Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2025

Publisher

Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

Source Publication

Public Relations Journal

Source ISSN

1942-4604

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the social actions taken by organizational leaders in the pursuit of activism. In recent years, corporate leaders, namely CEOs, have garnered substantial public notice due to their activism and personal rhetoric around social issues, therefore attracting attention within organizational scholarship and practice. By applying the theoretical frameworks of framing, this study conducted a content analysis of activism statements (N = 199) from CEOs of Fortune 500 companies using a mixed-methods approach involving manual coding and computational methods (NVivo). By doing so, this study advances CEO activism communication research by identifying dominant issues presented differently by various documents, industries, years, and message framing strategies. We also provide theoretical and practical implications in the areas of CEO activism.

Comments

Accepted version. Public Relations Journal, Vol. 18, No. 3 (August 2025). Publisher link. © Public Relations Society of America. Used with permission.

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