Social inequality and sustainability are two complex and contested issues in contemporary societies, often intertwined with organizations. Organizations assume various roles in these issue arenas: as employers with responsibilities toward internal stakeholders, as corporations striving to meet societal expectations to maintain legitimacy, or as advocacy organizations participating in public discourse to drive social change.
In this pillar, we study how organizations strategically frame social inequality and sustainability issues, how stakeholders perceive and portray organizations, and other effects of organizational communication strategies. Research themes include the strategic framing of social inequality (e.g., minority groups) and sustainability (e.g., climate change, the energy transition) in organizations’ CSR reports and online communication, the portrayal of organizations in traditional media and on social media (e.g., frames, roles, and responsibilities), challenges associated with disingenuous efforts (e.g., pinkwashing, greenwashing), linguistic bias, the use of stereotypical beliefs and its consequences, and the effects of organizational advocacy on stakeholders and public opinion.