Volume 23, 2012
Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting
Caddie Putnam Rankin, Harry Van Buren
, Michelle Westermann-Behaylo
Pages 66-77
Corporate Compassion in Disaster Relief
Lessons from 2005 and 2010
When natural disasters strike, a network of individuals, aid agencies, and corporations join together in a humanitarian effort to provide relief and recovery to those in need. Corporations, in particular, have played an increasing role in disaster assistance by providing financial support, goods, services, and logistic coordination (Muller and Whiteman 2009). Previous research has addressed corporate responses to disaster by investigating the factors that impact the likelihood of giving. Instead of focusing on the likelihood of corporate action, or inaction, we address how different types of compassion are employed by corporations when they engage in disaster relief. We investigate how the use of language signals either strategic or altruistic compassion.