Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight challenges for service firms communicating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) efforts to customers. Specifically, it focuses on the relationship between ESG metrics and reporting and customer perceptions of social innovativeness.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical material comprises three years of data (2018–2020) covering more than 100 firms from three sources: (1) Social Innovation Index (Sii), which is collected as part of the American Innovation Index (Aii), (2) Bloomberg Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) ESG and (3) Datamaran.

Findings

ESG metrics and reporting do not suffice to explain customer perceptions of social innovativeness. Rather, a firm's industry plays the prominent role in affecting these perceptions where service firms are at a disadvantage as customers perceive services as less socially innovative compared to goods.

Practical implications

While ESG metrics and reporting provide important information for investors and regulators, they are not reflected in customers' perceptions of firms' social innovativeness, and services are at a disadvantage relative to goods. Therefore, services researchers and managers must advance their knowledge regarding how to better link ESG metrics and report to customers' perceptions.

Originality/value

The paper offers a first large-scale, cross-industry investigation of how ESG metrics and reporting impact customer perceptions of social innovativeness, leading to a research agenda on communication of ESG.

中文翻译：

---

环境、社会和治理 (ESG) 指标不服务于服务客户：可持续性指标与客户对社会创新的看法之间缺失的一环

目的

本文的目的是强调服务公司在向客户传达环境、社会和治理 (ESG) 努力时面临的挑战。具体来说，它侧重于 ESG 指标与报告之间的关系以及客户对社会创新的看法。

设计/方法/方法

实证材料包括三年数据（2018-2020 年），涵盖来自三个来源的 100 多家公司：（1）社会创新指数（Sii），作为美国创新指数（Aii）的一部分收集，（2）彭博可持续发展会计准则委员会 (SASB) ESG 和 (3) Datamaran。

发现

ESG 指标和报告不足以解释客户对社会创新的看法。相反，公司的行业在影响这些看法方面发挥着突出作用，因为客户认为服务与商品相比，服务的社会创新性较低，因此服务公司处于劣势。

实际影响

尽管 ESG 指标和报告为投资者和监管机构提供了重要信息，但它们并未反映在客户对公司社会创新性的看法中，而且服务相对于商品处于劣势。因此，服务研究人员和管理人员必须提高他们关于如何更好地将 ESG 指标联系起来并报告客户感知的知识。

原创性/价值

该论文首次对 ESG 指标和报告如何影响客户对社会创新的看法进行了大规模的跨行业调查，从而制定了有关 ESG 沟通的研究议程。