Social Responsibility Messages Research Articles

Cause-related marketing in tourism: how goal framing promotes consumer prosocial behaviours

Cause-related marketing is commonly regarded as an effective tool for tourism enterprises to bolster their commitment to sustainable practices, fostering environmental and social responsibility within their operations and offerings. However, despite this, there is limited research into the implementation of cause-related social marketing to achieve the sustainability goals of tourism enterprises. Consequently, this research leverages construal level theory to examine how goal framing in cause-related tourism marketing communications nudges consumers towards engaging in prosocial behaviours, with an explicit emphasis on the boundary conditions in which desired effects diminish. Results across two pilot studies and four scenario-based experiments demonstrate that the specific (vs. abstract) goal framing elicits a higher degree of prosocial behaviours through the critical role of empathy. Two moderating variables demonstrate the enhancement effect of specific goal framing is attenuated for consumers already high (vs. low) on the agreeableness trait and those who are primed with a cyclical (vs. linear) temporal perspective. Additional analyses and controls, including ruling out three alternative explanations, reinforce the reliability and validity of the results. This research provides evidence-based insights critical to amplify the effectiveness of cause-related corporate social responsibility initiatives in tourism, unveiling the specific mechanisms which underpin consumer responses to corporate social responsibility messages and communication framing. Future research should examine the critical role of goal framing in the social repositioning of tourism enterprises.

The student as stakeholder: how the altruism of university social responsibility (USR) campaigns impacts student relationships

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to expand corporate social responsibility research in communication management by understanding the dynamics of university social responsibility (USR). The COVID-19 pandemic and social justice protests of 2020 provide a context to study communication about universities’ dual roles as economic engines and social activists. Messaging from a university about its social responsibility goals can impact student perceptions.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted of 493 students enrolled at a major university in 2020. Students were asked about two real campaigns at their university, one about healthy behavior and one about racial justice on campus.FindingsAltruism positively predicted reputation, trust and donation intent, while distrust was inversely predicted. Message credibility and believability were mediators of these relationships, but only source credibility mediated altruism for the social justice campaign. For universities, this study demonstrates the importance of communicating social responsibility messages with students. As an important and overlooked stakeholder group in USR, students may respond positively to these messages, which have implications for their potential willingness to donate after graduation.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by merging variables from public relations and marketing with theory development in higher education management to provide a new perspective on ethical organizational communication.

Sustainable threads: analyzing the impact of corporate social performance, CSR message authenticity and information transparency on purchase intentions

With the deepening exploration of the study on corporate social responsibility (CSR), CSR has progressively gained significance for enterprises. This study aims to analyze the impact of fashion companies’ information disclosure on the intention of Chinese consumers who purchase clothing by providing information related to the environment, suppliers, manufacturing processes, and pricing. An experimental study was conducted using stimuli on 412 consumers in Shandong Province, China. The research results are as follows. First, it was found that consumers’ perception of Corporate Social Performance (CSP) has a positive effect on the authenticity of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) message and consumers’ subjective norms. Second, CSR message authenticity and consumer subjective norms mediate the perception of CSP in the process of leading to purchasing activities. Third, consumers perceive the authenticity of a company’s CSR activities according to the degree of transparent information disclosure of the cost and manufacturing process of its products. This study shows that the CSR information provided by the company is authentic depending on the degree of CSR information transparency of the company, and that it leads to a purchase intention when consumers judge that the company’s CSR activities are authentic. Accordingly, it is suggested that many fashion companies’ CSR activities lead to product purchases when they are continuously conducted on environmental, social problems, and transparency in the production process.

