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Communication strategies for enhancing perceived fit in the CSR sponsorship context
International Journal of Advertising
Abstract
Engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming an increasingly common business practice globally and across industries. By contributing to societal welfare, firms can also enhance their corporate image among its stakeholders – in particular, its customers. For CSR to generate goodwill, consumers generally need to perceive a fit between the sponsoring firm and its CSR. Otherwise, consumers may second-guess the firm’s intrinsic CSR motives, which may even evoke a negative reaction. In practice, however, many firms today engage in CSR activities that cover a wide spectrum of perceived fit. To this end, this research explores communication strategies (elaborational vs relational) that help elevate the perceived fit between the sponsoring firm and its CSR activity at high vs low levels. Specifically, we find elaborational communication strategy (which focuses on the merits of CSR activity per se and not on the association with the firm) to be more effective for the low-fit case, whereas relation...
... Studies have examined motivations of corporations from sponsoring arts (e.g. Carrillat, d'Astous, and Colbert 2008;Tsiotsou 2011;Seok Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012) and the influence on art museums (e.g. Hewer and Hamilton 2012;Venkatesh and Meamber 2006). ...
... T he third perspective stresses the potential of corporate sponsorship to achieve corporate social responsibility objectives, mainly to improve the brand image and promote organisations as responsible actors within society (Plewa and Quester 2011;Seok Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012;O'Hagan and Harvey 2000;Lidström 2004;Kawashima 2012;Yamin 2019;Walliser 2003). Corporate social responsibility is defined as "organisation's status and activities with respect to its perceived societal reputation" (Brown and Dacin 1997, 68). ...
... We discussed earlier that corporate interests from sponsorships negatively affect community relations, however, when a sponsorship generates social utility, the influence of corporate interests on negative consumers' perception is lower (Seok Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012;Walliser 2003). One way to achieve that alignment of interests is to seek sponsorship of non-profit organisations as they have a cause for the society such as art museums to show support for arts and culture (Kawashima 2012;Toscani and Prendergast 2021). ...
Previous researchers have examined the motivations and effects of arts sponsorship from the perspective of the sponsor, but without a clear aggregate implication on the sponsee. This study examines the development of arts sponsorship with reference to cultural policies, and identifies the rationale and effects on art museums. Building on marketing and arts literature and a comparative case study of the United Kingdom and France, this study shows that marketization policies and volatile public funding are pushing art museums to focus on self-funding sources including corporate sponsorship as a private funding source. Arts sponsorship has become more commercial than philanthropic because it carries institutional, stakeholders, and corporate social responsibility objectives. The positive effects of arts sponsorship on the sponsee are financial support for arts and enhancing cultural enrichment, while the negative effects include diminishing artistic autonomy and a contradiction between the type of sponsor and the mission of the sponsee. The study proposes a way forward to mitigate damages through cultural policies, as arts sponsorship is becoming an inevitable source of funding for arts.
... In the present sample of research on CSR ads, scholarship that examines consumer definitions and expectations of messages in the CSR category identifies that consumers value long-term relationships and partnerships between brands and causes (Waymer, Gilliland, and Barbour 2021) and prefer a humane orientation within the content of CSR ads (diehl, Terlutter, and Mueller 2016). With regard to consumers' beliefs about the brand's place in the category, the identified research commonly seeks to identify whether consumers believe the brand is an acceptable voice for the cause category by examining company-cause fit (Bartels et al. 2020;Champlin et al. 2019;Kim and Choi 2020;Nan and Heo 2007;Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012). ...
... Research that examines linking, strengthening, or repositioning the brand within the CSR category has also been conducted among the present sample of studies. Here, research has examined brand messaging that either focuses on connecting the brand with the cause or speaking to the general merits of cause-related activity (Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012). It has relatedly examined the specific area of environmental causes where Reich and Soule (2016) identified that brands seeking to connect consumers with their products may benefit from a focus on traditional green appeals rather than green demarketing appeals. ...
... In addition, several studies also demonstrated how informational and emotional message strategies are effective in enhancing how consumers respond to CSR advertising in comparison with CSR appeals (Champlin et al. 2019;Chang 2011;Chang, He, and Wang 2021;Konig, diehl, and Mueller 2017;Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012). Sohn, Han, and Lee (2012), for example, showed that elaborational strategies work effectively for low-fit brands and relational strategies work well for high-fit brands. ...
Global consumers are increasingly expecting brands to strive to positively impact the communities and societies in which they exist. Marketers are taking heed, looking to balance social good against commercial profits in their decision making. Historically the purview of management, business ethics, and public relations research, advertising research has, until lately, largely ignored CSR and the critical role advertising communication and practice play in it. With CSR advertising scholarship on the rise, this article seeks to provide focus to the area by placing extant and future research in the context of the advertising strategic planning process (SPP) in order to holistically understand CSR’s impact and gaps in knowledge. This study represents a systematic review of advertising CSR research in Social Science Citation Index advertising journals within the Web of Science database. Forty-three relevant articles were reviewed to identify relevance and situatedness within the SPP. Based on these findings, a research agenda addressing gaps in each of the stages of the SPP is proposed.
... Furthermore, perceived company-cause fit affects consumers' CSR attribution and perceived CSR motivation, and how much cognitive effort they will spend on CSR information (Becker-Olsen et al., 2006;Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2010;Sohn, Han, & Lee, 2012). In a content analysis, Schmeltz (2014) found a general misalignment between corporate values and CSR values among six Danish companies. ...
... In such mismatched situations, the perceived fit between a company and its CSR cause will be low, and consumers are likely to have difficulty resolving the seemingly inconsistent information in their mind. As a result, skepticism toward the company's engaging in CSR will arise (Sohn et al., 2012). ...
... The measure of company-cause fit consisted of four items adapted from Becker-Olsen et al. (2006) and Sohn et al. (2012) (Cronbach's α = .97). Participants were asked to indicate the extent to which Coca-Cola and its support of same-sex marriage were of low vs. strong fit, dissimilar vs. similar, inconsistent vs. consistent, and not complementary vs. complementary. ...
This study proposes a theoretical model that provides a segmentation
method of publics based on their cognitive, affective, and behavioral
responses toward corporate social advocacy (CSA). As one of the initial
efforts in building a theory of CSA in public relations scholarship, the
model segments consumers based on three outcome variables – boycott
intention, purchase intention, and corporate reputation. This model also
incorporates consumer-company congruence, company-cause fit, consumercause fit, and issue involvement as antecedent variables. A survey of 482
adult consumers found that consumer-company congruence and companycause fit had significant negative impacts on boycott intention, but positive
influences on purchase intention. Consumer-company congruence, company-cause fit, and consumer-cause fit all had significant positive impacts
on corporate reputation. Moreover, interaction effects between companycause fit and consumers’ involvement with the specific CSA issue were found
significant on both boycott intention and purchase intention. How these
findings help advance the understanding of publics in a CSA context is
discussed.
... The increase in recall is greatest for the low fit pairing. Similarly, scholars (Seok Sohn et al., 2012) find that created fit messaging (e.g., CSR advertisements) increases consumers' perceptions of fit in low fit conditions more so than in high fit conditions. However, they note that even though there were gains in both low and high fit conditions, the consumers' perceptions of overall fit are still more positive in high fit conditions. ...
... Although created fit messaging has been found to improve stakeholder evaluations overall, there is evidence that the effects of created fit messaging on perceived fit may differ across partnership scenarios. As noted above, researchers indicate a more positive effect for created fit when the partnerships, without articulation of a rationale, have a higher perceived fit (Coppetti et al., 2009;Seok Sohn et al., 2012). Also, the findings of Olson and Thjømøe (2011) indicate that articulation of partnership fit can change overall perceptions of fit in both positive and negative directions. ...
... In line with previous literature (Coppetti et al., 2009;Cornwell et al., 2006;Seok Sohn et al., 2012), we find that created fit messaging improves stakeholders' evaluations of corporate-nonprofit partnership fit. Extended rationale articulation in CSR messaging offers details about the partnership that enhances stakeholders' perceptions of fit across the conditions in this study. ...
