Corporate sustainability and responsibility reports是与投资者进行交流的重要工具，但事实证明，大多数财富100强公司都错过了全部收益。根据我和我的团队在伊利诺伊大学商学院生产的研究，诸如花旗和富国银行等公司实际上正在以潜意识的方式介绍他们的企业社会责任故事。

The effectiveness intelling your company’s CSR storyhas a lot to do with the interplay of words and pictures, but one size doesn’t fit all. Companies often frame their CSR work as either global or local: Their overarching message is about what they do for the world as a whole or local communities in particular. These two messages require a different balance and presentation of words and pictures.

Our research shows that on a subconscious level, investors process a global CSR narrative most easily and fluently when it puts an emphasis on words instead of pictures. The opposite is true when reviewing a local or community-centric CSR story; in these cases, a report feels easier to process when pictures are emphasized. And when a report feels easier to process, individuals are more likely to rely on the information and decide to invest in a company.

Why does it matter?

It feels easier for people to process and evaluate multiple types of information when it’s all communicated at the same level of detail. If aCSR strategyis framed at a concrete level — which most local programs are — performance relative to the goal feels easier to process when conveyed in a picture, which is also concrete because it prompts visualization of specific CSR activities. On the other hand, if a company’s CSR strategy is presented at a more abstract level — which most global programs are — then CSR performance feels easier to process if it’s presented in words, which are more abstract or high-level in nature.

When the framing of objectives and presentation of performance match up, it produces more extreme positive investment judgments. A mismatch, on the other hand, makes the investors less likely to rely on the positive CSR information, and thus less willing to invest in the company.

This effect is most pronounced with individual investors who are representative of the general investing population, rather than those who naturally process numerical information with the greatest ease.

我和我的团队惊讶地发现，即使是包括CSR领导者在内的精致的Fortune 100公司，也可以通过此全球/本地演示不匹配创建报告。我们的研究表明，他们错过了一个机会，以完全沉入的方式向投资者讲述他们的故事。

讲一个社区或较低级别的CSR故事

Target gets it right:Target’s CSR report is a good example of how to build out a community core message, with a heavier weighting on pictures than words. Their reporting creates a subconscious match between what they’re saying and how they’re saying it, and that makes investors more likely to invest in the company.

Wells Fargo gets it wrong:Wells Fargo also frames its CSR work as community oriented, but the wordy report triggers a subconscious disconnect among many investors. The text-heavy format works for a global message but not a local one.

Telling a global or higher-level CSR story

Starbucks gets it right:For companies that position their CSR work as global, putting more emphasis on words than pictures is coherent and easily processed by readers.

花旗弄错了：This report is clearly trying to paint a global picture of the company’s CSR work — but relying too much on images instead of words is the wrong way to do that.

What it means for your CSR reporting and beyond

Every company should take two main actions in light of this new research:

1. Evaluate and align your company’s strategy and performance presentation

无论您是强调全球还是基于社区的影响，都需要设计CSR或可持续性通信以匹配。竞彩足球app怎么下载

如果您的信息侧重于本地，社区层面的影响，请在可持续性报告中强调图片，并使用文本来支持。竞彩足球app怎么下载如果您呈现全球影响，请更加强调单词，并使用支持图像。关键是匹配策略和绩效呈现之间的信息级别。

2.Apply the same lesson to non-CSR communications

These implications spill over to other non-CSR disclosures, including traditional and interactive annual reports, the Chairman’s letter to shareholders, and the MD&A section of the 10-K. It’s even relevant for social media, for companies that use Twitter, Facebook and mobile applications to share information directly with investors.

证券交易委员会建议，图片是传达统计信息的更有效方法，而不是文本。我们的研究表明，您的公司应该质疑图形在披露中是否总是有益的：与关键受众一起测试并关注意想不到的后果和投资者判断。

As you review company communications across channels, consider the ways your company’s goals and strategies are introduced to investors and stakeholders — and how this meshes with the way performance is subsequently depicted.