Corporate Social Responsibility Skepticism Research Articles

Virtually Enhancing Public Engagement During the Pandemic: Measuring the Impact of Virtual Reality Powered Immersive Videos on Corporate Social Responsibility Communication

Many companies have applied virtual reality (VR), a new and popular technology, to their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. This study examines how 360-degree VR-powered videos might further enhance consumers’ engagement in CSR activities and facilitate business outcomes during a crisis setting. The researchers conducted an online survey study, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with 1422 representative U.S. residents and applied the structural equation modeling for data analysis. Results indicated that the four categories of gratifications-sought (i.e., being there, enhancement, interaction, and fun) on 360-degree VR-powered videos could all positively influence CSR engagement; in contrast, CSR skepticism would reduce such engagement online. Corporate social responsibility engagement further improved the organization-public relationships (OPRs) and ultimately influenced consumers’ word-of-mouth toward the company. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed.

Corporate social responsibility and perceived fairness of price increases

AbstractConsumers care about the fairness of companies both in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement and the fairness of prices. However, the interplay between these domains is not yet well understood. Therefore, this study examines how consumers’ perceptions of CSR engagement affect their perceived price fairness following a price increase. Drawing on cue‐utilization and expectancy disconfirmation theory, the authors propose that perceived CSR engagement exacerbates the negative effect of a price increase on perceived price fairness, because perceived CSR engagement increases consumers’ price fairness expectations which are violated through price increases. These propositions are tested in three experimental studies with samples consisting of approximately 3000 customers of a global furniture manufacturer and retailer (Study 1), as well as participants acquired through a self‐administered online consumer panel (Study 2) and Prolific (Study 3). The experiments yield support for the hypothesized effects and reveal CSR skepticism as a critical boundary condition. The findings extend existing literature on the effects of perceived CSR engagement and pricing on consumer reactions by examining the role of perceived CSR engagement in shaping consumer reactions to price increases and by establishing consumers’ price fairness expectations as the central psychological mechanism.

Employee-Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Employee Pro-Environmental Behavior (PEB): The Moderating Role of CSR Skepticism and CSR Authenticity

Despite the substantial attention given to pro-environmental behavior (PEB) by academicians, practitioners, and policymakers, few studies have investigated how employee-perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects employees’ PEB. Moreover, though the concept of PEB has been found to elicit a wide range of positive benefits for employee behaviors and attitudes, it has rarely been applied to the context of the manufacturing sector. Underpinned by the social identity theory (SIT) and the attitude-behavior-context (ABC) theory, the present study investigates the impact of employee-perceived CSR on employees’ PEB through the moderating roles of employee–CSR skepticism and employee–CSR authenticity. The convenience sampling technique was used to select employees from Pakistani manufacturing firms to participate in the study’s survey. Analysis results of data from 235 respondents across 115 manufacturing firms suggest that employee-perceived CSR positively drives employees’ PEB. In addition, the findings offer valuable insights on employee–CSR skepticism and employee–CSR authenticity. Specifically, CSR skepticism weakens the link between perceived CSR and PEB, while CSR authenticity strengthens this link. By providing implications and limitations, the present study discusses that organizations can convey the message of their credible, genuine, and authentic CSR efforts to their employees for social, economic, and environmental wellbeing. The study’s discussions and conclusions are presented.

The impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) priming on consumers’ consumption and lifestyle choices with intertemporal tradeoffs