This study unpacks the complex relationship between corporate–nonprofit partnerships, corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication, and stakeholder evaluations of fit. We move beyond the fundamental question of whether partner fit matters to questions about what types of messages matter, under what conditions, and to whom. We conducted an online experiment ( N = 966) to test created fit messages’ ability to influence stakeholder perceptions of corporate–nonprofit partnership fit. Grounded in the symbiotic sustainability model, we find that created fit messaging results in stakeholders having more favorable evaluations of corporate–nonprofit partnership fit. However, we also identify differences in the effectiveness of created fit messaging across potential partnerships. In addition, we find, beyond message type and level of partner congruity, the degree of CSR activism influences stakeholders’ responses to created fit messaging in counterintuitive ways.
... Most of that research tackles the role of CSR-brand or cause-brand fit (e.g., Bigné, Currás-Pérez & Aldás-Manzano, 2012;Gilal, Gilal, Martinez & Gilal, 2023) and influencer brand-fit or product-influencer fit (e.g., Breves et al., 2019;Janssen et al., 2021). Previous research suggests that high CSR-brand fit isn't the only requirement for the success of the campaign and draws attention to the role of communication strategies employed (Seok Sohn, Han & Lee, 2012). Processes inherent to social media information processing, including norm and social identity activation, pose a need to analyse the impact of such communication on subsequent consumer evaluations (Hartmann et al., 2023). ...
... Previous research suggests that the CSR-brand fit represents a significant factor influencing the success of companies' CSR strategies. However, because communication plays a crucial role in the success of CSR campaigns (Seok Sohn et al., 2012), the tendency towards exploring the CSR-brand fit is not enough (Breves et al., 2019). Although many studies explored the influencer-brand or influencer-product fit ( Several studies indicate the potential of CSR authenticity to serve as a mediator in the effect of CSR-brand fit on consumer responses (Alhouti et al., 2016;Kim & Kim, 2023). ...
Communicating socially responsible behaviour through social media has become a common practice. Despite the considerable amount of research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication through social media, there seems to be a lack of understanding of the influence of congruence between CSR and social media influencers (SMIs) on consumer outcomes. Drawing from the impression management theory, this research aims to investigate the effect of CSR-influencer fit on purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions through the mediating role of CSR authenticity. To do so, we conducted an experiment with two conditions and analysed data using the PROCESS routine. Our results show that a higher fit between CSR and influencer leads to more favourable outcomes in terms of purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions through increasing perceptions of CSR authenticity. This study contributes to the literature on CSR communication by unravelling the mechanism behind the influence of CSR-influencer fit on consumer outcomes and provides clear guidelines on the usage of influencer marketing in CSR communication.
... Becker-Olsen et al., 2006). Prior research shows that the underlying mechanism to trigger CSR's positive effects is about consumers' sense-making about a firm's CSR activities (Sohn et al., 2012). Customers' sense-making here refers to a high fit between the company and the CSR activities it supports (Sohn et al., 2012). ...
... Prior research shows that the underlying mechanism to trigger CSR's positive effects is about consumers' sense-making about a firm's CSR activities (Sohn et al., 2012). Customers' sense-making here refers to a high fit between the company and the CSR activities it supports (Sohn et al., 2012). A sustainable development paradigm suggests a company's business actions should follow hypernorms (Choi and Ng, 2011;Chow and Chen, 2012), which are viewed as the triple bottom line: economic growth, environmental protection and social cohesion improvement. ...
Purpose-The call for consumption reduction behavior has been getting more attention from scholars and practitioners. However, the consumption reduction often receives backfire from consumers because it does not follow the business philosophy of demand creation. Thus, this research dissolves this issue by using a holistic corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach regarding sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach-A conceptual model was developed to represent the proposed relationships among the related variables. The current study employed an online survey to collect data from 341 international program students of three prominent universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Findings-The findings indicate that the perception of the holistic CSR negatively impacts perceived corporate hypocrisy, triggering in turn brand credibility, resulting in brand advocacy and mindful consumption behavior. Originality/value-This research forms a holistic CSR including economic, environmental and societal dimensions and proposes that the holistic CSR triggers brand advocacy and mindful consumption behavior representing consumption reduction behavior via the mediating roles of perceived corporate hypocrisy and brand credibility. These findings contribute to theoretical and managerial implications in CSR practices with the aim of consumption reduction.
... Becker-Olsen & Simmons, 2002;Mazodier & Quester, 2014;Olson & Thjømøe, 2011;Thjømøe, Olson, & Brønn, 2002;Zdravkovic, Magnusson, & Stanley, 2010). Several studies testified that effective activation contributed to positive consumer perceived congruence, involvement and image, as well as brand and sponsorship attitudes (Hassim, Hasmadi, & Sharipudin, 2020;Kuo & Rice, 2015;Mazodier & Quester, 2014;Yong Seok, Jin, & Sung-Hack, 2012;Zdravkovic et al., 2010). ...
... Sponsors are interested in engaging with their audiences through media exposure sponsorship (Woisetschläger et al., 2017). It has been proven that incorporating media into events results in positive favourable responses from a consumer perspective such as sponsorship congruence (Kuo & Rice, 2015;Yong Seok et al., 2012), and purchase intention (Jeong & Lee, 2013;Lii, Wu, & Ding, 2013). Furthermore, sponsors will boost consumer understanding and awareness of sponsorship programmes since consumers receive information through the media (Cornwell, 2008). ...
COVID-19 has impacted not only human lives, but also business organisations. The repercussions of the pandemic on global businesses include sustaining the value of a firm that could benefit stakeholders, such as the challenge for sponsored properties to attain sponsorship through a period of financial struggles and the capacity of a sponsor to provide it. It is imperative for business-to-business (B2B) communities to evaluate criteria and risks of sponsorship to instil public trust and consequently result in value creation for firms. At the same time, the role of the media is pivotal to create visibility of this partnership and achieve set sponsorship aims. With that said, the objective of this study is to explore the role of sponsorship decision making by Malaysian organisations during the pandemic and how the media have strengthened relationship marketing between businesses and their stakeholders; by examining the determinant factors of using media as an activation in sponsorship and the criteria of using media in sponsorship. The qualitative study conducted interviews with 13 corporate communication and marketing managers in Malaysia that are involved directly with sponsorship activation. The findings highlight the sponsorship ecosystem through the Malaysian media and B2B perspectives that would guide practitioners in making strategic decisions on B2B sponsorship matters, particularly on the relational approaches and media engagement should be seen as part of good business conduct. Future recommendation of this research is to seek the perceptions of consumers on the congruence of relationship marketing through sponsor-sponsored properties collaboration in Malaysian media.
... Sus postulados sugieren que la comunicación de la RSE debe ser más congruente con los mensajes y la relación con sus stakeholders para generar algún resultado positivo, de lo contrario se elevará la suspicacia de los públicos, disminuyendo la efectividad de la comunicación. En contraposición Sohn et al. (2012) sugieren que para que la eficiencia de la comunicación de la RSE aumente se deben realizar campañas publicitarias con un importante contenido explicativo, de tal forma que se den a conocer todos los aspectos que puedan vincular la marca con los grupos de interés. ...
... Tanto Sohn et al. (2012), como otros investigadores, hacen recomendaciones a las empresas sobre la forma en que deben realizar la comunicación de la RSE. Así lo sugieren Amaladoss y Manohar (2013), pues para ellos las estrategias a implementar deben corresponder a un modelo previamente establecido. ...
