The impact of online media on stakeholder engagement and the governance of corporations

• Published date: 01 May 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1535
• Date: 01 May 2015

■Academic Paper

The impact of online media on stakeholder

engagement and the governance of

corporations

Christian Pieter Hoffmann*and Christoph Lutz

Institute for Media and Communications Management, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Online toolssuch as social media providenew opportunities for citizensand stakeholder groupsto be informed, identify

common interests, express and share opinions and demands, organize, and coordinate interventions. Therefore, the

Internet could be expected to increase stakeholder engagement in corporate affairs and facilitate good governance. In

order to provide an overview of current findings on the impact of online media on governance and stakeholder

engagement,we conduct a systematicliterature review.Our analysis revealsfive topical categoriesof inquiry.We analyze

studies from the field of business participation and find a strong bias towards consumer engagement and marketing

issues.Only few studies are foundto critically explorethe effect of online mediaon power and value distributionbetween

corporations andstakeholders. We then turn to the more established field of political and civicparticipation in order to

further analyze antecedents, forms, and outcomes of online engagement in civic affairs, and derive a framework for

future research. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons,Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

In an enthusiastic review of the Internet’s political

impact, Clay Shirky (2011) writes: ‘social media

have become coordinating tools for nearly all of

the world’s political movements’. This might be

somewhat optimistic, but in fact, research has been

quick to explore the notion that new technologies

will facilitate political participation and create

access for non-elite citizens (Davis, 1999; Hacker,

1996; Stromer-Galley, 2000). Online media not only

make citizen participation in political decision mak-

ing logistically feasible, they also support delibera-

tive processes by providing access to a wide range

of information and online conversations (White,

1997; DiMaggio et al., 2001; Stromer-Galley & Foot,

2002). A range of studies have therefore explored

the impact of online media on citizen participation.

Nisbet et al. (2012) find that Internet use increases

demand for democracy. A meta-analysis by

Boulianne (2009) also finds evidence for a positive

effect of Internet use on political engagement. Social

media use, too, has been linked to political interest,

online and offline civic as well as political participa-

tion (Vitak et al., 2011; Towner & Dulio, 2011; Gil de

Zuniga et al., 2010). So if online media do in fact

increase citizen engagement in public governance,

how does this translate to the governance of market

institutions? Will the Internet also contribute to more

active, critical, and engaged stakeholders? Do they

provide new opportunities for good governance?

To date, research on citizen participation is

focused on issues of public governance (Andersen

et al., 2011; Ebbers et al., 2008; Heeks & Bailur,

2007). Yet, there are significant similarities between

citizen participation in public and corporate gover-

nance: both are characterized by hierarchical

decision-making processes, a delegation of power

to professionals and select committees, and a strong

asymmetry of power between professional decision

makers and members of various interest groups

*Correspondence to: Christian Pieter Hoffmann, Institute for

Media and Communications Management, University of St.

Gallen, Blumenbergplatz 9, St. Gallen, Switzerland, 9000.

E-mail: christian.hoffmann@unisg.ch

Journal of Public Affairs

Volume 15 Number 2 pp 163–174 (2015)

Published online 25 June 2014 in Wiley Online Library

(www.wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pa.1535

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.