This article reports a longitudinal analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) keywords drawing on an extensive sample of 144 CSR definitions across seven decades. There are clear differences in the keywords used in various time periods to describe the person or entity providing CSR, the CSR activity provided, and the intended recipients or targets of any CSR activities. There has been a trend away from individuals such as managers or specific groups such as employees being identified as providers or recipients of CSR towards keywords describing CSR as an organizational responsibility that is provided to large and inclusive groups such as communities or abstract entities such as stakeholders or the environment. Since the millennium, there has been considerable convergence in CSR keywords that appears to be driven by the availability of CSR information via the internet. The changes in CSR keywords appear to parallel changes in societal expectations, regulation and legislation, and the wider business environment. This suggests that corporations deploy CSR defensively to express alignment with prevailing public priorities, stress compliance with government directives and emphasise conformity with corporate contemporaries. The implications of these findings are discussed and possible lines for future research are proposed.

本文报告了对企业社会责任 (CSR) 关键词的纵向分析，该分析借鉴了七个十年中 144 个 CSR 定义的广泛样本。不同时期用于描述提供企业社会责任的个人或实体、提供的企业社会责任活动以及任何企业社会责任活动的预期接受者或目标的关键词存在明显差异。有一种趋势，即从个人（例如经理）或特定群体（例如员工）被确定为 CSR 的提供者或接受者，而将 CSR 描述为提供给大型和包容性群体（例如社区）或抽象实体（例如利益相关者）的组织责任的关键词或环境。自千禧年以来，企业社会责任关键词出现了相当大的趋同，这似乎是由互联网上企业社会责任信息的可用性推动的。企业社会责任关键词的变化似乎与社会期望、法规和立法以及更广泛的商业环境的变化平行。这表明企业防御性地部署企业社会责任以表达与当前公共优先事项的一致性，强调遵守政府指令并强调与企业同时代的一致性。讨论了这些发现的含义，并提出了未来研究的可能路线。这表明企业防御性地部署企业社会责任以表达与当前公共优先事项的一致性，强调遵守政府指令并强调与企业同时代的一致性。讨论了这些发现的含义，并提出了未来研究的可能路线。这表明企业防御性地部署企业社会责任以表达与当前公共优先事项的一致性，强调遵守政府指令并强调与企业同时代的一致性。讨论了这些发现的含义，并提出了未来研究的可能路线。