This article focuses on determining how communication of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) affects the perception of Brand Image (BI), on the subject of analysis throughout the value chain. The methodological tools have applied surveys and content analysis. The overall results determine that CSR helps to improve the perception of BI. As part of the conclusions, the stakeholders assume CSR as an intrinsic action to the responsibilities as the company, through a communication valued as credible and reliableRESUMENEste artículo centra su interés en determinar la forma en que la comunicación de la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial (RSE) incide en la percepción de la Imagen de Marca (IM) de las empresas de comunicación, tomando como objeto de análisis toda la cadena de valor. En este sentido no se asume la comunicación de la RSE como una estrategia de “lavado de cara”, sino como parte del compromiso adquirido con todos los stakeholders. El trabajo empírico tiene como objeto de estudio La Marató de TV3 y como esta actividad de solidaridad y comunicación que realiza TV3 (canal de televisión autonómico español) influye en la IM de la cadena. Las herramientas metodológicas aplicadas han sido la encuesta y el análisis documental y de contenido. Se han aplicado 463 encuestas realizadas a los 7 grupos de interés que forman parte de su cadena de valor. Bajo estas condiciones, el artículo pretende contribuir a la ampliación de los estados de la cuestión de la comunicación de RSE, y la IM en empresas de comunicación; pero sobre todo indagar por la incidencia de la comunicación de la RSE en la IM de las empresas de comunicación.
... Hence, they may interpret the company's CSR advertisements as signals and may evaluate them (i) affectively (liking of the advertising stimuli) and (ii) cognitively (perceived message credibility). In addition, (iii) the perceived fit between the advertised CSR initiatives and the company (cause-company fit) has also been demonstrated to play an important role in CSR evaluation (Seok Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012;Zasuwa 2017). ...
... One important result of this study is that perceived cause-company fit of the CSR communication is a major determinant for employees for a positive evaluation of the organizational CSR engagement. This result corroborates findings from Kim, Cheong, and Lim (2015) as well as from Seok Sohn, Han, and Lee (2012). Extending the current literature, our study furthermore shows that perceived cause-company fit is more important than liking of the CSR communication and the message credibility. ...
Drawing on signaling and social identity theories, we analyze how liking of the company’s CSR advertisements, message credibility, and cause-company fit influence employees’ evaluation of their organization’s CSR engagement and how this relates to employees’ job satisfaction, organizational pride, and word-of-mouth about CSR. CSR is analyzed in four different domains: customer-oriented, employee-oriented, environment-oriented, and philanthropy-oriented CSR. Results of a study with the employees (n = 432) of a large European energy provider reveal that the cause-company fit of CSR engagement has the highest impact on evaluation of the CSR engagement in all CSR domains. Message credibility is important for the evaluation of CSR in the customer-oriented, environment-oriented, and philanthropy-oriented domains, while, noticeably, ad liking only shows an impact in the employee-oriented domain. CSR evaluation influences job satisfaction, organizational pride, and word-of-mouth in all four CSR domains, with some domain-related differences. Implications for CSR advertising, directions for future research and limitations are discussed.
... Son yıllarda kurumsal sürdürülebilirlik, artan çevresel ve ekonomik zorluklarla birlikte giderek daha fazla ilgi odağı haline gelmiştir. Şirketlerin Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk (KSS) uygulamalarındaki artış, yalnızca bu kavramın iş dünyasında benimsenmesini hızlandırmakla kalmamış, aynı zamanda akademik çalışmalarda da derinlemesine incelenmesine yol açmıştır (Sohn, Han & Lee, 2012). Özellikle küresel düzeyde artan çevre kirliliği, gelir eşitsizliği ve iklim değişikliği gibi sorunlar, dünyayı sürdürülebilir kalkınma üzerinde düşünmeye zorlamıştır. ...
... Message factors pertain to the content and styles in which CSR is communicated. Research has identified framing types (Kim, Cheong, and Lim 2015;Lim and Lee 2023;Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012;Yucel-Aybat and Hsieh 2021), levels of transparency (Kim and Lee 2018), perceptual congruence (Kuo and Rice 2015) and emotional visuals (Lee and Chung 2018) as key message-related moderators. ...
... To date, research inspired by the SSM has tended to focus on the importance of fit. The fit between a corporate source and their sponsored cause also can influence perceptions of the CSR advertising initiative, as underscored in SSM theory (Maktoufi, O'Connor, and Shumate 2020;Shumate and O'Connor 2010) and existing advertising research (de Jong and van der Meer 2017; Nan and Heo 2007;Seok Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012). Early research in this area demonstrated that individuals tend to perceive initiatives as more effective when the corporation's mission naturally relates to its reason for sponsoring the cause Simmons and Becker-Olsen 2006). ...
Effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) advertising depends on the nature of the partnership and how it is communicated in messages about CSR initiatives. Guided by the Symbolic Sustainability Model (SSM), this study investigates the effects of communication about CSR initiatives comparing differing CSR approaches through a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial experiment. After viewing a hypothetical CSR-based advertisement, participants (N = 433) rated their perceptions of initiative effectiveness and attitudes toward the initiative. Compared to a donation-based initiative, a CSR partnership had an indirect, positive effect on audience evaluations, which was mediated by perceptions of the likelihood of the corporation’s sustained commitment to the partnership. The advertising that emphasized a partnership outperformed a donation-focused CSR initiative because participants perceived that the sponsoring corporation was invested in helping the cause for an extended period. The findings indicate that audiences are likely to perceive partnerships and donations positively; however, partnership initiatives may have stronger positive, indirect effects because they may be more likely to signal sustained commitment. The findings support the Symbiotic Sustainability Model (SSM) and demonstrate the efficacy of the SSM for CSR advertising. For practitioners, the findings point to strategies that may be helpful amidst the proliferation of CSR advertising.
... The COR theory holds that personsupervisor fit as a resource will play a significant role in finding meaningfulness at work (Chen and Zhang, 2020). Previous research has indicated the importance of the moderating role of fit for CSR effects (Sohn et al., 2012;Im et al., 2017). However, as the role of the fit between person and supervisor has yet to be examined, this research empirically investigates the moderating effect of person-supervisor fit for the relationship between perceived CSR and meaningful work. ...
Purpose
Despite past studies revealed the positive effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumer advocacy behavior, little research has paid attention to employee advocacy behavior. This research aims to examine the relationship between CSR and employee advocacy behavior, the mediating role of meaningful work as well as the moderating effect of person–supervisor fit on CSR perception – meaningful work relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used 263 employee samples to examine the relationship between CSR and employee advocacy behavior and its influence mechanism. Hierarchical regression analyses and bootstrap approach were applied to analyze the data.
Findings
The results show that CSR perception is positively related to employee advocacy behavior, meaningful work mediates the link between CSR perception and employee advocacy behavior, and the strength of the relationship between CSR perception and meaningful work depends on person–supervisor fit.
Research limitations
This study only investigated the effect of perceived CSR on employee advocacy behavior, future studies should explore the alternative mediation mechanism through which external/internal CSR perception or different CSR dimensions influence employee advocacy behavior.
Practical implications
This study has practical implications for organizational managers. First, firms should undertake CSR practices and make employee interpret them in a right way. Second, meaningful work is of significance for employees and training and development, challenging jobs and job rotation are conducive to create a sense of meaning in employees’ work.
Originality/value
This study discussed how and when CSR influences employee advocacy in the Chinese context.
... The possibility of developing physical education and sport for children, adolescents and adults is the foundation for positive socio-economic changes in rural areas, a way of including the inhabitants of local communities in the civil society and support for physical and health development. Such approach causes that customers are able to see the fit between the sponsoring entity and its CSR what is required to get positive feedback and goodwill from the CSR policy (Sohn et al, 2012). The research conducted so far in the field of banks' activities for the support and development of sport concerned mainly commercial banks, including sponsorship carried out by large capital groups. ...
Banks today often use sports sponsoring to promote the brand, support the sales process or acquire new customers. Cooperative banks, which are entities with local or regional scope of activity, are of great importance in supporting sport. Due to the fundamental goal of their activity, which is to support local or regional development, such banks are willing to sponsor or patronize local sports clubs, events or sports popular in the region. The aim of the work is to characterize sponsorship as a form of sports marketing of cooperative banks, and in particular to define its features, scope, conditions and goals. The work shows the implementation of sponsorship of cooperative banks in Poland on the example of a cooperative bank in Toruń operating under the name of Nicolaus Bank. For the preparation of the manuscript, the literature on sports, finance, CSR and banking was used. The empirical part is based on data obtained directly and indirectly from the Nicolaus Bank in Toruń. The research carried out for the purpose of this paper shows the importance of sports marketing in the bank's operations, treating it as one of the most important forms of bank promotion and brand building. Sports marketing for a cooperative bank is a multidimensional platform supporting an achievement of business goals. It is bipolar in nature and as a rule brings positive experiences.
