Corporate Social Responsibility in an Islamic Environment: Analysis of Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr Advertisements for STC, Zain, and Mobily Telecom Company from the Lens of Legitimacy Theory

Abstract

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN AN ISLAMIC ENVIRONMENT: ANALYSIS OF RAMADAN AND EID AL-FITR ADVERTISEMENTS FOR STC, ZAIN, AND MOBILY TELECOM COMPANY FROM THE LENS OF LEGITIMACY THEORY By Entesar Albarakati, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2024 Major Director: Baobao Song, Assistant Professor, Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained popularity in recent decades as the number of corporations that engage in CSR continues to grow. In the last 20 years the breadth of CSR has expanded substantially, not only in terms of the variety, scope, and influence of business policies, but also in terms of scholarly research. Despite the expansion of the field of CSR, Islamic corporate social responsibility (ICSR) still receives less attention in academic research than traditional CSR, perhaps because of the lack of defining boundaries and basic principles of ICSR. In Islamic countries such as the Middle East, there exist notable variations in cultural, economic, political, and religious traditions. Hence, the applicability of the existing body of research on CSR in other regions cannot be readily extrapolated to the Middle East (ME). This research aims to investigate CSR messages in an Islamic environment by assessing the content of advertisements for three telecom communication companies operating in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. The study used a quantitative content analysis technique guided by legitimacy theory to answer the research questions. A total of 51 advertisements issued from 2008 to 2023 were examined. The results revealed that the bulk of CSR advertisements were concentrated between 2016 and 2023; they also showed the importance of advertising during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, as the rate of ad views reached millions, confirming the importance of these two religious occasions. The study dealt with three primary axes that were included in CSR ads—first, legitimacy. The results demonstrated that moral legitimacy (23%) was the most common type of legitimacy included in CSR ads, followed by pragmatic legitimacy (13%), followed by practical legitimacy (5.9%). Second, religious customs and values were included in 58.8% of advertisements. Third, SDSGs—29.4% of ads included SDGs. This study and previous studies confirm that CSR in Islam still receives less attention in academic research compared to traditional corporate social responsibility. Therefore, this study recommends establishing specific limits and basic principles for corporate social responsibility in Islam. This is done by defining established standards and guidelines for measuring and evaluating CSR practices in Islam. The study recommends diversifying the method, industries, religious customs and values, and geographical and economic regions in Islamic countries,