Understanding CSA from the perspectives of public relations professionals and employees (2021)

Corporations today face pressure to express their positions on controversial issues and exercise their power to influence social and political change. As publics’ expectations have moved beyond traditional CSR to corporate social advocacy (CSA), it has become critical to understand transactional and relational consequences of CSA engagement. To better understand the dynamics of CSA, we aim to explore PR professionals’ and employees’ views of CSA and address several questions, including: How do professionals and employees define CSA objectives and purposes? How do they see the roles of public relations in CSA practices? What are the characteristics manifested from organizations when public relations professionals take a leadership role in CSA practices?