Walk the talk: Reliability of non-listed family firms’ CSR communication

Public interest in social responsibility (CSR) communication by companies continues to grow. However, concerns remain as to whether companies truly ‘walk the talk’ – that is, whether their CSR actions align with their CSR communications. Firms that overstate their CSR behaviour in their communications are referred to as greenwashers, while those that understate them are termed brownwashers. Existing research suggests that family firms may differ from non-family firms in the consistency of their CSR communication and actions, yet much of it concentrates on listed firms and relies on ESG ratings, potentially obscuring the nuanced motivations behind CSR communication. This research proposal addresses these gaps by examining the ‘walk the talk’ behaviour of Austrian non-listed family firms. The first work package explores the antecedents of firms’ ‘walk the talk’ behaviour, that includes – besides family ownership (family vs. non-family firms) – socioemotional wealth (SEW), the top management team characteristics, and financial performance. The second work package investigates the outcomes of CSR communication consistency, focusing on internal stakeholder impacts – namely, conflict levels, CEO succession, and employee satisfaction. This research contributes to CSR and family firm literature by offering new insights into communication reliability, its drivers, and organizational consequences, while also advancing methodological approaches beyond ESG metrics by using direct CSR behaviour indicators. Finally, we aim to provide clear implications for family businesses, focusing on how they can refine their CSR communication and what outcomes they can expect to achieve by aligning or not aligning their CSR actions with their CSR communication.