Exploring the Role of Health in Corporate Reporting: A Natural Language Processing (NLP)-Assisted Analysis of Corporate Proxy Statements

Technology has an increasing influence over consumer lifestyles and behaviors that contribute to the rising prevalence of chronic disease. An opportunity therefore exists for consumer technology companies to use their outsized influence on behavior to meaningfully contribute to improving public health. This paper examines the role of health in corporate reporting and explores how to improve accountability in reporting. A natural language processing (NLP) algorithm and thematic analysis were used to identify patterns in public proxy statements. Results demonstrate the health topics and initiatives that are already present in corporate reporting in the technology sector, and their relative prevalence—showing that while consumer health impact is not absent among for-profit companies, there is no unified language that would allow for performance evaluation and accountability. By establishing transparency, best practices (notably, reliable and auditable metrics), and market recognition, corporate health impact could become an exciting, opportune intervention point for public health.