ESG Issues in Tokopedia Complaints on MediaKonsumen

Links Between Product-Ethics Complaints and Non-Financial Costs

Abstract

This study investigates whether Environmental (E), Social (S), and Governance (G) issues in Tokopedia-related consumer complaints on MediaKonsumen.com are linked to public engagement and non-financial cost proxies. Using a Python-based pipeline in Google Colab, we scraped and processed 780 complaint entries from December 2021 to September 2025. Data cleaning included date normalization, comment count extraction, text merging, and lowercasing. Complaints were classified into E/S/G sub-indices using a keyword and regex dictionary, and flags were assigned for return/waste, legal/regulatory, and boycott/reputation risks. Analyses combined post-level statistics with monthly trend aggregation and visualizations. Results show H1 supported: social-related posts receive the highest engagement (mean comments = 27.28 for esg_S>0 vs 22.02 for esg_S=0). Among coded posts, average engagement was S=27.28, G=19.36, and E=10.00. H2 is not supported: legal-threat signals are rare (0.00% for esg_G>0 vs 0.27% for esg_G=0). H3 shows weak evidence: the correlation between monthly mean E and the share of return/waste flags is r=0.19. Overall, social issues drive the strongest public response, highlighting the reputational value of improving customer protection, transparency, and service ethics. Limited legal-threat cues suggest a need for clearer governance and dispute resolution, while weak environmental links to returns indicate opportunities for sustainability education and eco-friendly return policies.