Form and substance: Visual content in CSR reports and investors’ perceptions

Although the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting is wellrecognized, the influence of the visual characteristics of CSR reports on stake-holders’evaluations of companies is largely overlooked. Drawing on theories of theprocessing of fluency and legitimacy, this study deploys a content analysis and arealistic laboratory experiment to assess how the use of visuals in CSR reportsaffects investors’perceptions. With an international sample of large companies, thecontent analysis explores how reports use visuals and convey messages to readers.The subsequent experiment measures the optimal number of images in reportsrelated to social responsibility. Specifically, we investigate whether a larger numberof images increases the processing fluency of investors. Based on the theoreticalbackground and the content analysis findings, we expect that an increase in pro-cessing fluency reduces perceived hypocrisy and, in turn, increases perceivedorganizational legitimacy. The results show that a moderate number of images(vs. zero images or a high number of images) increases investors’processing fluencyand decreases their perception of hypocrisy, leading to higher levels of organiza-tional legitimacy. This study concludes by providing actionable implications for howcompanies can improve their legitimacy through nonfinancial disclosure.