“Do Good and Be ‘Liked’”: CSR Messages on Social Media during COVID-19 Pandemic and Consumer Responses

This study explores the types of corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages communicated on social media during the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States and its corresponding effects in driving consumer engagement and related psychological responses. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1, we analyzed corporations’ social media posts. We identified and compared four different CSR message types (i.e., employee-relevant CSR, community-relevant CSR, promotional CSR, and company statement) in their effects on consumers’ behavioral engagement. In Study 2, we conducted an online experiment to extend the findings of Study 1 further. Study 1 revealed that employee-relevant CSR received the highest consumer behavioral engagement among all types of CSR messages. Study 2 revealed a mediation effect of consumers’ engagement intention between the CSR message types and consumers’ brand attitudes and trust. In addition, community-relevant CSR and company statements received higher evaluations of brand attitude and brand trust.

From screen to service: how corporate social responsibility messages on social media shape hotel consumer advocacy

ABSTRACT This research attempts to investigate corporate social responsibility (CSR) and consumers’ advocacy behavior (CAB) association in the hotel services sector of a developing economy. Furthermore, this study explores how hotel consumers’ emotions and values mediate and moderate their CAB. This is accomplished by introducing two mediating variables, consumer happiness and warm glow, and altruistic values as a moderator. The data were obtained from hotel consumers with the help of an adapted questionnaire. The structural analysis indicated that CSR communication on social media by hotel services organizations positively predicted CAB, while consumer happiness and warm glow served as mediators to explain this relationship. Our results also confirmed the moderating effect of altruistic values. Several theoretical and practical implications can be drawn from this study. For example, our study highlights the important role of social media as an effective medium to communicate CSR-related information with hotel consumers to bolster their advocacy intentions.

How Do Corporate Social Responsibility Messages Moderate From E-Wom And Trust To Online Purchase Intention And E-Loyalty?

This study aims to examine how electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) with corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages enhance customer trust, online purchase intention and e-loyalty in the B2C e-commerce industry. A direct online survey was conducted on 579 online shopping customers in Vietnam. Data analysis used the EFA, CFA and smart PLS. The validity and reliability of the measurements were confirmed before testing the hypotheses. The results revealed that e-WOM and CSR messages have positive and direct impacts on customer trust, which positively affects online purchase intention and e-loyalty. In addition, CSR messages moderate the relationship between e-WOM and customer trust.

The Effect of Benefit Appeals, Brand Types, and Construal Level on Ad-brand Congruency in Corporate Social Responsibility Messages

The Effect of Benefit Appeals, Brand Types, and Construal Level on Ad-brand Congruency in Corporate Social Responsibility Messages

Impact of a corporate social responsibility message on consumers' sustainable behaviours and purchase intentions

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of a water brand's CSR message highlighting the brand's environmental concerns on brand‐related variables (attitude towards the brand and CSR) and consumer‐related variables (consumer efforts to adopt sustainable behaviours and well‐being). A research model is proposed, and the relationships postulated are tested on 414 French consumers. The study establishes the effectiveness of this kind of CSR messaging in influencing French consumers to purchase and recommend a particular brand. It then shows the direct and indirect ways in which a brand's CSR messaging can improve consumers' behavioural intentions (i.e., intentions to purchase the brand's products and to recommend the brand and/or its products). It also underscores that brand‐related variables contribute to increasing brands', and thus companies', business performance, whereas consumer‐related variables contribute to increasing their social performance. Finally, the REBUS‐PLS method emphasises the existence of several consumer groups and identifies the core target customer groups on which companies should focus their communication efforts.

Believing in change: The role of implicit theory on consumer's perception of the brand's corporate social responsibility message

AbstractWith the sustainable consumption paradigms, corporate social responsibilities (CSR) across industries have been under scrutiny. However, little research exists on how brand's business model and consumers' characteristics are intertwined to influence CSR evaluation. Our study aims to examine how the brand type (e.g., fast vs. slow business model) influences the relationships among CSR‐brand fit, authenticity, and skepticism, thus improving attitudes toward the brand. In addition, based on the implicit theory, how the consumer's incremental mindset (vs. entity) influences a brand's CSR evaluations are studied. Through two studies, our findings demonstrate consumers perceived a higher CSR‐brand fit for the slow fashion/food brand than the fast fashion/food brand. A higher CSR‐brand fit heightened the CSR authenticity and alleviated skepticism, which in turn resulted in positive brand evaluations. Importantly, incremental mindsets weakened the effect of brand type on CSR‐brand fit. As one of the first studies to examine the relationship between consumers' implicit theory orientation and a brand's CSR message, our findings demonstrate that an incremental mindset is a powerful consumer characteristic in evaluating a brand's CSR activities that are less congruent with the brand's established business model.