PurposeThis paper aims to study the unexplored possibility that priming firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity in consumers’ minds may impact consumers’ preference for non-firm related consumption and lifestyle choice options with intertemporal trade-offs.Design/methodology/approachAcross four experimental studies, the authors looked at the impact of CSR priming on the preference of participants for later larger versus sooner smaller money (Study 1), saving versus spending (Study 2) and healthy versus unhealthy food choices (Studies 3 and 4). These choice options were not related to the focal firm that practiced CSR. The authors measured the changes in participants’ consideration of future consequences (CFC) as a potential mediator for the results.FindingsThe participants in the CSR condition showed a higher CFC and a higher preference for the options with long-term benefits and immediate costs over the ones with long-term costs and immediate benefits, i.e. later larger over sooner smaller money, saving over spending and healthy over unhealthy food. The authors documented a mediation role for CFC.Research limitations/implicationsAll the participants in the studies were from the USA. Looking at the cultural differences can enrich the understanding of the impact of CSR on preference for the options with intertemporal trade-offs. Furthermore, this paper builds its theoretical justification based on the assumption of individuals’ acceptance of CSR activities. Nevertheless, consumers may have skepticism about these activities. Future studies may investigate the effect of CSR skepticism of individuals on the proposed effects. Additionally, investigating the moderating roles of individuals’ characteristics like their prosocial concern or their knowledge about choice options might be an avenue for future research.Practical implicationsThe findings highlight the benefits of CSR priming on consumers’ welfare and normative behavior. Firms may use the findings to understand and manage the impact of other firms’ CSR communications on the evaluation of their own products.Originality/valueThis research is the first to highlight the impact of CSR priming on consumers’ non-firm-related consumption and lifestyle choices with intertemporal trade-offs. The results showed the positive effect of priming firms’ CSR activities on consumers’ CFC and the mediating role of CFC.

Engaging through stories: Effects of narratives on individuals’ skepticism toward corporate social responsibility efforts

Skepticism is prevalent surrounding companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. Existing research suggests that narratives can reduce counterarguing and increase story-consistent beliefs and attitudes. However, research is still in its preliminary stage in understanding how narratives may help alleviate individuals’ skepticism toward companies’ CSR initiatives. Through an experiment with Amazon Mechanical Turk participants (n = 345), the current study tested the effect of narrative vs non-narrative videos on individual perception of CSR skepticism. YouTube videos depicting a real organization’s CSR initiatives on the issue of gender equality were selected as stimuli. Results of the study suggest that narrative significantly reduced almost all of the previously identified dimensions of CSR skepticism and significantly increased perceived intrinsic (altruistic) motives. Furthermore, engagement with the video message and perceived CSR motives were significant mediators. The study highlights engagement with messages as a key aspect of reducing CSR skepticism. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Social Media Influencer Effects on CSR Communication: The Role of Influencer Leadership in Opinion and Taste

With the prevalence of social media usage among consumers, brands have increasingly utilized paid social media influencer (SMI) endorsements in their corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. However, how such practice generates positive consumer responses is not well understood. Drawing from signaling theory, social learning theory, and social identity theory, a structural equation model analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses and proposed model based on the survey data from 592 U.S. consumers. The research results suggest that a brand’s CSR initiatives, when endorsed by SMIs who are perceived as social media leaders in opinion and taste, directly enhance consumers’ CSR communication engagement about the initiatives and do so indirectly via the consumers’ reduced CSR skepticism. Reduced CSR skepticism and enhanced CSR communication engagement ultimately lead to the consumers’ brand loyalty, brand preference, and price premium. The study has implications for CSR advertising/social-mediated communication, SMI leadership, and SMI endorsement effects.

How Brand Symbolism, Perceived Service Quality, and CSR Skepticism Influence Consumers to Engage in Citizenship Behavior

Brand symbolism, which stems from the vitality of the brand and feeds self-symbolism and social symbolism, has become an increasingly important strategy for firms to enhance consumer behavior. Building on attachment theory, social identity theory, and cognitive consistency theory, and using data from 439 customers of Starbucks in Lebanon, we used an integrative model to examine how brand symbolism, perceived service quality, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) skepticism jointly affect two types of Customer Citizenship Behavior (CCB): helping other customers and policing other customers. The findings revealed that brand symbolism has a significant positive impact on CCBs and is a stronger predictor of policing other customers than helping other customers in the hospitality context. Further, perceived service quality acts as a mediator between the brand symbolism and CCB dimensions. This study discovered that CSR skepticism negatively moderates the direct and indirect effects of brand symbolism on CCBs through perceived service quality. The findings contribute to the literature by examining the boundary conditions of how and under what conditions brand symbolism affects CCBs by enrolling perceived service quality as a mediator variable and CSR skepticism as a moderator variable in the brand symbolism–CCB relationship.

