Determinants of Web‐Based Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures: A Comparative Analysis of Global Islamic and Conventional Banks

ABSTRACT This study uses institutional, stakeholder, and media‐richness theories to examine how two pillars of the prosperity index—country governance and investment environment—affect the quality and quantity of web‐based CSRD in the world's best Islamic and conventional banking contexts and determine if there are significant differences among these banks in these regards. To achieve the main objectives, quantitative analysis was conducted on the content of 89 Islamic and 100 conventional banks' websites, using two quantity and quality indices, the prosperity index for extracting scores of each country's governance and investments, a multivariate regression model to test the research hypotheses through SPSS software, and a paired sample t ‐test to identify the differences among these banks. The results of the regression analysis revealed that both country governance and investment environment are significantly positively correlated with the web‐based CSRD quantity and quality. The study also found that there are significant differences between Islamic and non‐Islamic banks. To illustrate, the results show that the top global conventional banks have higher levels of online CSRD quantity and quality. They also have stronger national governance systems and a better investment environment than Islamic banks. The study's limitations include a sample size of 100 Islamic and 100 non‐Islamic banks, databases, quantitative analysis, banking sector focus, and thematic focus (country governance and investment environment influences on web‐based CSRD ). The current study's findings have significant theoretical and practical implications that are more likely to be useful for many interested parties. It suggests that professional groups, regulators, and policymakers should look at the governance systems and investment environment policies of a country when figuring out what kinds, how much, and the quality of CSR information needs to be disclosed online. This will help them come up with or improve comprehensive and useful standards for how websites disclose information. Moreover, findings suggest that such bank managers should optimize CSR initiatives, integrate social performance with financial performance, and use websites to disclose CSR information effectively to meet and protect different stakeholders and investors' needs anywhere. Finally, the study has some limitations that can be beneficial for future academic research. The originality of this paper stems from its examination, for the first time, of the impact of two pillars of the prosperity index (country governance and investment environment) on the quality and quantity of web‐based CSRD in the top global Islamic and conventional banking contexts, a unique area of research.