Sustainability-related Communication Patterns on the Websites of European Top R&D Spenders

387 firms that were ranked as top R&D spenders in Europe for 2013. We processed the keyword occurrences in a simplified version of latent semantic analysis based on the application of principal component analysis to identify the specific combinations of words used by companies to communicate sustainability issues on their websites. The results show that “sustainable innovation” and “sustainable operations” based on partnerships and cooperation represent a dominant part of companies’ online communication strategies. One of the findings suggests a strong relationship between the communication of sustainable innovation aspects and sales, which offers a promising message to companies looking for evidence about the potential impact of their commitment to sustainable operations and innovation. Sustainability communications can bring your business many benefits, and help you stand out from your competitors.