Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility Across Cultures : a Comparison of U.S. and Japanese Websites

Abstract

Given the increasing importance of globalization, tailoring a message to individual markets is becoming a common occurrence for multinational businesses. Despite this, some corporate activities have not been examined for their effectiveness across cultures. One of those activities is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This study explores CSR in an intercultural context using a cross-cultural comparison of the websites of Cargill and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, two U.S.-based firms with a significant business presence in Japan.