Matching words with actions: understanding the effects of CSA stance-action consistency on negative consumer responses

Abstract

PurposeDespite corporate social advocacy (CSA) has become a popular phenomenon, less is known about the potential negative public responses to corporations' CSA involvement and promotion. This paper aims to investigate the main and conditional effects of a new concept, CSA stance-action consistency, on consumers' negative responses to CSA communication.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a 4 (four types of CSA stance-action consistency) × 2 (CSA record: long vs short) between-subject experimental design. Social issue activism was measured as a continuous variable and treated as a moderator. An online experiment was conducted with participants recruited from MTurk (n = 224).FindingsCSA stance-action consistency significantly predicted negative word-of-mouth and boycott intention. Participants' social issue activism moderated the effects. However, CSA record was not a significant predictor of consumers' negative responses to CSA communication.Originality/valueThis study advances CSA and corporate communication literature by proposing a new concept, CSA stance-action consistency and providing empirical evidence on its effects on consumer responses. Practical implications to CSA promotion were discussed.