Corporate Science Communication (COSCOM): Risks, Opportunities, Interventions

Obiettivo

Research-intensive firms are increasingly influential actors in science communication. Companies like Ericsson, Sanofi, or Siemens disseminate science-related content via websites, reports, or social media. Such “corporate science communication” (COSCOM) can foster public engagement with science and innovation, but commercial incentives also create risks: companies may engage in “sciencewashing”—misrepresenting or exaggerating scientific evidence—which can fuel scepticism toward industry science that can spill-over to trust in science more broadly. Yet research on societal effects remains fragmented and case-based, even as science scepticism and misinformation rise.
COSCOM develops a communication-centred understanding of corporate science communication—linking companies, intermediaries (e.g. journalists, NGOs), and publics—to answer a core question: when does corporate science communication build or erode public trust in science and innovation acceptance, and which interventions mitigate risks while leveraging benefits? Integrating communication science, science and technology studies, innovation and business ethics research, it (1) maps the prevalence of corporate science communication and sciencewashing, (2) analyses how intermediaries amplify, verify or contest corporate messages, and (3) tests effects on public perceptions, aimed a (4) establishing a new framework and co-creating tools and guidelines with stakeholders.
COSCOM delivers the first systematic, cross-country, cross-sector and multi-actor analysis of Europe’s top R&D investors (automotive, ICT/technology, pharmaceutical), complemented by contextualized insights into Germany and Switzerland and survey experiments on societal effects in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. COSCOM establishes a new research framework at the industry-science-society interface and equips communicators, intermediaries, publics and policymakers with evidence to reduce harmful effects and foster responsible practices.