Attenuating public skepticism: Effects of pre-crisis corporate engagement and post-crisis CSR initiatives on corporate evaluations

This study examined the effects of stated motives in post-crisis corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages, CSR-crisis issue congruence, and pre-crisis corporate engagement on public skepticism toward CSR and subsequent corporate evaluations. We conducted a 3 (motive of post-crisis CSR initiative: no statement vs. firm-serving vs. public-serving) x 2 (issue congruence: CSR initiative incongruent vs. congruent with crisis) x 2 (pre-crisis corporate engagement: absence vs. presence) between-subjects online experiment via Qualtrics panel (N = 378). The findings showed that stating a public-serving motive or launching a CSR initiative incongruent with a crisis heightened some aspects of CSR skepticism. We further found that pre-crisis corporate engagement interacted with stated motive and issue congruence to influence corporate evaluations. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

The antecedents and consequences of CSR skepticism: An integrated framwork.

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.

The effect of green CSR skepticism on positive attitude, reactance, and behavioral intention

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) skepticism on dual types of attitudinal factors (i.e. positive attitude and reactance) and examine the impact of attitudinal factors on customers' behavioral intention.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies mixed-method research to examine the link between CSR skepticism, positive attitude, reactance and behavioral intention based on attitude-behavior-context theory.FindingsAs predicted, CSR skepticism weakens a favorable attitude toward CSR, whereas it increases the level of reactance. Also, CSR skepticism negatively influences behavioral intention, while positive attitude and reactance positively influence behavioral intention.Originality/valueUnderstanding customers' skepticism toward CSR has become increasingly important because of its negative consequences. Despite existing studies on CSR skepticism, few have focused on why and how CSR skepticism leads to negative behavioral outcomes. Thus, this research contributes to existing tourism literature by examining the role of CSR skepticism on their attitude and behavior. Findings will help researchers and practitioners understand how CSR skepticism impacts customers' behavioral intention and develops CSR strategies to enhance the behavioral intention to patronize.

Consumer Skepticism about Quick Service Restaurants’ Corporate Social Responsibility Activities

ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to investigate a developmental process of consumer skepticism about quick service restaurants (QSRs, also known as fast food or limited service restaurants)’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and consequences of CSR skepticism. People who are aware of QSRs’ CSR activities participated in an online survey. A conditional process analysis was used to test mediating roles of CSR motives and CSR skepticism and a moderating role of perceived restaurant healthfulness in the path from CSR timing to restaurant evaluation. When people perceive QSRs’ CSR actions as responses to public criticism (that is, being reactive), they are less likely to attribute sincere (e.g., values-driven) motives; this leads to skepticism about CSR actions, and ultimately, less favorable evaluation. However, if they perceive QSRs as very healthful, evaluation becomes favorable despite skepticism. QSRs should engage proactively in CSR actions before consumers raise concerns about their businesses. If QSRs have already faced CSR skepticism, they should attempt to mitigate consumer distrust regarding the genuineness of their CSR initiatives. Also, provision of healthful menu items needs to be considered to reduce the negative effects of CSR skepticism.

