Abstract
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) skepticism is examined in marketing literature, but the understanding of its role in the domain of CSR is lacking. Previous studies revealed that consumers compensate for the companies that engage in CSR activities, but the level of CSR skepticism inhibits the success of CSR programs. This paper describes the antecedents and consequences of CSR skepticism. The antecedents conclude the motives that affect the level of consumer skepticism about CSR programs, while the consequences examined the relationships between CSR skepticism and some outcome variables through two broad dimensions; the companies and consumer behaviors. The results have demonstrated the expected direction force of the motives on CSR skepticism, and the expected consequences of CSR skepticism on both the companies and the consumer behaviors. The findings have indicated that it is not sufficient for a company to solely engage in CSR, but they must also take into account the level or extent of CSR skepticism. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the antecedents and consequences of CSR skepticism, by integrating a framework of research on an important topic, and by offering broad paths for further research.
Highlights
Organizations’ social concerns have been studied by scholars and researchers since the beginning of the twentieth century (Berle, 1931; Bowen, 1953)
This study contributes to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) skepticism literature by developing an integrative model, likely highlight the importance of some antecedents of CSR skepticism and its consequences on the company and consumer behaviors, and suggest directions for future research
In keeping with a modern view, attribution theory (Kelley, 1967) considered as an important gate to understanding these motives, where it explains the role of consumer skepticism toward CSR by illuminating the way people interpret CSR and how this cognitive perception affects their subsequent behavior and attitudes (Skarmeas & Leonidou, 2013)
Summary
Organizations’ social concerns have been studied by scholars and researchers since the beginning of the twentieth century (Berle, 1931; Bowen, 1953). This study contributes to the CSR skepticism literature by developing an integrative model, likely highlight the importance of some antecedents of CSR skepticism and its consequences on the company and consumer behaviors, and suggest directions for future research. Previous research demonstrated that the consumers’ information about CSR programs affects companies and consumer behaviors from many dimensions, such as buying attitudes (Wu & Wang, 2014), consumer responses (Nan & Heo, 2007), service brand (He & Li, 2011), consumer satisfaction (Rivera et al, 2016), CCB (Aljarah, 2020), corporate reputation (Park et al, 2014).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
