Conceptualizing the digital conversational capital: the strategic value of online conversation in CSR field

Purpose. Modern companies leverage social media for engaging with stakeholders in online dialogues addressed to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR). Dialogue is becoming crucial for relating with the exacting digital publics. Marketing authors have developed the concept of Conversational Capital emphasizing the connection between the organizational growth and the ability to generate advocacy through offline conversations. This paper clarifies Conversational Capital and assesses its online use. The Digital Conversational Capital (DCC) is conceptualized, by developing a theoretical framework that identifies its sources, dimensions and impact in specific areas, such as CSR. Design/methodology/approach. A two-phase exploratory research design is implemented. Firstly, DCC theoretical foundations are explored by adopting a multidisciplinary approach. Secondly, theoretical implications are discussed against a multiple-case study based on direct observation of online behaviours of 2 organizations with the highest CSR RepTrak® score. Findings. The paper provides the conceptualization of DCC, the definition of its dimensions and the designation of a set of items for each dimension. The empirical analysis refines the conceptualization process and illustrates commonalities and differences amongst organizations. Research implications/limitations. A factorial analysis of qualitative results could be conducted to study the dimensionality of DCC construct. Additionally, the number of cases could be enlarged to obtain more generalizable results. Practical implications. Practitioners are provided with insights concerning the strategic value of online conversations that they managed. Originality. The paper develops a new conceptual framework useful to maximize professional efforts in implementing online dia- logues.