CSR & Interactivity 21
For the second research question, the types of communication covering CSR
issues consisted of press release, speech reprint, special reports, links to outsider site,
audio/video clips, and on-line publications, on the basis of a previous study (Esrock &
Leichty, 1998). The prominence of CSR issues was evaluated by considering levels in
which CSR issues were mentioned. Prominence of CSR issues is defined as the degree of
the accessibility of CSR related topics on a Web site. This study operationalized the level
of prominence of CSR based on the number of clicks. The level 1 of prominence
indicates that users can take a look at CSR related contents covered on the homepage
with one click; level 2 requires two clicks to reach html documents covering CSR issues
from the companies’ Web site homepage; level 3 requires three clicks to reach documents
dealing with CSR issues from the main homepage. Therefore, CSR issues covered in
level 1 are considered to be the most prominent. These levels of prominence for CSR
issues were compared between the chaebol and non-chaebol company types.
To reach answers for the third research question, this study examined interactive
features. These features about interactivity of the Web sites are divided three parts, based
on earlier researches (Taylor, Kent, & White, 2001; McMillan & Hwang, 2002): 1) ‘ease
interface’ such as site map, links to other outside sites, and search engines excluding
sources for their own or subsidiary companies, 2) ‘return visits features’ such as
interactive news forum, interactive FAQ and Q&A, downloadable information, requests
via e-mail, and posting of the latest updates within 30days, and 3) ‘dialogue pools’, such
as opportunities for users’ response and opportunities for survey and voting.
Convention