Abstract
Since the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (CTSCA) was enacted, many large apparel retailers are required to post a corporate social responsibility statement on their website regarding their practices. The present study applies the CTSCA to the shopping context for evaluating consumer responses. A factorial experimental study using a scenario method was designed to explore the aims of this study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two scenarios regarding either an apparel company’s website being compliant with the CTSCA, or an apparel company not have a disclosure on its website and therefore in violation of the CTSCA. A total of 716 responses were used in data analysis. The results show that there were significant effects of the presence of CTSCA on retailers’ website on consumer responses, after controlling consumer characteristics of socially responsible consumption behavior. That is, respondents in the study perceived that presenting the public statement in compliance with the CTSCA on a company’s website was more persuasive in decision making, promoted trust and enhanced usage and purchase intentions. The findings of the study suggest academic and marketing implications.
Highlights
Since the idea that businesses have a responsibility to society beyond making profits for shareholders emerged around the 1960s, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been growing in its importance and significance (Carroll and Shabana 2010)
The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (CTSCA) went into effect in 2012, requiring companies to post a visible CSR statement on their website regarding their practices concerning the prevention of slavery and/or trafficking of workers in their supply chains (CLI 2012)
Consistent with previous studies (Chang and Jai 2015; Grimmer and Bingham 2013; Ha-Brookshire and Norum 2011), this study found that many consumers consider CTSCA disclosure as a part of company’s CSR performance for purchase decisions and buying intentions
Summary
Since the idea that businesses have a responsibility to society beyond making profits for shareholders emerged around the 1960s, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been growing in its importance and significance (Carroll and Shabana 2010). This has resulted in companies experiencing a great deal of pressure from investors to adopt strong codes of conduct and regular factory inspections (Welford and Frost 2006). Mohr and Webb (2005) found that many consumers value CSR more strongly than the prices of the products when making purchase decisions
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