Media interviews as strategic external communication to maintain legitimacy for sustainability activities
Corporate Communications: An International Journal
ISSN: 1356-3289
Article publication date: 13 August 2021
Issue publication date: 11 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the thematic content and inclusive language in leaders' media interviews to maintain legitimacy for organizational sustainability activities.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory, qualitative content analysis of 24 organizational leaders' media interviews about environmental sustainability was conducted. Inclusive language (i.e. collective focus terms, collective personal pronouns, and metaphors) and thematic content were analyzed.
Findings
Legitimacy maintenance entails both describing organizational sustainability activities and conveying, through the use of inclusive language, multiple audiences' connection to the organization. The qualitative content analysis found that leaders discussed both primary and secondary stakeholders. With the exception of the code defending existing practices, leaders consistently highlighted positive sustainability activities of their organizations. The inclusive language analysis found that collective focus terms were used by all the leaders, with the most common term being “everyone.” Collective personal pronouns were found in half the interviews. Metaphors were employed by all leaders; the most common sustainability-related metaphors were journey, structural, personification, military/competition, vision and science.
Research limitations/implications
The sample is limited to 24 organizations and not representative of all industries.
Originality/value
While sustainability communication research focuses on annual reports and website and social media content, this study draws attention to a common but under-examined type of strategic external communication: senior organizational leaders' media interviews. To the authors’ knowledge, scholars have not previously considered the possible legitimacy maintenance function of organizational leaders' use of inclusive language and thematic content to address a broad array of stakeholders in their external communication.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Dr. Daina Mazutis and the Rowe School of Business Research Seminar for their critical feedback on earlier versions. Thank you to Liz Tetzlaff, who contributed as a research assistant.
Research funding: This research did not receive any funding.
Citation
Crumley, E.T., Grandy, K., Sundararajan, B. and Roy, J. (2022), "Media interviews as strategic external communication to maintain legitimacy for sustainability activities", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 148-166. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-05-2021-0053
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited