Article by Alina Vianne Barr (✉ alina.vianne.barr@univie.ac.at)
The topic of diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) has both social and economic relevance for companies. By managing DEI, companies are trying to promote an inclusive working environment and achieve business benefits. However, DEI is a sensitive and controversial topic, which is why complaints can be expected, especially on social media, where corporate communications are often criticized. A study by Sabine Einwiller, Daniel Wolfgruber and Anna Katharina Leitner looked at how companies communicate about DEI on social media and how they deal with critical comments from their followers.
For this study, the Facebook and Twitter/X pages of the 50 largest US companies and the 50 largest German companies were analyzed. The study period was from March 1 to September 30, 2022, and the analysis documented whether companies addressed DEI, whether complaints were voiced and whether the companies responded to them. It was also recorded whether the complaints were related to DEI at all and how emotional they were.
The results show that US companies communicated on DEI more frequently than German companies during the period of investigation. While almost all US companies (94%) addressed DEI issues at least once between March and September 2022, this was only the case for two thirds of German companies. Around half of the DEI contributions received negative reactions. The criticism was either that the company was involved in DEI or that it was not involved enough and the communication was therefore hypocritical. However, it should be noted that more than half of the complaints made in response to DEI posts were not about DEI at all, but about the company's products or services. Companies generally rarely responded to complaints (15%), although the likelihood of a response was significantly higher when the complaints related to products or services (35%). Critical comments about DEI were only responded to 7% of the time. German companies were twice as likely to respond to DEI-related criticism than US companies. Thematically, posts on sexual orientation and "diversity in general" led to the most complaints for German companies, while posts on gender identity and ethnicity/race were most frequently criticized in the US. Complaints were more likely to be emotional than factual.
The study highlights that DEI is a significant but controversial topic in corporate communication, which is often the subject of critical commentary. Companies' preferred response to product complaints suggests that economic considerations take precedence, while they struggle to address moral criticism. Sabine Einwiller, one of the authors of the study, advises: "Those who wish to promote DEI credibly should also engage in dialogue with their critics. A clear argumentation of why and how DEI is implemented within the organization and what impact it has on the company, its employees, and other stakeholders is crucial." Especially in times of backlash against DEI, it is important for companies to clearly define and express their stance. At present, however, it is more likely that companies – particularly in the US in the context of political developments – are reducing and/or obfuscating their DEI activities, which also has an impact on communication. Further research is needed to analyze and interpret these developments.
About the authors
Sabine Einwiller is Professor of Public Relations Research and Chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Vienna.
Daniel Wolfgruber was a Predoctoral Researcher in the Department of Communication at the University of Vienna until February 2023. He successfully completed his dissertation in March 2023 and has since been a Postdoctoral Fellow at HEC Montréal, Canada.
Anna Katharina Leitner supported Sabine Einwiller's Corporate Communication Research Group as Teaching Assistant from 2022-2023.
