This study aims to evaluate the empathic brand initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia and analyse the online sentiments toward the philanthropy of corporations, non-profits organisations, citizens and society. Sentiment analysis was conducted on related posts of 15 companies from March to June 2020 with varying preliminary times for each company as the first donor. To complete the perception, the authors conducted a focus group discussion (FGD). Research shows that medium size and small–medium enterprises, such as local cosmetic companies and budget hotel are the first donors, followed by large or multinational companies (MNCs). In contrary with previous research, public perception was not influenced by the amount and the time of giving but was impacted by communication strategies, the empathy of the brand itself, and the company behaviour before COVID-19 period. This research’s novelty is the emphatic communication model to create, maintain and protect a company’s reputation.

本研究旨在评估印度尼西亚 COVID-19 大流行期间的同理心品牌倡议，并分析在线对公司、非营利组织、公民和社会慈善事业的看法。对 2020 年 3 月至 6 月的 15 家公司的相关职位进行了情绪分析，每家公司作为第一捐助者的初步时间各不相同。为了完成这一认知，作者进行了焦点小组讨论 (FGD)。研究表明，本地化妆品公司和经济型酒店等中小型企业是第一批捐助者，其次是大型或跨国公司（MNC）。与之前的研究相反，公众认知不受捐赠数量和时间的影响，而是受传播策略、品牌本身的同理心、以及 COVID-19 期间之前的公司行为。这项研究的新颖之处在于，它强调了创造、维护和保护公司声誉的沟通模式。