A comparative analysis between US and Italian food companies on stakeholder relationships via websites

This study aims to offer a contribution on stakeholder relationships managed by US and Italian food companies via their corporate websites. Specifically, the paper intends to provide a comparative analysis of two clusters of companies from these countries, based on the website areas and content they dedicate to their stakeholder groups. Previous studies were developed with a new research framework which enables measuring through a quantitative analysis website areas and content that food companies dedicate to their stakeholder groups. The survey aims to identify the strengths and the weaknesses of the online communication managed by US and Italian food companies. Research findings show that the main weakness of the selected Italian food companies’ websites is represented by their short-sightedness in considering stakeholder groups, while US companies chosen are clearly superior in terms of sections dedicated to their stakeholder groups.