... Prior studies have pointed to directions for CSR-fit research (Becker-Olsen et al., 2006;Seok Sohn et al., 2012). For instance, Cha et al. (2016) revealed a significant role of perceived fit between CSR activities of a brand and the image of a brand itself. ...
Prior research in the brand management realm has broadly captured passion for a brand through brand‐related factors. However, to the authors’ knowledge, how the fit between a brand and its corporate social responsibility efforts (strategic CSR‐brand fit) drive brand passion has been surprisingly ignored. Drawing on congruence theory, basic psychological needs theory, and social identity theory, we argue that strategic CSR‐brand fit can significantly influence customers’ sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn leads to brand passion. Furthermore, we hypothesize customer–company identification (CCI) as a key boundary condition for the indirect positive effect of strategic CSR‐brand fit on brand passion through customers’ satisfaction of psychological needs. Structural equation modeling results from a survey conducted with telecom customers (N = 1,059) supported a positive indirect effect of strategic CSR‐brand fit on brand passion through the satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs. Moreover, the indirect effect was statistically significant through competence and relatedness needs satisfaction for customers with high CCI but it was not significant through competence satisfaction for customers with low CCI. CCI trivially facilitates brand passion formation through autonomy needs satisfaction. Implications of these findings for shaping brand passion among customers are discussed.
... In recent years, as stakeholders increasingly expect socially responsible practices from organizations and the media closely scrutinizes organizational conduct and communication, it has become clear that effectively performing as well as communicating CSR are vital to organizational legitimacy and success (Kim 2019;Sohn et al. 2012). This industrial trend has further fueled the flourishing of CSR research in the communication discipline, as reflected by the burgeoning number of relevant scholarly publications in the discipline's sub-fields, such as advertising, public relations, organization communication, environmental communication, media ethics, and so on. ...
Communication, as a discipline that generates a rich body of literature on CSR, has become a critical contributor to CSR knowledge in social science. However, limited research exists to understand how CSR knowledge is constructed and diffused in the discipline. This study thus intends to unpack the knowledge construction process of CSR research in the communication discipline from a network perspective. Invisible college was adopted as the conceptual framework. Article and theory/concept networks were constructed with 290 peer-reviewed articles from 61 communication journals between 1980 and 2018. Results showed that in the past four decades, CSR literature in communication has been growing and maturing, as evidenced by the increasing volume and diversity of theories and concepts applied. Furthermore, this body of literature tends to gravitate toward certain selected groups of theories and concepts, resulting in denser article networks over time. Our findings reflected a substantial influence of management (e.g., stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory) and psychological perspectives (e.g., attribution theory) on CSR research in communication. Additionally, the results showed that public relations concepts and theories (e.g., relationship management theory) have influenced CSR research across different communication subfields such as advertising and organization communication. The study expects the continuation of the plurality of voices as to how communication researchers will approach CSR and what specific topics may gain popularity in future research.
... Since early 1980, CSR has been advocated as a potential paradigmatic area for strategic communication studies (Ferguson, 1984(Ferguson, , 2018. The booming of CSR practices worldwide has further stimulated the growth of the CSR literature (Sohn, Han, & Lee, 2012). In particular, with the heightened expectations of stakeholders, demonstrating the CSR efforts of organizations has become an integral part of corporate communication that drives the flourishing of CSR research in communication. ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) exhibits irrefutable practical and theoretical importance to the field of communication. However, limited efforts have been made by communication scholars to review the progression of knowledge construction and project prospects for theory development in this area. Informed by the social construction of knowledge and invisible college frameworks, this study conducts co-authorship and co-citation network analyses on CSR literature in communication. The sample included 290 peer-reviewed articles published between 1980 and 2018 across 61 communication journals. The 9,288 foundation publications and 4,596 unique publication sources referenced by these articles were also analyzed. Results of this study reveal limited collaborations among researchers with expertise in and outside the communication discipline or across different communication sub-disciplines. The results also show a substantial influence from management and marketing perspectives on the invisible college of CSR research in communication. Moreover, the results of three longitudinal network models display the patterns of structural evolution of the scholarly collaboration and foundation literature networks, showing a maturing process of CSR knowledge construction in communication. Taken together, this study stimulates future CSR research in that it helps locate the knowledge base that may inspire new research fronts and the areas of vacancies that serve as promising venues for the discovery of CSR knowledge.
... Moreover, as the customer spend more time scrutinizing the message, information processing takes place through the central processing route, making the message more persuasive. While several strategies have been applied in advertising that help messages be elaborated (Seok Sohn et al., 2012;Rimer and Kreuter, 2006), a new strategypersonalization on social media suggested by this studyis worth considering. Second, advertising literature shares a mixed view of the role of personalization in different contexts. ...
Purpose
This paper aims to test a theory-driven model reflecting the effects of perceived personalization on consumer–brand relationships on social media.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual model is empirically tested through two studies using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Other techniques, such as common method bias, multigroup comparison, mediation analysis and model fit comparison, are also used to give more insights into the analytical process.
Findings
Data from two studies show that perceived personalization is positively related to brand-related outcomes including brand self-expressiveness, consumer–brand engagement and brand connection. While consumer–brand engagement and brand connection are positively related to brand love, brand self-expressiveness is not.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to the advertising and brand management literature by shedding light on a better understanding of the impact of personalization in the digital world.
Practical implications
Management could learn important lessons from personalization. If a strategy of promoting personalized ads is implemented successfully, those ads could change customer perceptions of brands which ultimately strengthens brand love.
Originality/value
This research provides an empirical model that helps marketers better understand the factors affecting brand love with personalized ads on social media.
... To this end, research by Sohn et al. (2012) explored communication strategies (elaborationalvs relational) that help elevate the perceived fit between the sponsoring firm and its CSR activity at high vs. low levels. Specifically, they found elaborational communication strategy (which focuses on the merits of CSR activity per se and not on the association with the firm) to be more effective for the low-fit case, whereas relational communication strategy which highlights the association between the company and CSR was more effective for the high-fit case (Sohn et al., 2012). ...
A flower must be pollinated properly to produce seeds as final outcome of next germination to create new flowers and so on. Accordingly Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions and practices of an enterprise should be communicated with its stakeholders. CSR and CSR communication should go hand-by-hand. The recent business trend shows that businesses are becoming increasingly aware of CSR and CSR communication systems. Existing studies, firm’s case study and real world phenomenon also reveal that business houses and society are benefiting from CSR actions and communicating those with their stakeholders. This research explores CSR and CSR communicating strategies and finds that stakeholders have in-depth concerns about CSR. It’s interesting that popular CSR practices like charity and philanthropic actions have been replaced by environmental (carbon footprint, air and water pollution), legal (complying regulatory imperatives) and ethical (promoting corporate ethics, norms and values) etc. Moreover, the study also shows that communicating CSR actions through CSR reporting, company annual reports or firm’s sustainability reports and advertising have become less fashionable means of exchanging CSR efforts while academic books (companies are cited as examples or extracted as referred case studies), newspaper, internet and third party (social, political, local government authorities) association have become more trusted ways of communicating CSR motives, practices and actions.
... Enhancing stakeholder relations through CSR may provide benefits to society, as well as yielding tangible returns (i.e. increased sales and higher financial performance) to the company (Olowokudejo et al., 2011, Sohn et al., 2012, Michelon et al., 2013Lins et al., 2017, Velte, 2017. Shareholders also increasingly value corporate social performance. ...
This study provides empirical evidence on the association between board attributes and corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement-as well as between CSR engagement and corporate performance-in the global energy sector. The data for the period of 2011-2018 was obtained from Thomson Reuters. The results indicate that board diligence and CSR committees are robust drivers of CSR performance, as proxied by the composite environmental, social, and governance (ESG) score along with its three individual indicators. While board independence is more influential in boosting the aggregate ESG score and the governance indicator, the board's gender diversity is more influential in environmental and governance indicators. However, higher CSR performance does not guarantee higher financial performance-as proxied by both market and accounting performance. We provide theoretical and practical implications, to guide regulators and energy firms in ensuring the sustainable development of the sector.
