Big Data and Social Media for Sustainability: Proposal for a framework and methodology to foster People Sustainable Behavior and to assess Corporate Sustainability

Abstract

A large part of the population is not aware of the importance of sustainable behaviours and continues engaging in behaviours like failing to recycle, littering in natural settings, wasting water, overconsuming, etc. On the other hand, to know whether a company is behaving sustainably, stakeholders usually resort to the sustainability reports issued by the corporations themselves. However, this can lead to information bias or greenwashing. This PhD theses contribute to solve two research gaps regarding individuals' lack of awareness of the need for sustainable behaviours, and the lack of an independent procedure to assess Corporate Sustainability, by (1) Proposing a guiding framework on how to use Online Social Networks (OSNs) for Sustainability Awareness and Individuals’ Behaviour, as well developing a future research agenda in the field; and (2) Developing a method to assess Corporate Sustainability with an ESG approach (environmental, social and governance) using stakeholders’ opinions on the internet.