The effects of CSR communication in corporate crises: Examining the role of dispositional and situational CSR skepticism in context

Although consumer skepticism about corporate social responsibility (CSR) is on the rise, research is sparse on the psychological dynamics of this skepticism, particularly when CSR communication serves as a company’s crisis response strategy. Employing two between-subjects design experiments, this study aims to fill this gap by looking at the role consumer CSR skepticism plays in consumer reactions to CSR communications in different types of crises. The study 1 results show that dispositional CSR skepticism did not moderate the effect of crisis type on attitudes and intentions when CSR was used as a post-crisis response strategy. The study 2 findings, however, indicated that situational CSR skepticism significantly mediated the impact of crisis type and CSR motives on purchase intentions only when the crisis stemmed from some accidental rather than preventable circumstance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Exploring the role of corporate social responsibility skepticism in ethical purchase intention

Purpose Few studies exist which delve into the possible factors that prevent ethically minded consumers from translating their ethical perceptions into ethical purchase intention (EPI). Thus, this study aims to explore how consumers assess corporate social responsibility (CSR) based on several influencing factors toward EPI, with CSR skepticism (SKP) as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach This cross-sectional study is conducted through a self-administered questionnaire and uses a positive research approach with a quantitative basis of enquiry. The partial least squares–structural equation modeling- model is used to examine the causal relationship between seven independent variables of CSR assessment (i.e. CSR awareness, knowledge of CSR position of company, cause importance, price consciousness, CSR image of company, credibility of CSR efforts and peer influence) with EPI. In addition, this study also examines the moderating effect of SKP in the relationship. Findings The findings show that CSR assessment factors are important to convert mere purchase criteria into EPI and SKP does play a significant role in weakening the relationship. Originality/value This study examines the moderating effect of CSR skepticism, the exploration of which still remains very limited in current literature.

Engaging International Publics via Mobile-Enhanced CSR (mCSR): A Cross-National Study on Stakeholder Reactions to Corporate Disaster Relief Efforts

With globalization, corporations increasingly have to consider both domestic stakeholders and overseas stakeholders (i.e., international publics) in their corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice. Digitalization empowers international publics to scrutinize and react to a (multinational) corporation’s CSR strategy, further affecting corporate outcomes of CSR practice. Drawing on the social media context and attribution theory, this study investigated international publics’ reactions to corporate disaster relief, an emerging type of mobile-enhanced CSR (i.e., mCSR) practice, in the United States and China by looking at individuals’ engagement with mobile social media during disasters, attribution of CSR motives, and level of CSR skepticism. Using structural equation modeling analysis, the survey data of randomly recruited Americans ( n = 816) and mainland Chinese ( n = 430) suggested that mobile social media engagement reinforces the values-, strategic-, and stakeholder-driven motives of mCSR in the United States and China. Egoistic-driven CSR motives elicited publics’ skepticism toward mCSR, while values- and stakeholder-driven motives inhibited skepticism in both countries. However, the effect of strategic-driven motives on skepticism was inconsistent internationally. Last, CSR skepticism triggered negative relational outcomes between the mCSR-performing corporation and various stakeholders in both countries. This study advances CSR and attribution theory and contributes to the practice of CSR, public relations, and international business in the social media and disaster response context.

Reducing skepticism about corporate social responsibility: roles of gender and agentic-communal orientations

PurposeCompanies are increasingly emphasizing corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, consumers are often skeptical of the sincerity of companies’ CSR claims, particularly when the claim comes directly from the company. This paper aims to demonstrate how to reduce consumer CSR skepticism by examining the role of a company spokesperson’s gender and gender-related characteristics.Design/methodology/approachTwo between-subjects experiments with a combined total of 329 participants examined how consumers’ levels of CSR skepticism are affected depending on the gender of the consumer and the gender and gender-related characteristics of the company’s CSR spokesperson.FindingsStudy 1 finds that a female (vs male) spokesperson generally elicits less CSR skepticism. However, Study 2 expands on this to demonstrate that consumers are less skeptical of a company’s CSR efforts when they are promoted by a spokesperson who exhibits gender-related characteristics that match, or are typically associated with, the individual consumer’s gender.Practical implicationsBrands often face difficulties in successfully promoting their own CSR efforts to skeptical consumers. These findings should guide companies and their brands in choosing ideal spokespeople for making effective, sincere CSR claims, depending on the target market.Originality/valueThis research is the first to identify the important role of gender in consumers’ perceptions of CSR sincerity. Thus, it provides practically-oriented strategies that may mitigate a growing consumer CSR skepticism that exists in today’s marketplace.