... Among numerous attributes, people tend to remember the attributes that are congruent with their expectation and prior memory [42]. Thus, previous studies also emphasized that a good fit between the corporate personality and its socially responsible activities enhances customer perception and attitudes [43][44][45]. ...
Although green practice is increasingly adopted in the restaurant industry, there is still little research in terms of investigating the impacts of green practice on customer satisfaction. This study utilized user-generated content by green restaurant customers to identify various aspects of green restaurants, including perceived green restaurant practices. Our data are based on U.S. green-certified restaurants available on Yelp. Structural topic modeling was used to discover latent restaurant attributes from user-generated content. With a longitudinal approach, the changes in customers’ interest in green practices were estimated. Finally, the common restaurant attributes and green attributes were used to predict customer satisfaction. This study will contribute to marketing strategies for the restaurant industry.
... Hyundai raises funds for pediatric cancer research) may cause disfluency of information and create confusion among consumers, thereby hindering the integration of new knowledge into their existing schemas (Mazodier and Merunka, 2012;Sohn et al., 2012). This in turn evokes consumers' skepticism about the firm's motives and results in negative reactions (Sheikh and Beise-Zee, 2011). ...
Prior studies on high-fit corporate social responsibility programs have yield equivocal findings; some studies have shown a positive impact on desirable customer outcomes and others have shown a negative impact. To reconcile these two divergent views, this study proposes that the relationship between perceived corporate social responsibility-brand fit and sustainable customer engagement behavior is serially mediated by self-cause and/or brand integration. Furthermore, such serial mediation mechanism is moderated by environmental concern and green trust. The results of an empirical study carried out in the airline industry confirm that the link between perceived corporate social responsibility-brand fit and sustainable customer engagement behavior is serially mediated by self-cause and/or brand integration and moderated by environmental concern and green trust. Sustainable customer engagement behavior, in turn, drives customers’ extra-role, citizenship behavior that goes beyond their in-role, loyalty behavior. This study contributes to the micro-corporate social responsibility stream of cleaner production by demonstrating that the relationship between perceived corporate social responsibility-brand fit and sustainable customer engagement behavior is not straightforward and by providing a theoretical framework to better explain the psychological mechanisms and boundary conditions affecting this relationship.
... and Crowther, 2010; Arendt and Brettel, 2010; Bear et al., 2010;Doh et al., 2010;Gallego-Álvarez et al., 2010;Lai et al., 2010;Prado-Lorenzo and Garcia-Sanchez, 2010;Stuebs and Sun, 2010; Walker et al., 2012;Dowling and Moran, 2012;Galbreath and Shum, 2012;Heyder and Theuvsen, 2012;Hsu and Cheng, 2012;Hsu, 2012;Melo and Garrido-Morgado, 2012;Peloza et al., 2012;Sohn et al., 2012;Tang et al., 2012; Vanhamme et al.et al., 2013;Díaz et al., 2013;Dumitraşcu et al., 2013;Eberle et al., 2013;Lee et al., 2013;Lemke and Petersen, 2013;Nyborg and Zhang, 2013; Pérez et al.et al., 2014;Hur et al., 2014; Jackson et al., 2014;Kim, 2014;Mariotti et al., 2014;Oikonomou et al., 2014;Park et al., 2014;Roehrich et al., 2014;Skard and Thorbjørnsen, ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to summarize previous research findings of the relationship between reputation and sustainability at the firm level.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a systematic literature review of 306 retrieved articles that matched the search criteria. After applying filters and narrowing the sample to a total of 156 articles of a 19-year period (2000–2019) that were finally content analyzed for this study in order to identify sources, authors, theories, methodologies, and opportunities for future research.
Findings
Findings demonstrate that in most of the cases, sustainability appears to be an antecedent of corporate reputation and a tool to enhance stakeholders' acceptance and perceptions on companies' activities.
Practical implications
The study shows the potential of sustainability reporting as a tool to enhance corporate reputation; moreover, it also discussed the likely effect of sustainability over brand equity. This research confirms the importance of having strategic management of both corporate sustainability and reputation management. Including both reputational management and sustainability in the corporate strategy can be a potential source to create value, protect against difficulties and liabilities, and maximize business survival.
Social implications
For business, establishing clear positions in relation to environmental and social issues, building collaborative global networks and authentic local relations, giving signals that reaffirm business purposes with all stakeholders, and adhering to the sustainable development agenda enhance positive corporate reputation.
Originality/value
In addition to answering the stated research question and in fact filling a gap in the literature, this study led us to identify 25 research questions classified in seven different areas (measurement and scales; causes and effects; longitudinal studies; geographical contexts; theory building; digital as a novel environment; and new actors and institutions).
... Third, there might be boundary conditions that reduce or increase negative e-WOM. In this regard, future research could investigate for instance the role of fit between the company business and the social cause promoted (e.g., Seok Sohn et al. 2012;Kim et al. 2015) as well as the effect of celebrity endorsement (Jackson 2018). Finally, a fictitious company name was used in the experiment to keep participants' existing company knowledge from affecting the results. ...
This research explores how corporate political activity (CPA) affects consumers’ online behavior. Recently, brands’ engagement in the political realm has expanded as results of new trends such as globalization and technology advancement. However, it is still not clear how this more activist approach is perceived by consumers. Drawing from attribution theory and corporate hypocrisy, this study explains how consumers’ e-WOM spread once brands develop CPAs in terms of action and communication. A mixed-method design combining a content analysis (Study 1) with an online experiment (Study 2) is presented to obtain a multifaceted representation of the phenomenon. Study 1 provides information on consumers’ reactions toward CPAs shared online, while Study 2 delves deeper to test the effect of CPA on consumers’ negative e-WOM, by comparing a political communication initiative with a political action and proposing perceived genuine concern and hypocrisy as the underlying mechanisms of this effect. This research offers insightful theoretical and practical implications, providing brand managers actionable levers on how to reduce negative e-WOM.
... Some studies showed that a congruent sponsorship receives more positive evaluation than an incongruent sponsorship in terms of attitudes toward the brand (Becker-Olsen and Simmons 2002) and the product (Kim and Kim 2020). Such literature argues that congruence between the sponsor (brand) and the event, activity or product, positively influences persuasion (Cornwell, Weeks, and Roy 2005) and suggests that communication strategies are needed to create or enhance congruence (Weeks, Cornwell, and Drennan 2008;Seok Sohn, Han, and Lee 2012). Commonly, the practice of product endorsement results in a creation of associations between the brand and the endorser (i.e. ...
Many brands are now working on Instagram to promote, showcase their products and services, and benefit from the potentialities of Influencer Marketing. A detailed investigation of the effects of Instagram influencer advertising on the influencer-related outcomes is thus becoming urgent. The present study addresses a conceptual model in which the fit influencer–product congruence and the role of a more prominent disclosure are explored with respect to ad recognition, sponsorship transparency and influencer-related outcomes. Findings from a 2 (disclosure prominence: high vs. low) × 2 (influencer-product congruence: high vs. low) between participants experimental design first show a positive effect of influencer product fit on attitude, credibility and continuance intention to follow the influencer. Moreover, a prominent disclosure enhances users’ perceived sponsorship transparency when the higher congruence makes it harder to discern a genuine endorsement from a sponsored one. Finally, we disentangle the mediating effects of ad recognition and sponsorship transparency between influencer–product congruence and the influencer-related outcomes.
... Völckner and Sattler, 2006) and brand fit is considered as a brand characteristic that can be evaluated at the preconsumption stage. Therefore, as opposed to the alliance experience, which represents the experiential outcome of the brand consumption, perceived brand fit is an instrumental characteristic of brand alliance that facilitates consumers to develop quality expectations and to make consumption decisions (Seok Sohn et al., 2012). In the brand alliance context, a high level of congruence between alliances and their parent brands can accelerate the image transfer process between brands because such congruence amplifies the spillover effects (Park et al., 1996). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying mechanism of the spillover effect from a service brand alliance to its parent brand at the post-consumption stage.
