Sincere or Opportunistic Corporate Inclusion? A Pragmatic and Multimodal Corpus-informed Approach to LGBTQ+ (In/Ex)clusion in CSR and ESG Disclosures

Abstract

In corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) communication on diversity, equity, and inclusion, companies have increasingly addressed the inclusion and support of LGBTQ+ people and communities. Given the relevance of this topic and the absence of linguistic, pragmatic, and multimodal studies examining whether such communication is sincere or opportunistic, this research analysed a corpus of CSR and ESG disclosures published between 2020 and 2023 by U.S.-based international companies. The study adopted a multimodal approach to investigate corporate communication on LGBTQ+ inclusion by identifying lexico-phraseological patterns, linguistic choices signalling adherence to conversational maxims and conveying transparency or vagueness, and the interplay between these linguistic features and the visual patterns emerging from the integrated images. Findings suggest a communicative focus on corporate practices aimed at ensuring equality for LGBTQ+ employees and improving the social well-being of local LGBTQ+ communities in the areas where companies operate. While such information seems to be disclosed transparently – i.e., complete, accurate, and relevant – the simultaneous use of vague lexical choices undermines the degree of information transparency. The visual analysis revealed, on the one hand, visibility of specific sexual and gender identities; on the other hand, representations of people in heterogeneous groups challenge diversity narratives and reinforce a holistic and not an identity-specific approach to LGBTQ+ inclusion. Overall, although the seemingly factual communication and the visual attention to diverse identities may signal sincere corporate engagement, linguistic vagueness points to a communication strategy that is, at least in part, constructed and potentially opportunistic.