How Temporal Order of Inconsistent CSR Information Affects Consumer Perceptions?

Juhua Xu,Eun-Kyoung Han

doi:10.3390/su13084292

Juhua Xu, Eun-Kyoung Han

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084292

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Apr 13, 2021
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Sungkyunkwan University

Abstract

What happens first between a corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication and a crisis can result in different levels of perceived cognitive dissonance and corporate hypocrisy depending on whether there is information inconsistency between the CSR communication and the crisis. This paper presents the findings from an experimental study and an online survey conducted and administered to investigate the contingency influence on consumer perceptions in response to inconsistent information. The results indicate that consumers experience greater cognitive dissonance and perceive more corporate hypocrisy when they are exposed, first, to a CSR initiative and then to a crisis, than when the order is reversed, provided that the CSR initiative and the crisis are congruent with the same social issue. However, there are no significant differences when the CSR initiative is incongruent with the crisis. Further, the findings of the study suggest that consumer cognitive dissonance not only directly influences the perceived corporate reputation, but also indirectly affects the perceived corporate reputation through a mediating effect of perceived corporate hypocrisy. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in providing a better understanding of consumer perceptions (including cognitive dissonance, perceived corporate hypocrisy and corporate reputation) in response to inconsistent CSR information. Meanwhile, the managerial contribution of this study stands by providing insights into the use of CSR communication strategies.

Highlights

Companies today commonly engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities for a number of compelling reasons
Pearson correlation analysis was first performed on three independent variables, and MANOVA was performed to test Hypothesis 1 (H1), which predicted an interaction effect between temporal order and issue congruence on corporate hypocrisy, and Hypothesis 2 (H2), which predicted an interaction effect on cognitive dissonance
We found that consumers experienced greater cognitive dissonance and perceived greater corporate hypocrisy when a company was involved in a crisis after it had initiated a CSR strategy that was in the same domain as the crisis issue than a reversed order

Summary

Introduction

Companies today commonly engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities for a number of compelling reasons. Some researchers have identified that CSR affects brand and company image [4,5,6,7], consumer attitude [5,6,7], purchase intention [4], and corporate reputation [5,6,7], as well as financial performance [4]. Other researchers have identified halo [8,9] or buffering [10] effects of pre-crisis CSR communication in the days following actual crises. CSR communications can backfire when a company is involved in a crisis as it is initiating a CSR campaign in a situation that presents consumers with inconsistent information. Inconsistent CSR information plays a key role in perceived corporate hypocrisy

Methods

Results

Conclusion