Design/methodology/approach
Online surveys were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data from participants of an actual event. Conceptual models were developed and tested on two cross-sectional samples using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results demonstrate perceived brand contribution and consumer involvement mediate the relationship between the service brand alliance experience and the evaluation of its parent brand at the post-consumption stage. While perceived brand fit had an indirect effect on the parent brand, the spillover was mostly driven by service alliance experience and perceived brand contribution.
Practical implications
Findings indicate brand managers should focus on consumers’ brand experience of the service brand alliance to drive spillover evaluations to the parent brand, and organizations could extend brand alliances to services with low category fit to the parent brand if consumers are to have a good experience with the service brand alliance.
Originality/value
This research extends findings on brand alliance research that was based on hypothetical brands and indicated that the spillover effect from a brand alliance to the parent brand is influenced by perceived brand fit. The findings highlight the importance of consumer experiences in driving the spillover effect at the post-consumption stage, where consumers evaluate brand relationships from a value-added perspective that goes beyond the service category fit.
This chapter investigates the interplay between consumer activism, corporate social responsibility communication (CSR), and corporate reputation. Using IKEA as a case study, the present study investigates the relationship between CSR communication, CSR-fit, CSR credibility, individual beliefs and corporate reputation using a quantitative design to quantitatively assess the role of CSR-fit and CSR credibility in mediating the role of CSR communication on corporate reputation and the influence of individual beliefs as a moderator of corporate reputation. Results confirm that a strong alignment between a company's CSR initiatives and its core activities positively enhances the credibility of its CSR engagement, consequently contributing to a favorable corporate reputation. By synthesizing academic theories and real-world insights, this research contributes to the understanding of the relationship between individual beliefs, CSR, and corporate reputation, offering valuable implications for companies navigating the complex realm of consumer activism and reputation management.
Günümüzde, geleneksel pazarlama iletişimi faaliyetleri ile değişken müşteri talep ve beklentilerine cevap verememeye başlamıştır. Bu nedenle, özellikle iktisadi kuruluşlar; rekabetçi üstünlük elde etmek ve pazarlama amaçlarına etkin bir biçimde ulaşabilmek için tutundurma faaliyetlerine önem vermeye başlamıştır. Tutundurma çalışmaları içerisinde, halkla ilişkiler alanı ile bağlantılı olarak giderek önemi artan araçlardan biri olan sponsorluk faaliyetleridir. Tüm dünyada oldukça popüler olan spor etkinlikleri de, sponsorluk faaliyetleri içerisinde sahip olduğu yüksek pay ile diğer sponsorluk türlerinden ayrılmaktadır. Spor sponsorluğunun dünyada ve ülkemizde giderek popülerleşen bir alan olmasından hareketle bu çalışmada, Türkiye bankacılık sektöründe spor sponsorluğu faaliyetleri incelenmiştir. Bu bağlamda araştırma kapsamında, Garanti BBVA Bankası, QNB Finansbank ve ING Bank’ın Türkiye’de gerçekleştirdiği spor sponsorluğu faaliyetleri, 2000-2023 yılları arasında karşılaştırmalı örnek olay analizi metodu ile irdelenmiştir. Analiz sonucunda, Garanti BBVA ve ING Bank’ın basketbol branşında uzun dönemli olarak sponsorluk faaliyetleri gerçekleştirdikleri; ancak sponsorluk türlerinin farklılaştığı, QNB Finansbank’ın ise tenis branşında uzun dönemli etkinlik sponsorluğu çalışmaları bulunduğu ve sponsorluk faaliyetlerine yönelik tutundurma çalışmalarının farklılık gösterdiği saptanmıştır.
The current study examined companies’ use of social media platforms for CSR communication during the pandemic lockdown. We examined 1768 companies’ posts on Weibo and tested how the content and the features of the posts influenced retweets and likes. We used “fit” to describe a circumstance where an outside factor made a certain business more capable to alleviate the situation. We defined it as high in the perceived firm-situation fit. Results showed that for high-fit companies, the inclusion of pandemic content and CSR had a significant positive effect on retweets, while for low-fit companies, pandemic content hurt the number of retweets; the CSR factor did not influence retweets. The inclusion of CSR information had a significant positive effect on likes for both high-fit and low-fit companies. The results indicated that consumers have more moral expectations of high-fit companies to provide help during the pandemic lockdown. Moreover, increased interactivity has a significant positive effect on retweets and likes. Drawing from these results, practical suggestions on how to use social media platforms for future CSR communication to promote social good were also discussed.
Purpose
The call for consumption reduction behavior has been getting more attention from scholars and practitioners. However, the consumption reduction often receives backfire from consumers because it does not follow the business philosophy of demand creation. Thus, this research dissolves this issue by using a holistic corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach regarding sustainable development.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model was developed to represent the proposed relationships among the related variables. The current study employed an online survey to collect data from 341 international program students of three prominent universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Findings
The findings indicate that the perception of the holistic CSR negatively impacts perceived corporate hypocrisy, triggering in turn brand credibility, resulting in brand advocacy and mindful consumption behavior.
Originality/value
This research forms a holistic CSR including economic, environmental and societal dimensions and proposes that the holistic CSR triggers brand advocacy and mindful consumption behavior representing consumption reduction behavior via the mediating roles of perceived corporate hypocrisy and brand credibility. These findings contribute to theoretical and managerial implications in CSR practices with the aim of consumption reduction.
In recent years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has attracted a lot of attention from academics and businesspeople as an essential part of any company's ability to thrive. Many research papers had published focusing on CSR. However, very few studies examine CSR's multidimensions (economic, philanthropic, environmental, and ethical) on behavioral intentions with the mediating impact of brand recognition. To explore customer's hotel experiences, the proposed hypotheses were tested with a Structural equation model. Results show that all forms of CSR (ethical, economic, environmental, philanthropic) positively relate to the hotel's brand recognition and behavioral intentions (revisit intention, making recommendations, willingness to pay more). The link between CSR and behavioral intention is found to be significantly mediated by brand recognition. Because of this, the current study has developed a theoretical framework to explain the interplay among CSR factors, brand recognition, and consumer behavioral intention. By checking CSR activities' impact as a focal factor in enhancing hospitality industry facilities, this study offers empirical implications for hotels.
While the idea and terminology of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stem from the 1950s and companies have been practicing CSR and advertising their engagement for some time, the advertising literature has had a late start to this topic. More recently, CSR has become prominent in both advertising practice and research. With a specific focus on the role of the International Journal of Advertising (IJA), this paper aims to provide a historical perspective of how CSR advertising has been covered in the past and which topics are the ones being most intensively discussed at present. Our review uses bibliometric co-citation analysis with CiteSpace to identify the most relevant topics in CSR advertising research and IJA’s contribution to these topics. Within the CSR advertising topics identified, we highlight under-researched themes, as well as upcoming trends to suggest future avenues for the further development of CSR advertising research.
Purpose
A model on the cognitive elements of engagement is adopted and content analysis, along with sentiment analysis, has been used to explore the post characteristics and the levels of stakeholders' interactions in controversial and non-controversial European industries through three Poisson regressions. At last, an ANOVA test has been used to check the level of interaction regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related aspects.
Design/methodology/approach
The intrinsic characteristics of controversial industries cause the stakeholders’ skepticism about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. This results in the need to elaborate proper involvement strategies to approach industries' stakeholders. Such need has assumed relevance during the COVID-19 crisis and has traced a certain border between the companies that are more sensitive to the social side of the surrounding environment and the ones that are less involved in risky sectors. The present paper aims to understand the role of social media in stakeholder engagement, and social media's characteristics, and tries to elaborate on companies' CSR communication readiness to the challenges shown by the pandemic.
Findings
The study reveals how the success of stakeholder engagement in CSR communication is affected by both controversial sector membership and the characteristics of the posts such as the inclusion of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). In addition, the study emerges how the European companies have focused on social aspects in companies' communication, revealing a certain readiness for the COVID-19 challenges.