Pay Suppression in Social Impact Contexts: How Framing Work Around the Greater Good Inhibits Job Candidate Compensation Demands

Past research suggests that when organizations communicate the benefits of their work for human welfare—that is, use a social impact framing for work—job candidates are willing to accept lower wages because they expect the work to be personally meaningful. We argue that this explanation overlooks a less socially desirable mechanism by which social impact framing leads to lower compensation demands: the perception among job candidates that requesting higher pay will breach organizational expectations to value work for its intrinsic (rather than extrinsic) rewards, or constitute a motivational norm violation. We find evidence for our theory across five studies: a qualitative study (Study 1), a hiring experiment with undergraduate students (Study 2), an online labor market field experiment (Study 3), a vignette-based simulation (Study 4), and a stimulus sampling study using multiple occupations (Study 5). Exploratory analyses find that the negative effects are unique to monetary (versus nonmonetary) job rewards. Together, results uncover a novel mechanism by which emphasizing work for the greater good leads job candidates to accept lower wages—one that reflects candidates self-censoring on pay from concerns about violating organizational norms rather than solely from a willingness to trade higher pay for potentially meaningful work. Our research contributes to understandings of how social responsibility messaging impacts workers’ perceptions of organizations and negotiation behavior. It also holds implications for emerging scholarship on managers’ implicit theories of employee work motivation. Funding: I. Hussain thanks the Dean’s Research Excellence Grant at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas Austin for generous financial support. The research also benefitted from Tier 1 Academic Research Funds awarded to M. Pitesa [Grant C207/MSS19B011] and M. Schaerer [Grant C207/MSS22B011] by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, and the Research & Development Fund of INSEAD. Supplemental Material: The online supplement is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.1675 .

The influence of corporate social responsibility appeals (CSRAs) on product sales: Which appeal types perform better?

This paper examines product-package Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) messages called Corporate Social Responsibility Appeals (CSRAs) that directly convey CSR messages to shoppers on product packages. Using a multi-source dataset of more than 10 million transactions from a large grocery chain, this paper first presents a typology consisting of seven CSRA types that provide buyers functional or symbolic benefits and examines their effects on product sales. Second, the paper presents the analysis of the moderating effects of store-generated promotions (price promotions and feature advertisements) and product types (virtue and vice) on the effects of functional and symbolic CSRAs and seven CSRAs on weekly sales. Results show that functional CSRAs perform better than symbolic CSRAs and that price promotions strengthen the sales of functional CSRAs. Featured advertising was also found to positively influence the sales of Functional CSRAs, but is found to have no impact on Symbolic CSRAs. Finally, the results show that Functional CSRAs are a better strategy for virtue products than Symbolic CSRAs. This paper concludes with managerial implications, theoretical contributions, and additional findings regarding price elasticity, sales trajectory, and sales performance across product categories.

Which CSR message most appeals to you? The role of message framing, psychological ownership, perceived responsibility and customer altruistic values

COVID-19 has led the hospitality industry to increase focus on the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages that can increase positive brand behaviors. Thus, Study 1 examines the effects of CSR message and customer altruism using a 2 (CSR message: cause promotion vs. advocacy advertising) × 2 (Customer altruistic values: high vs. low) between-subjects experimental design. Building upon Study 1′s findings, Study 2 investigates the effect of psychological ownership and the mediating role of perceived responsibility using a 2 (CSR message: psychological ownership vs. cause promotion) × 2 (Customer altruistic values: high vs. low) between subjects’ experiment. Results show the interaction effect of altruistic value and the moderated mediation effect of perceived responsibility, contributing to the gaps surrounding CSR messages as well as providing implications for hospitality businesses to optimize the application of CSR messages.

