Ensuring legitimacy trough CSR communication in the biobased sector

Sammanfattning: The importance of corporations in sustainable development has increased. With augmented expectations of responsibility from the general public, the corporation may be obligated to engage in corporate sustainability to obtain legitimacy and a social license to operate. However, acting responsibly and being perceived as a responsible corporation, may also infer positive economic effects for said corporation. To be able to benefit from responsible actions economically, the corporations need to be able to communicate their efforts effectively. Ineffective, false, or unbacked communication, on the other hand, may invite criticism and adverse effects. This study aimed to explain how forest corporations ensure legitimacy in their operations through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) communications. To do this, corporate communication was examined through sustainability reports of three forest corporations. Corporate statements and messages aiming to ensure legitimacy from stakeholders was examined in the study. In addition, corporate representatives were interviewed to provide further information about the statements, and messages the corporations use regarding corporate social responsibility. A theoretical framework consisting of legitimacy, institutional theory, and CSR communications was used to guide the analysis of the findings. The findings showed that forest corporations used several key statements to communicate their sustainability efforts to their stakeholders through the sustainability reports. These statements were analyzed, and discussed using the theoretical framework of legitimacy, institutional theory and CSR communication strategies. The study contributes with possible explanations of how corporations may communicate their CSR activities to enable certain legitimacy to be ensured. By using CSR communication strategies, the corporations are assisted in their strive for legitimacy. A conclusion from this study is that specific CSR communications strategies yield specific types of legitimacy.