Abstract
Sustainable initiatives have been widely fulfilled by corporations, which can acquire better reputations by performing environmental, social, and economic responsibilities. However, if a corporation’s propaganda about sustainable orientation is contrary to the actual action, or even does not have a clear orientation, then it may also fall into the reputation of hypocrisy. In this study, from the perspective of consumer behavior and based on the moral responsibility theory of corporate sustainability, we identify six types of sustainable corporations by their orientations toward sustainability, including value, goals, and structure. We empirically examine their direct effects on consumers’ sustainable quality perception and trust, as well as the moderating effects of corporate social responsibility associations and consumer–corporation identity. Data are collected in China; 203 adults participated in the survey. The results reveal that the types of sustainable goals and structure have a significant effect on consumers’ sustainable quality perception and trust. Furthermore, consumers’ perception is also positively associated with their trust in a corporation. Moreover, the consumer–corporation identity negatively moderates the relationship between perception and trust. These findings also bring theoretical and practical insights for governments and corporations.
Highlights
How will different corporate values and structures of sustainability affect consumers’ quality perception and trust? This paper was motivated by this single question
A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the three dimensions of the corporate sustainable orientation (CSO) shows that the group observing high value orientation (M = 3.83, SD = 0.81) reported a higher score of CSO than the low-value group (M = 3.50, SD = 0.92), F (1,201) = 7.709, p = 0.006 < 0.01
To examine the effects of corporate sustainable orientation on consumers’ quality perception and trust, we consider six types of sustainable corporations according to their orientations toward sustainability, including value, goals, and structure, from the perspective of consumer behavior and based on the moral responsibility theory of corporate sustainability
Summary
How will different corporate values and structures of sustainability affect consumers’ quality perception and trust? This paper was motivated by this single question. Corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are often used They are closely related, they are two different concepts, so it is necessary to clarify the basic concepts of the two and determine the standpoint of this paper. Sustainability is the development of the ability to meet the needs of contemporary people without endangering the ability of future generations to meet their needs It is the common economic, social, and environmental goal of human beings, which are interdependent and complementary [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Social responsibility refers to the responsibility that an organization undertakes for the influence of its decision-making and activities on society and the environment through its transparent and ethical behaviors [7,8] According to this definition, social responsibility must have a specific subject, that is, an organization. It can be seen that CSR is a relatively more micro and specific concept that emphasizes how to implement the requirements of sustainability
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