Promoting corporate social responsibility message in COVID-19 advertising: How threat persuasion affects consumer responses to altruistic versus strategic CSR

Given the challenges facing companies in communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives amid the pandemic, this study focuses on the effects of CSR appeals in COVID-19 advertising. Using the Ordered Protection Motivation model and CSR literature as the foundation, this study examined the interaction effect between CSR appeal (altruistic CSR vs. strategic CSR) and threat intensity (low vs. high) of the crisis depiction featured in the ad on consumers’ responses. Results revealed the moderating role of threat intensity on the relationships between CSR appeal and consumers’ responses, such that altruistic CSR appeal outperformed strategic CSR appeal when consumers were exposed to an ad featuring a high-threat crisis depiction, whereas the two appeals yielded similar effects when the ad featured a low-threat crisis depiction. In particular, altruistic CSR appeal (vs. strategic CSR appeal) generated greater message credibility, stronger feelings of warmth, and lower CSR skepticism, resulting in more favorable ad and brand attitudes and stronger purchase intentions, but only in the high threat condition.

Global Automakers. CSR Reporting and Targeted Stakeholders 2018-2020

This paper deployed a network-based computational content analysis approach to uncover the major themes and targeted stakeholder groups presented in the top leadership’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports’ introductory letters for eleven major global vehicle manufacturers for the period 2018-2020. Themes were based on the 3Ps of sustainability (people, planet, and profit), basic busi­ness practices (economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic) in the context of CSR, time orientation of the themes whether short- or long- term, and identified target­ed stakeholder groups. This study is unique in that the extant literature reveals no research examining CSR disclosure in the automobile industry from both a sus­tainable goal-directed and practices perspective incorporating potential influenc­es of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results revealed that some vehicle manufacturers focused on investor and economic activities while others communicated a general social responsibility message. During 2020, greater emphasis was placed on in­vestors and somewhat less on society in general. Findings suggest the need for a more balanced representation geared toward addressing pandemic and post-pan­demic challenges as well as traditional automotive manufacturing considerations.

Speaking Up on Black Lives Matter: A Comparative Study of Consumer Reactions toward Brand and Influencer-Generated Corporate Social Responsibility Messages

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement ignited divergent social media reactions and conversations. Addressing the importance of message sources, this study aims to (1) compare audience reactions toward BLM content posted by brands and by influencers with brand sponsorship and (2) apply computational methods in influencer marketing to examine a large volume of social media texts qualitatively and quantitatively. A total of 32,702 comments on 110 Instagram posts on BLM were collected and analyzed through both human efforts and machine-learning algorithms. As a result, we found that black-influencer-created BLM attracted higher consumer engagement than posts by nonblack influencers and brands. Moreover, we generated seven different themes among which brands received the highest percentages of criticism, demands for more proactive actions, and purchase/boycott intentions. Influencers had more comments that reflected personal stories and emotion regarding BLM. Black influencers in particular received the highest percentage of praise and appreciation. Finally, comments on brands’ BLM posts embedded the highest proportion of negative sentiment, while those of black influencers’ posts were predominantly positive. Therefore, the comparisons of BLM sources elucidate the promising potential of influencers in communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages of racial equality—a topic which engenders high relevance to every individual in our society.

