Corporate social responsibility, media source preference, trust, and public engagement: The informed public’s perspective

Abstract

Utilizing US, German and Chinese data from the 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer®, the purposes of this study were: (1) to explore the impact of media preference on the perception of CSR, (2) to examine the role of CSR in building trust, and the effect of perceived trust in a business entity on public engagement with that entity, and (3) to test whether the above relationship between CSR and trust in business is moderated by media preference. The results show that China had the highest trust in business while Germany had the lowest. There were no consistent media usage patterns of the informed public that would link to positive CSR evaluation across the three countries. CSR dimensions (social, economic, and environmental) had various effects on predicting trust in business in these three markets, and there was a positive correlation between trust in business and behavioral engagement with trusted companies in informed publics in the US and Germany. Theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed.