The role of corporate social responsibility practices in corporate reputation management: A study specific to the most reputable brands of Turkey

As a result of the effect of developing communication technologies and increasing conditions of competition, corporations have added the objective of creating permanent social values alongwith financial gain in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Corporate social responsibility practices are considered to have positive effects for the corporations which support corporate reputation such as appreciation, adoption and long term preference by the target audience. This study elaborately examines social responsibility and corporate reputation management concepts which can be specified as two significant corporate communication fields and explains the relationship between them. In this regard this thesis comprises a comprehensive literature survey about the approaches, models, application areas of corporate social responsibility, the advantages and disadvantages thereof for the corporations, and the components of corporate reputation and corporate reputation management. In the study, findings and explication of the interviews held by using structured interview technique with the corporations which rank in the research namely Most Reputable Brands of Turkey, are present. This study suggests that the corporate social responsibility practices executed by the most reputable corporations of Turkey have an active role in the management of corporate reputation.