What drives employees to participate in corporate social responsibility? A personal characteristics - CSR capacity - organizational reinforcing model of employees’ motivation for voluntary CSR activities

Employees’ participation in corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a channel that not only helps corporations convey their social responsibility messages but also, in the long run, enhances stakeholder-organization relationships and builds corporate image. Given the important role employees play in CSR, inadequate attention is paid to their motivation to engage in voluntary CSR activities, and there is a research gap in the literature in terms of a lack of a systematic view of that motivation. Therefore, this study seeks to narrow this gap by exploring the factors influencing individual employees’ motivation to take part in voluntary CSR activities, using a qualitative approach, with empirical data collected from employees of leading CSR companies in Vietnam. Through grounded theory analysis, our findings lead to the proposal of a personal characteristics – CSR capacity – organizational reinforcing model, revealing different intrinsic and extrinsic elements, categorized into personal characteristics, CSR capacities and organizational reinforcement, that motivate employees to participate and engage in voluntary CSR activities. Our findings and the proposed model offer a significant contribution to the CSR literature and organization management theories, and also provide insights and practical implications for those involved in CSR endeavors, including human resource (HR) managers in organizations. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2021.1967422 .

Driving Consumer Engagement through Diverse Calls to Action in Corporate Social Responsibility Messages on Social Media

Although a growing number of consumers acknowledge the importance of firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, how companies can effectively communicate these initiatives to consumers is still a challenge. Although the rise of social media platforms has provided firms with opportunities for more immediate and interactive communication with consumers, recent academic studies related to social media have mostly focused on effective communication of promotional messages, and relatively little attention has been paid to prosocial messages. For better communication, social media branded messages have encouraged user participation (i.e., calls to action), but how diverse types of calls to action can generate consumer engagement remains unexplored. Using over 2000 branded posts from popular consumer product brands on Facebook and Twitter, this research explores diverse types of calls to action that drive consumers’ attitudinal (i.e., likes) and behavioral (i.e., shares) engagement with CSR-related messages on social media. The research findings suggest that the types of calls to action matter in the effectiveness of CSR messages. Specifically, CSR messages inviting consumers to brand-related programs or games generated a greater number of likes and shares. However, the overall engagement was lower when CSR messages encouraged further conversations, and rewarding consumers was also less effective. Finally, the results show that multiple calls to action within one message decrease engagement. Overall, this study contributes to the academic literature and management by providing new insights and actionable guidelines on how to encourage user participation when designing CSR messages to enhance consumers’ attitudinal and behavioral engagement within social media, thereby contributing to sustainable development while enhancing the effectiveness of marketing communications.

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.

Is Native Advertising Effective for Corporate Social Responsibility Messaging?

This study investigates how advertising recognition influences consumer responses to a native advertisement about proactive or reactive corporate social responsibility (CSR). The results indicate that participants expressed more favorable attitudes and greater word-of-mouth intention toward a native advertisement of proactive CSR than one of reactive CSR only when they did not recognize the persuasion purpose of the native advertisement. This study also confirms perceived manipulativeness as the underlying mechanism of advertising recognition, and values-driven motivation as the underlying mechanism of CSR type in the context of native advertising.

Information specificity, social topic awareness and message authenticity in CSR communication

PurposeThis paper explores how companies can improve consumer attitudes towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages and companies by designing the content of the message, which should provide specific information and improve social topic awareness among consumers. The paper also explores the mediating role of message authenticity between the CSR message content and consumer attitudes towards the information and the company.Design/methodology/approach302 participants evaluated the website of a fictitious company that included information about its CSR activities. The authors collected data through a questionnaire of Likert-type and dichotomous scales and contrasted the hypotheses with a causal model, analysing the relationships among variables through structural equation modelling (SEM) with the software EQS 6.1.FindingsThe findings suggest that information specificity and social topic awareness improve consumer perceptions of message authenticity. The findings also show that message authenticity improves consumer trust and attitudes towards the information and the company. Attitude towards the information, message authenticity and social topic awareness show the largest impacts on trust and attitude towards the company, while information specificity also has a positive although smaller effect.Originality/valueIntegrating information specificity and social topic awareness within the conceptual model presented in this paper, based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM) and attribution theory, allows researchers and practitioners to close the gap between companies' CSR activities and consumers' perceptions, attitudes and behaviours.