How do Australian Small and Medium Enterprises Communicate their Environmental Improvement Activities Online?

Authors

  • Craig Parker Deakin University
  • Bardo Fraunholz Deakin University
  • Ambika Zutshi Deakin University
  • Merete Crofts Deakin University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v17i1.571

Keywords:

Green IS/IT, Small and medium enterprises, SME, environmental sustainability, online promotion, websites, Australia

Abstract

There have been calls in the IS/eBusiness literature for research on "green" IS/IT in a Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) context. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature has neglected the issue of how SMEs can use websites to communicate their environmental improvement activities. This paper links these two previously separate disciplines by reporting on a content analysis of 443 Australian SME websites from four industry sectors to identify if and how they use websites to communicate their environmental improvement activities. The study found that 47 websites were communicating such activities in some form. A detailed analysis was undertaken of these 47 websites to identify emergent themes relating to how these SMEs were communicating their environmental improvement activities. These themes resulted in a reconceptualisation of the traditional "4 Ps" of marketing for online communication of environmental improvement activities by SMEs: profile; product; process and prominence.

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Published

2011-11-01

How to Cite

Parker, C., Fraunholz, B., Zutshi, A., & Crofts, M. (2011). How do Australian Small and Medium Enterprises Communicate their Environmental Improvement Activities Online?. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v17i1.571

Issue

Section

Research on Green IS/IT