SUSTAINABILITY DISCLOSURE ACROSS OFFICIAL REPORTING AND SOCIAL MEDIA: DYNAMICS OF TRANSPARENCY, NARRATIVE CONTROL, AND STAKEHOLDER SCRUTINY Three studies on the organizational mechanisms connecting sustainability reporting, its digital communication, and the pursuit of legitimacy.
Anno: 2026
Autori/autrici: Pennesi, Alice
Lingua: ENG
Classificazione IRIS: 8.1 Tesi di dottorato
Scheda completa IRIS: https://iris.univpm.it/handle/11566/353272
Citazioni:
SUSTAINABILITY DISCLOSURE ACROSS OFFICIAL REPORTING AND SOCIAL MEDIA: DYNAMICS OF TRANSPARENCY, NARRATIVE CONTROL, AND STAKEHOLDER SCRUTINY Three studies on the organizational mechanisms connecting sustainability reporting, its digital communication, and the pursuit of legitimacy / Pennesi, Alice. - (2026 Mar).
Abstract:
La comunicazione di sostenibilità si è rapidamente evoluta da una pratica orientata alla rendicontazione a un ambito strategico attraverso il quale le organizzazioni negoziano la propria legittimità, modellano l’identità pubblica e rispondono a una crescente pressio...ne da parte degli stakeholder. L’introduzione della Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) e la crescente pervasività delle piattaforme digitali hanno intensificato le aspettative in materia di trasparenza e accountability, trasformando la comunicazione di sostenibilità in un processo intrinsecamente cross-channel e fortemente esposto. Se i report di sostenibilità forniscono informazioni strutturate e regolamentate, i social media consentono interazioni partecipative, immediate e dialogiche che ampliano le opportunità di engagement ma, al contempo, amplificano i rischi reputazionali. Queste dinamiche rendono il coordinamento tra comunicazione istituzionale e comunicazione digitale una sfida centrale per la governance aziendale contemporanea, soprattutto in contesti di controversia, crisi ESG o scandali, in cui la visibilità pubblica agisce come un potente amplificatore del rischio. Nonostante la crescente attenzione accademica, la letteratura risulta ancora frammentata e non offre una comprensione integrata di come le organizzazioni governino la disclosure di sostenibilità attraverso canali diversi. Emergono tre principali gap teorici. In primo luogo, manca una spiegazione di come reporting formale e comunicazione sui social media si influenzino reciprocamente, né è chiaro come le organizzazioni gestiscano le tensioni tra trasparenza e controllo reputazionale. In secondo luogo, gli studi esistenti non hanno ancora sviluppato framework che descrivano come le imprese incorporano feedback, critiche e segnali digitali nei processi decisionali e nelle pratiche di rendicontazione, nonostante i social media rappresentino spazi fondamentali di co-costruzione identitaria con gli stakeholder. In terzo luogo, le strategie comunicative adottate durante controversie e scandali di sostenibilità restano poco teorizzate: è ancora limitata la conoscenza dei criteri con cui le organizzazioni scelgono tra disclosure, comunicazione selettiva, minimizzazione del problema o silenzio strategico, anche alla luce dei possibili effetti boomerang e della formazione di una memoria collettiva negativa persistente. Questa ricerca di dottorato affronta tali lacune sviluppando una comprensione integrata e multilivello della comunicazione di sostenibilità attraverso reporting ufficiale e social media. Il progetto indaga come le organizzazioni coordinano i due canali, come il feedback digitale influenzi la disclosure e come trasparenza e rischio reputazionale vengano bilanciati in condizioni di scrutinio e crisi. Per questo, la tesi è articolata in tre studi complementari. Lo Studio Uno fornisce il fondamento concettuale tramite una mappatura sistematica della letteratura, identificando le dinamiche upstream e downstream che collegano report e social media. Lo Studio Due testa empiricamente tali meccanismi attraverso un caso di studio longitudinale di un’azienda coinvolta in uno scandalo di sostenibilità, analizzando le strategie di comunicazione cross-channel prima, durante e dopo la crisi. Lo Studio Tre approfondisce ulteriormente queste evidenze tramite interviste aziendali, ricostruendo come ruoli, processi e contenuti vengano coordinati internamente per garantire coerenza cross-channel, controllo reputazionale e conformità ai requisiti normativi emergenti. Complessivamente, questa ricerca avanza la comprensione teorica della comunicazione di sostenibilità come processo multicanale, multi-attore e socio-tecnico, offrendo un quadro integrato per spiegare come le organizzazioni costruiscono e mantengono la propria legittimità in un ambiente sempre più trasparente, partecipativo e mediato digitalmente. ​ Abstract della tesi in ingleseSustainability communication has rapidly evolved from a reporting-oriented practice into a strategic domain through which organizations negotiate legitimacy, shape their public identity, and respond to growing stakeholder scrutiny. The introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the increasing pervasiveness of digital platforms have intensified expectations regarding transparency and accountability, transforming sustainability communication into an inherently cross-channel and highly exposed process. While official sustainability reports provide structured and regulated information, social media enable participatory, immediate, and dialogic interactions that both expand engagement opportunities and amplify reputational risks. These dynamics make the coordination between institutional communication and digital communication a central challenge for contemporary corporate governance, particularly in contexts of controversy, ESG crises, or scandals, where public visibility