When CSR-based identification backfires: Testing the effects of CSR-related negative publicity

Abstract

In the face of much research documenting an ameliorative, buffering effect of consumer-company identification on consumer reactions to negative publicity about a company, this paper theorizes and demonstrates, through two studies, that when such identification is based on a company's CSR (i.e., corporate social responsibility), as opposed to CA (i.e., corporate ability), strongly identified consumers react more, rather than less, negatively to negative publicity in the same domain (i.e., CSR). In addition, this paper provides evidence for the process underlying this backfiring effect among those most connected to the company, based on their perceived betrayal by the company in a particularly self-relevant domain and their subsequent disidentification with it, producing among them intentions to oppose the company.