PUBLIC RELATIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY RELATIONSHIP: A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF STAKEHOLDER EXPECTATIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19106564Keywords:
Stakeholder Expectations, Sustainability Communication, Public RelationsAbstract
This study examines the mechanisms through which stakeholder expectations shape corporate actions and discourses in the field of sustainability and analyzes how public relations measure, prioritize, and institutionalize these expectations within the axes of ethics, trust, and transparency. The study integrates the normative, instrumental, and descriptive dimensions of stakeholder theory with legitimacy theory and institutional isomorphism. Drawing on theoretical analysis and case examples, findings indicate that stakeholder expectations influence sustainability communication through materiality processes, dialogue design, and evidence-transparency architecture. Sustainability communication is therefore not merely an informational practice it is a structural component of corporate legitimacy production and governance mechanisms. The risk of greenwashing emerges when inconsistencies arise between communication and performance, leading to legitimacy erosion. The study conceptualizes sustainability communication as a multilayered governance practice positioned between normative responsibility and strategic rationality.
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