Social Media Marketing, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Social Change in India

Abstract

While there are several media options available to a marketer, this study focuses on new media options. The study proposes (a) relevant social media strategies for each social media tool, and (b) appropriate social media strategies and tools for each corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach. Based on this categorization, the paper (a) reviews past efforts by Indian companies to utilize social media strategies to implement their CSR campaigns, and (b) identifies gaps and provides recommendations to make future CSR attempts effective. The methodology adopted was a review of CSR literature followed by qualitative analysis of social media sites of fifteen Indian companies, as monitored by the Reputation Institute (Charlotte Bang-Møller, personal communication). Based on the classification of Barker et al. (Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach, Cengage Learning, 2013) and Nedra Weinreich (personal communication), employment of the 7 Cs of social media strategy relevant to a CSR campaign is proposed.