Processing of CSR communication: insights from the ELM

Abstract

Purpose – Based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), the purpose of this paper is to examine if stakeholders with high vs low corporate social responsibility (CSR) involvement differ in their processing of CSR communication, which could influence companies to adapt their CSR communication to the different ways of processing (central route vs peripheral route). Design/methodology/approach – In this study, 107 participants received information about a fictitious company. In the first phase, participants were given initial information about the company. In the second phase, participants were given the company’s CSR newsletter. To compare the differences in information processing dependent on the CSR involvement, the sample was split at the median. Findings – The study found that dependent on their CSR involvement, people differ in their processing of CSR communication as well as in their expectations for persuasive CSR communication. Research limitations/implications – To further examine how involvemen...