Differentiated consumer responses to corporate social responsibility domains moderated by corporate social responsibility perceptions: A Kano model‐based perspective

Abstract

AbstractThe extant literature has generally overlooked the qualitative differences in corporate social responsibility (CSR) domains. Inspired by this gap, we first propose and justify a new classification of CSR domains (including the must‐be, one‐dimensional and attractive domains) based on the Kano model from the perspective of consumer demand and then experimentally test consumers' differentiated responses to different CSR domains moderated by consumers' CSR perceptions in the cases of both CSR strengths and CSR lapses. Using a sample of adult consumers in China, we find that in both cases, the influences of the three CSR domains on consumers' company evaluation and purchase intention are different, and such influences are moderated by consumers' CSR perceptions and show characteristics of asymmetry. The results not only support asymmetric and nonlinear consumer responses to CSR domains but also provide a novel explanation for such phenomena.