The project investigates how multinational companies navigate increasingly polarized socio-political environments when taking public positions on controversial issues. In particular, diverging expectations between political and regulatory contexts in the United States and the European Union pose significant challenges for corporate communicators. Against this backdrop, the research examines how organizations develop and adapt stance communication strategies over time, using the ESG framework as a central empirical context.

To address these questions, the project employs a multi-method research design that combines qualitative interviews, quantitative analyses of corporate public communication, and an experimental study. This comprehensive approach aims to generate both in-depth insights and generalizable evidence, thereby contributing to closing existing research gaps in the field of corporate socio-political communication.

The project is funded by the Academic Society for Management and Communication, an initiative of the Günter Thiele Foundation for Communication & Management.