Practical implications
Building on a model of cognitive elements of engagement, the present study provides useful insights for companies' next engagement strategies on social media. Moreover, the thematic analysis provides a benchmark for the improvement of current corporations' communication strategies in light of the pandemic effects.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the role of Twitter as a stakeholder engagement tool and identifies the drivers for an effective Twitter content strategy. Moreover, the paper provides a useful proxy for current and future research on the COVID-19-related CSR communication.
This paper provides a bibliometric and Scientometric analysis of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) in banking sector. Our study analyzes 551 articles from the Scopus database to find out the relationship between CSR and banking. A bibliometric method was used to visualize the results using R‐studio and VOS viewer software. The Scientometric analysis was conducted to determine the findings and mappings of the research themes, directions of current and future research, impact, co‐occurrence, co‐citations and impact and collaboration trends. We explore how CSR literature has evolved over the years in the banking sector between 1993 and 2021. We find that publication in the CSR and banking domain has increased significantly during 2017 and 2021. Social aspects, board of directors, CSR, environment, competitions, Islamic banking, sustainability, disclosure, ethics, legitimacy theory, sustainable banking, loyalty, and brand equity are the popular research trends and collaboration trends identified. We also provide further scope of the study based on the extensive review of the past literature. Our findings may provide help to future researchers, bankers, and regulators in understanding the current trends and future research progression in the CSR and banking sector.
Because of the widespread CSR practice, the quality and outcome of CSR activities vary, and the tendency of consumers to become suspicious of CSR activities is increasing. This paper intends to examine how the antecedents “CSR-brand fit” and “consumer-CSR fit” impact on consumers’ skepticism and how skepticism influences service brand loyalty. A questionnaire is designed with the case “Meituan’s Green Mountain Project” and conducted to examine the relationship of different variables. Adopting survey data methodology, there are 91 Chinese Meituan users participated in the survey, and significant results were generated through simple linear regression analysis in SPSS. The result indicates that the increase in CSR-brand fit and consumer-CSR fit can reduce consumers’ skepticism, and there is no significant relationship between skepticism and brand loyalty. Thus, it is found through the results that enhancing consumers’ perception of the congruity between brand image and CSR activities, and improving the perceived fit between CSR activities and personal relevance, can contribute to minimizing consumers’ skepticism. In this case, the author proposes practical solutions with the functional theory of attitudes and the self-image congruence model. The solutions guide practitioners to pay attention to the compatibility, fit, and logic of content when planning CSR activities, with the aim of reducing the level of skepticism, leading to an effective outcome for brands.
El artículo tiene por objetivo caracterizar la bibliografía académica sobre comunicación de la responsabilidad social corporativa (Corsc), como base para mapear tendencias teóricas y desafíos prácticos de este campo académico y profesional. Esta investigación es de especial interés para las organizaciones que comunican sus prácticas de responsabilidad social con el fin de convencer a sus consumidores y comprometer a sus empleados. También para grupos de interés como organizaciones de la sociedad civil, que aspiran a una construcción más dialógica del sentido y los fines de la responsabilidad social corporativa. Ambos frentes de reflexión caben bajo un enfoque integrativo de la Corsc (modelo 4I), el cual permite organizar y comprender cómo se complementan múltiples teorías referidas a qué es, para qué sirve y cómo funciona dicho proceso comunicativo. Esta utilidad se resalta ante la escasez de revisiones sistemáticas sobre Corsc basadas en enfoques integrativos. Mediante una revisión bibliográfica sistemática desde un enfoque cuantitativo y cualitativo, se constató la necesidad de adelantar investigaciones que estudien paralelamente las cuatro dimensiones de la Corsc: la identidad, la integración, la interpretación y la imagen. Lo anterior, a partir de una perspectiva ética que reconozca el papel constructivo del disenso en el estudio y la práctica de la comunicación de la responsabilidad social corporativa.
En este libro, en particular, se hacen análisis relevantes sobre la Reputación corporativa y se presentan elementos para comprender por qué interesa y preocupa tanto a muchos, en las organizaciones y en la academia. Concierne a los responsables de la comunicación, pero también a la gerencia, a las áreas de responsabilidad social, financiera, desarrollo humano o de planeación; a personas y grupos de interés de fuera de las organizaciones, a la par que a quienes tenemos la misión de trabajar en la formación profesional en este campo de estudios.
İnternet tabanlı sosyal ağ sitelerinin hızlı gelişimi ile bireyler artık zamanlarının yaklaşık %80’ini mobil cihazlarda geçirmektedirler (Scott vd., 2017: 311). Bireylerin böylesine sosyal ağ sitelerine rağbet göstermeleri, işletmelerin kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk iletişiminin çok paydaşlı diyaloğa girmesine daha fazla izin vermektedir. Bu nedenle sosyal ağ siteleri, işletmelerin kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk
konusunda bir gündem oluşturması ve sunması için uygun bir seçenek olarak görülmektedir. Günümüzün rekabetçi pazarlarında, farklı sektörlerdeki işletmeler, kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk girişimlerinin stratejik önemi nedeniyle dijital kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk faaliyetlerine milyonlarca dolar harcamaktadırlar
(Luo ve Bhattacharya, 2006: 1). İşletmeler, dijital sosyal sorumluluk faaliyetlerine büyük yatırımlar yaparak, kurumsal sosyal sorumluluğun sadece yapılacak doğru şey olduğu için değil, aynı zamanda yapılacak akıllıca şey olduğunu iddia etmektedirler (Smith, 2003: 52). Kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk faaliyetlerine yapılan yatırım, işletmelerin ahlaki sermaye oluşturmasına yardımcı olmakta ve bir işletmenin kurum imajı ve marka değeri gibi maddi olmayan varlıklarını da desteklemektedir (Godfrey, 2005: 783). Örneğin, Fortune 500 şirketlerinin yüzde 80’inden fazlası sosyal ağ ve web sitelerinde kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk faaliyetlerinden bahsederek işletme imajının artmasına sebep olmaktadır (Bhattacharya ve Sen, 2004: 9). Bu eylemler, literatürde yer alan kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk faaliyetlerinin olumlu kurum imajının oluşumuna katkı sağladığına
ilişkin çalışmaları destekler niteliktedir (Branco ve Rodrigues, 2006; Hinson vd., 2010; Hsu, 2012; Lai vd., 2010). Bugün pek çok sektörde, maddi olmayan varlıklar bir işletmenin başarısı için kritik öneme sahiptir. Maddi olmayan bir varlık olan güven, paydaş-işletme ilişkisinde temel bir unsurdur (Pivato vd., 2008: 3). Dolayısıyla güven kavramı, kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk perspektifinden incelendiğinde, paydaşların işletmelerden sosyal sorumlu davranış beklentileri olarak anlaşılmaktadır (Vlachos vd., 2009: 172). Paydaşlar, bir işletmenin ahlaki davranışını sorumlu ve güvenilir olarak algıladıklarında, paydaşların işletmeye ilişkin kollektif değerlendirmeleri olumlu kurum imajını ortaya çıkarmaktadır (Brown ve Dacin, 1997: 80). Bu kapsamda kurumsal imaj, işletmenin sosyal sorumlulukları kapsamında yapılan faaliyetlerin toplumda bıraktığı etki ve algılardan oluşmaktadır. Bu çalışma, dijital çağda kurumsal sosyal sorumluluğun paydaş algısının kurumsal imaj üzerindeki etkisi teorik olarak kapsamlı bir anlayış sunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada ilk olarak, dijitalleşme kavramı kısaca değinilmiş, ardından kurumsal sorumluluk, kurumsal sosyal sorumluluğun güvene etkisi ve kurumsal imaj konularına ilişkin ilgili literatür kısaca gözden geçirilmiştir. Ardından, online kurumsal sosyal sorumluk ve kurumsal imaj ilişkisinde işletmelerin sorumluluklarını nasıl etkilediği mercek altına alınarak yapılandırılmıştır.