Interaction Effects of System-Generated Information and Consumer Skepticism: An Evaluation of Issue Support Behavior in CSR Twitter Campaigns

This study examines the impact of Twitter followers and consumer skepticism on issue support behavior advocated in Twitter-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. A 2 × 2 experiment demonstrated the interaction effect of the number of followers and consumer skepticism on issue support behavior, drinking and driving prevention behavior. Effects of consumer skepticism on issue support behavior were lessened when participants saw the Twitter-based CSR campaign with a higher number of Twitter followers. The study has implications for system-generated information and CSR skepticism research based on attribution theory.

Handling negative publicity

PurposeBased on the framing theory and the associative network theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that examines the impact of employing corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication in apology statements after negative publicity. Specifically, this study examines the role of CSR fit and CSR history in reducing anger and negative word-of-mouth (NWOM). This study also examines whether perceived CSR motivation and skepticism toward the apology statement mediate the effect of CSR fit and CSR history on anger and NWOM.Design/methodology/approachThis study was a 2×2 between-subject design manipulating CSR fit (high or low) and CSR history (long or short).FindingsThe findings of this study suggest that strategically employing CSR communication in an apology statement after negative publicity may reduce negative consumer reactions.Originality/valueThe effects of CSR history and CSR fit have been studied in different contexts, but the effects of mentioning the two components in terms of apology statements had been understudied. This paper fulfills an identified need to study how employing CSR communication in apology statements after negative publicity can mitigate negative audience reactions.

Dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) skepticism and their impacts on public evaluations toward CSR

ABSTRACTThis study attempts to examine the dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) skepticism and to identify the strongest predictor by testing the relationships between the skepticism constructs and public responses. The study further examines the role of cynicism either as an antecedent, a moderator, or a component of CSR skepticism. Through a series of model tests, three factors of CSR skepticism were identified to better predict public responses to CSR: (a) skepticism toward a company’s altruism, (b) disbelief of CSR messages and CSR activities, and (c) skepticism toward CSR informativeness. Skepticism toward a company’s altruism was identified as the strongest predictor in determining negative public response to CSR, whereas cynicism did not have much predictive power to explain public response to CSR; as a result, it was excluded from the final dimensions of CSR skepticism.

Containing CSR Skepticism: The Importance of Cause-Related Marketing Quantifiers in Consumer Attributions of Corporate Motives

This study examines how companies can better manage consumer attributions (i.e. perceived company underlying motives) to corporate social responsibility (CSR) through CSR-related communications. Specifically, the article focuses on cause-related marketing (CRM) initiatives and investigates how different types of CRM donation frames influence consumers’ perceptions of a company’s motivation to support a social cause. Drawing from the psychology of money and CSR literature, the article finds that the in-kind CRM donation frame works best at reducing consumers’ causal attributions of companies’ self-centered motives.

Overcoming the ‘Window Dressing’ Effect: Mitigating the Negative Effects of Inherent Skepticism Towards Corporate Social Responsibility

As more and more instances of corporate hypocrisy become public, consumers have developed an inherent general skepticism towards firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) claims. As CSR skepticism bears heavily on consumers’ attitudes and behavior, this paper draws from Construal Level Theory to identify how it can be pre-emptively abated. We posit that this general skepticism towards CSR leads people to adopt a low-level construal mindset when processing CSR information. Across four studies, we show that matching this low-level mindset with concrete CSR messaging works to effectively mitigate the negative effects of inherent CSR skepticism on consumers’ attitudes, purchase intentions, and word of mouth. The resulting construal-mindset congruency strengthens the favorability of consumer responses through increased positive elaboration and perceptions of CSR message credibility. Furthermore, this congruency effect is shown to persist over time in skeptical domains but to dissipate in less skeptical domains.