<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> Background: International financial reporting standards have constantly been facing fast-growing significant development. This has mainly been driven by the aim of better serving the needs of the investors. Awareness that corporate financial reporting provides short-sighted information and measures has been rising among politicians, in the society and on the financial markets. Therefore, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting as a form of non-financial reporting has made it to limelight. Various reporting types developed, but the type of reporting is hardly codified. Objective: The goal of this paper is to identify the superior CSR reporting type from a stakeholder’s perspective. After identifying and analyzing central guidelines on CSR reporting and presenting different approaches, the authors will apply a positive-empirical methodology. Methods/Approach: In this first innovative joint attempt, eye-tracking technology is combined with a questionnaire for approaching CSR quality. Results: This study demonstrates the validity of the used methodology for the analysis of search and information browsing behavior in various types of sustainability reports. Conclusions: Overall our findings indicate that the reporting type "reference sustainability report" may not be advisable from a stakeholder’s perspective.</p></abstract>

Background: International financial reporting standards have constantly been facing fast-growing significant development. This has mainly been driven by the aim of better serving the needs of the investors. Awareness that corporate financial reporting provides short-sighted information and measures has been rising among politicians, in the society and on the financial markets. Therefore, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting as a form of non-financial reporting has made it to limelight. Various reporting types developed, but the type of reporting is hardly codified. Objective: The goal of this paper is to identify the superior CSR reporting type from a stakeholder’s perspective. After identifying and analyzing central guidelines on CSR reporting and presenting different approaches, the authors will apply a positive-empirical methodology. Methods/Approach: In this first innovative joint attempt, eye-tracking technology is combined with a questionnaire for approaching CSR quality. Results: This study demonstrates the validity of the used methodology for the analysis of search and information browsing behavior in various types of sustainability reports. Conclusions: Overall our findings indicate that the reporting type "reference sustainability report" may not be advisable from a stakeholder’s perspective.

Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting – a Stakeholder’s Perspective Approach

Business Systems Research Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Background: International financial reporting standards have constantly been facing fast-growing significant development. This has mainly been driven by the...

Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting – a Stakeholder’s Perspective Approach

Published Online: May 18, 2017

Page range: 30 - 42

Received: Nov 16, 2016

Accepted: Feb 04, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bsrj-2017-0003

Keywords
sustainability reporting, information quality, eye-tracking, stakeholder perception

© by Thorsten Litfin

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting – a Stakeholder’s Perspective Approach

Published Online: May 18, 2017

Page range: 30 - 42

Received: Nov 16, 2016

Accepted: Feb 04, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bsrj-2017-0003

Keywordssustainability reporting, information quality, eye-tracking, stakeholder perception

© by Thorsten Litfin

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
sustainability reporting, information quality, eye-tracking, stakeholder perception