Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) digital communication in small independent restaurants.

The hospitality industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), seeking
autonomy and pursuing lifestyle or family values (Thomas, et al., 2011; Agarwala & Dahm, 2015). Recent
research has found that small hospitality enterprises are among the most proactive in undertaking
environmental and social practices (Font, et al., 2016). On the contrary, tourism and hospitality SMEs are
usually underexposed in the CSR literature (Coles, et al., 2013), as their level of impact is considered
irrelevant, or as they do not have enough resources to undertake CSR practices (Hillary, 2004; Revell, et al.,
2010; Brammer, et al., 2012; Cassells & Lewis, 2011). Given the value of SMEs for the hospitality industry,
it is important to examine how these businesses interpret and express CSR. This research is based on a content
analysis conducted on the websites and Twitter or Facebook feeds of small independent restaurants, which are
members of a network called Eat Sheffield, based in Sheffield, United Kingdom. From the analysis, it emerges
that these businesses have implemented social responsibility practices related to the quality of the food, or
other practices of a social and philanthropic nature. The paper argues that social media, such as Facebook or
Twitter, are the preferred means of digital communication for small independent restaurants, due to their
flexibility and informality, which mirrors the informal style of CSR practices in SMEs (Perrini, 2006; Jenkins,
2006; Lepoutre & Heene, 2006). Despite this active use of digital technologies, the communication of CSR
through social media still remains a one-way mode, rather than an attempt to create engagement and
interaction with the stakeholders; active engagement is limited to traditional practices such as philanthropy.
This paper aims to contribute to the generally scant literature on CSR in SMEs, by focusing in particular on
the restaurant sector.