Legitimacy theory is one of the most discussed theories to explain the phenomenon of voluntary social and environmental disclosures in corporate communication. Consistent with the notion of legitimacy theory, companies seek to gain, maintain or repair their legitimacy by using social and environmental reporting. Legitimacy theory may provide useful insights for corporate social and environmental disclosures. However, there are a number of gaps in the literature dealing with legitimacy theory, which have not been addressed, such as the development of a conceptual framework of legitimacy theory. The paper is mainly concerned with reviewing the literature of legitimacy theory in an attempt to identify the necessary characteristics of this theory. This paper goes on to suggest methodological steps for building a conceptual framework of legitimacy theory to develop environmental practices.