Abstract
This research aims to answer the question of whether JSE listed entities’ Instagram engagement
rates have an impact on their sustainability reporting.
It merges together two growing fields of research: social media in the age of digital transformation,
and ESG scoring, in a financial world where increasing emphasis is placed on sustainability reporting
and the triple-bottom-line.
Using a multilinear regression analysis, a sample of 64 JSE listed entities was used to determine
whether their average Instagram engagement rates have an impact on their ESG scores. The
analysis examined the entities’ overall ESG scores, as well as the score per pillar, namely
Environmental (E), Social (S) and Governance (G).
The research concludes that the average Instagram engagement does not have an impact on the
entities’ ESG scores. Although there is no direct link between Instagram engagement and ESG
scores, the findings suggest that social media pages are an important tool used by businesses to
communicate their sustainability related information with stakeholders in an efficient way.
One of the notable limitations of the study is that this research was performed in the South African
geographic region and may be different in other locations.
The research answers the call for further investigation into the field, and is the first to assess
Instagram as a social media platform, and its impact on sustainability reporting. It is also novel in the
South African context.