An integrated evaluation framework for Environmental, Social, and Governance-driven social media performance through Multi-criteria Decision-Analysis

Abstract

Social media is crucial in providing data for networking with individuals, companies, or industries. This study deals with the topic of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). These can be seen as a set of standards which impacts a corporation’s structure and performance. Twenty years ago, when ESG started to gain notoriety, ESG initiatives were labeled as a tool to ensure ‘ethical’ and/or ‘responsible’ investing. This study collects data from LinkedIn company profiles on the industry, the staff, the number of followers, and the state where the company has its headquarters. In addition, the media’s take on pending legislation on ESG was assessed. Based on data from 537 companies, indicators were created, either normalized, the median, or ranked, and analyzed with the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The current work provides information on this variation of ESG activity within the different states in the USA. Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) was applied by weighing four criteria. The overall assessment was presented depending on the combined weighted performance score of the four criteria. The results showed that 36% of the companies active within the ESG landscape represent the “Financial Services” and “Management Consulting” industries. 65% of the investigated sample represented companies with up to 10 employees. Moreover, eight states perform well on both median of staff and followers (in alphabetical order: Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin). Lastly, through the MCDA method, it was also observed that there are not many variations when different weights are applied to the four criteria: i.e., “the normalized number of companies by state,” “the median of the followers of the company per state,” “the median of the staff of the company per state,” and the “sentiment of the legislation.” Finally, the top five highly ranked states considering ESG visibility on LinkedIn through their companies are Ohio, Michigan, Delaware, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. The results indicate that companies can more proactively advertise themselves as compliant with current ESG principles. This methodology can also be applied to other topics and regions to assess online activity in line with existing indicators.