was greatly improved through CSR Communication strategy.