acts as a powerful risk multiplier. Despite growing academic attention, the literature remains fragmented and lacks an integrated understanding of how organizations govern sustainability disclosure across channels. Three main theoretical gaps emerge. First, research has not yet explained how formal reporting and social media communication influence one another, nor how organizations manage the tensions between transparency and reputational control across channels. Second, existing studies have not developed frameworks describing how firms incorporate feedback, criticism, and digital signals into internal decision-making and disclosure processes, despite social media being key spaces where corporate identity is co-constructed with stakeholders. Third, the communicative strategies adopted during sustainability controversies remain under-theorized, and little is known about how organizations choose between disclosure, selective communication, issue minimization, or strategic silence, especially considering potential backfire effects and the formation of persistent negative collective memories. This doctoral research addresses these gaps by developing an integrated, multi-level understanding of sustainability communication across official reporting and social media. The project investigates how organizations coordinate the two channels, how digital feedback influences disclosure, and how transparency and reputational risk are balanced under conditions of stakeholder scrutiny and crisis. To do so, the dissertation is structured into three complementary studies. Study One provides a conceptual foundation through a systematic mapping of the literature, identifying upstream and downstream mechanisms linking reports and social media. Study Two empirically tests these mechanisms through a longitudinal case study of a company involved in a sustainability scandal, analysing cross-channel communication strategies before, during, and after the crisis. Study Three deepens these insights through corporate interviews, reconstructing how roles, processes, and content are coordinated internally to ensure cross-channel coherence, reputational control, and compliance with emerging regulatory requirements. Overall, this research advances the theoretical understanding of sustainability communication as a multi-channel, multi-actor, and socio-technical process, offering a comprehensive framework for explaining how organizations construct and maintain legitimacy in an increasingly transparent, participatory, and digitally mediated environment.
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The role of social media in sustainability reporting: A study based on qualitative interviews
Anno: 2026
Autori/autrici: Pennesi, Alice; Giuliani, Marco
Lingua: ENG
Classificazione IRIS: 4.1 Contributo in Atti di convegno
Scheda completa IRIS: https://iris.univpm.it/handle/11566/354572
Citazioni:
The role of social media in sustainability reporting: A study based on qualitative interviews / Pennesi, Alice; Giuliani, Marco. - ELETTRONICO. - (2026), pp. 295-298. ( Accounting and Finance LUM Conference 1st Edition. Driving the SDGs: A Decade of Action for a Sustainable Future Bari 09-10 June 2025).
Abstract:
Technological advancements have fundamentally transformed how companies disseminate information (Manetti & Bellucci, 2016; Di Tullio et al., 2021). Despite growing research on social media use in sustainability disclosure, little is known about its internal organisational dynamics, especiall...y the collaboration between sustainability and social media managers (Pennesi & Giuliani, 2025). Moreover, new regulations such as the CSRD stress consistency across communication channels. This study investigates the relationship between sustainability reporting and social media communication, focusing on how companies, through their sustainability managers and social media managers, interpret, manage, and integrate these two activities to pursue consistency, transparency, and stakeholder engagement.
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Social Media and Sustainability Reporting: A Literature Review
Anno: 2025
Rivista: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Autori/autrici: Pennesi, Alice; Giuliani, Marco
Lingua: ENG
Classificazione IRIS: 1.1 Articolo in rivista
Scheda completa IRIS: https://iris.univpm.it/handle/11566/343573
Citazioni:
Social Media and Sustainability Reporting: A Literature Review / Pennesi, Alice; Giuliani, Marco. - In: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. - ISSN 1099-1719. - ELETTRONICO. - 33:5(2025), pp. 7314-7335. [10.1002/sd.3524]
Abstract:
Continuous technological advances have radically changed the means of disclosure that companies adopt. These media have evolved from traditional paper media and have started using the Internet as a new platform for disseminating information about companies. Recent studies show that even non-financia...l information, such as sustainability disclosure, is disseminated on websites and social media platforms. Social media platforms allow for the creation and development of new forms of “corporate dialogue and stakeholder engagement”, that is, the various processes and strategies that firms and other organizations implement in their stakeholder relations. This article aims to understand, systematize, and frame existing studies regarding the relationship between sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement (dialogue) through social media, that is, how sustainability reports are influenced by and disseminated through social media. To achieve this aim, a systematic literature review (SLR) will be developed.
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