A predictive model was developed to help brands improve cause-related marketing campaigns by identifying the most impactful relationships among important campaign variables. The largest effect in the MASEM model (K = 81, N = 25,554) was found for cause-brand fit on attitudes toward the cause-brand alliance (β = .40). Two of the four proposed belief factors examined acted as mediating variables: consumers’ involvement with the cause and their skepticism. Three attitude factors mediated the impact of beliefs on CRM purchase intentions: perceptions of cause-brand fit, attitude toward the brand, and attitudes toward the CRM alliance. Skepticism also had a direct negative effect on CRM purchase intentions.
While brand extensions have been widely practiced in contemporary business marketing and management, empirical rather than hypothetical examinations of extended branding in the hospitality sector are still scant. This study responds to current research gap by comprehensively modeling and assessing the effectiveness of brand extensions of a high-end automobile brand into full scale restaurant services. Brand fit is constructed as the mediator between the extended brand and the high-end parent brand. Data were gathered from 258 patrons at one ‘Mercedes me’ restaurant in east China. Research findings from Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) showed that brand quality, brand fit, brand satisfaction and brand loyalty were positively related to each other for the restaurant brand of the high-end auto maker. The interrelationship between brand quality and brand satisfaction of the extended brand was significantly mediated by its brand fit with the parent high-end auto brand modeling. This study contributes to knowledge enrichment on the mechanism of brand extensions and their effects on the equities of both the extended brand and the parent brand in the hospitality sector.
Although the company-cause fit has been considered the key to a successful corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign, little is known about which communication strategies are effective in increasing the fit. Relying on the categorization theory, this research examines whether a relational communication strategy is effective in increasing company-cause fit when the functional similarity between a company and a cause is low. The findings of this study show that a relational ad message increases company-cause fit when the functional similarity is moderate, but not when the functional similarity is high or low. Also, based on the elaboration likelihood model, this research examines whether consumers’ cause involvement moderates the effect of company-cause fit on attitude toward the CSR activity. The results show that the effect of company-cause fit on attitude toward the CSR activity is enhanced only for low involvement consumers. These findings imply that a relational ad message might be more effective for low involvement consumers than for high involvement ones in increasing positive attitude toward the CSR activity.
Due to heightened levels of consumer skepticism, it has become crucial for many companies to discern what corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to undertake and how to deliver CSR‐related information to consumers. We aim to examine the role of consumer evaluations of a company's CSR, from both content and delivery perspectives, in shaping consumer skepticism about overall corporate responsibility and advancing retail patronage intentions. We conducted an online nationwide survey with 402 U.S. consumers and used structural equation modeling for the data analysis. The results indicate that the fit between a company's core values and the CSR activities it communicates plays a significant role in alleviating skepticism, while the fit between a consumer's personal values and CSR activity does not have significant effects on skepticism. Both inauthentic information and self‐promotional tone significantly increase skepticism, and skepticism is found to be a significant mediator in the paths from CSR content and delivery factors to retail patronage intentions. Our supplementary analyses suggest that delivery of CSR information can be more important than the content itself in affecting skepticism. The results should inspire practitioners, when planning for CSR communication, to carefully consider fit, tone, and authenticity in order to minimize skepticism and avoid negatively impacting consumers' retail patronage intentions.
Cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns are a type of joint venture between a business concern and a nonprofit organization. To determine effect sizes for these campaigns, a series of bivariate meta-analyses were conducted using a random effects assumption. Results included the effect of CRM advertising on brand attitudes, r = .248, 95% CI(0.189,0.373), and purchase intentions, r = .277, 95% CI(0.141, 0.404), and the effect of cause-brand fit on brand attitudes, r = .239, 95% CI(0.167,0.309), and purchase intentions, r = .319, 95% CI(0.206, .423). Unfortunately for nonprofit organizations, none of the seven meta-analyses conducted found any effect for the study characteristic, type of cause (generic or branded company). Thus, the contribution of a specific nonprofit organization’s brand did not have a significant impact on consumer attitudes or behavioral intentions to purchase CRM products.
This study attempts to reveal the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programming and communication strategies of companies from controversial versus noncontroversial industry sectors and stakeholders' responses to these online CSR communications. A content analysis of CSR videos from 58 companies among the Fortune 500 and user comments on YouTube found that controversial and noncontroversial industries tended to use different strategies in their online CSR communications. Videos that (a) used information strategies, (b) took a company‐dominant perspective, and (c) described high fit CSR programs received more negative and skeptical comments; CSR videos that (a) emphasized the companies' commitment to the programs, (b) demonstrated the impact of CSR programs with anecdotal evidences, and (c) balanced their stated CSR motives between social benefits and business interests received less negative and skeptical comments. Most importantly, stakeholders' responses towards these communication strategies differed by industry sectors.
On a challenging technological environment, the recent way of doing CSR activities is through advergames, by combining advertising content and entertainment content, providing interesting opportunities to marketing communications in a new media environment where traditional advertising has lost effectiveness. The focus of many works related to CSR in advergames are done in particular on topics like environment and cultural acknowledge and the focus groups have been children, with this case is aimed to bring somehow new profile and the group age is wider than that. The objective of this paper is to see the effect of CSR in advergame have on brand awareness and brand image with the main hypothesis that, CSR advergames have a positive effect on those two element of the brand. It takes into analysis the case of CSR activity done on advergame named as Sea Hero Quest conducted by Deutsch Telecom. It is an applied research and the data are collected through an interview done to representative in Albania and from their official sites. The work concludes that, in the age of technology advergames are an
effective communication tool, CSR activities despite many opposes are a must on today’s
marketing and they lower the boomerang effect companies face during promotion, and to
conclude they have a positive effect on brand recall and brand image and except this CSR
activities add some extra dimensions to the brand.
Proper identification of event sponsors is a key concern in sponsorship communication. Although practitioners have assumed that event sponsors are identified primarily through pure recollection, the authors show that sponsor identification involves a substantial degree of construction. Results from three experiments indicate that sponsor identification is biased toward brands that are prominent in the marketplace and semantically related to the event. These biases appear to emanate from constructive processes whereby during identification, respondents use the prominence and relatedness of available brands as heuristics to verify their recollection of event-sponsor associations. The effects of relatedness on sponsor identification seem stronger and more robust than those of prominence, which appears to be invoked only for large events. Both effects are robust across methods of identification assessment though less pronounced when the accuracy threshold is high.
Extrapolating from Carroll's four domains of corporate social responsibility (1979) and Pyramid of CSR (1991), an alternative approach to conceptualizing corporate social responsibility (CSR) is proposed. A three-domain approach is presented in which the three core domains of economic, legal, and ethical responsibilities are depicted in a Venn model framework. The Venn framework yields seven CSR categories resulting from the overlap of the three core domains. Corporate examples are suggested and classified according to the new model, followed by a discussion of limitations and teaching and research implications.
This research investigates gender differences in terms of the response to altruistic and egoistic charitable appeals, and demonstrates how self-referencing can influence advertising processing under different message frames. An experiment is conducted through the internet. Self-referencing is operationalised in perceived orientation of a non-profit organisation. When self-referencing is high, the phenomenon of value congruity is observed that female participants tend to be convinced by the altruistic appeal and male counterparts are more likely to be persuaded by the egoistic appeal. More importantly, the contrast effects are found when the perceived orientation of the NPO is otherreferencing. In this case, the egoistic appeal is more effective for women and the altruistic appeal is more persuasive for men. Implications of the current findings for existing theory are discussed, along with directions for future research.
The growing diversity of different nations' populations has encouraged advertisers to adopt their strategy by taking into consideration groups of consumers that were not traditionally targeted, such as cultural and sexual minorities. However, while such targeting has been favourably received among the targeted minorities, it has also engendered unfavourable reactions among majority members. This paper examines a way for advertisers to target a specific minority group within the mainstream media while maintaining resonance among the broader audience. An experiment is conducted to examine viewers' responses to multicultural advertising in France. Results demonstrate the fundamental role of viewers' congruence judgements and felt targetedness on the effectiveness of multicultural targeting attempts, and extend our understanding of consumer responses to multicultural advertising.
This study investigates the influence of media factors on brand placement effects in a real-life setting. Although many studies on brand placement have been conducted, insights into context effects on brand placement reactions are scarce. The impact of objective and subjective media context factors is studied for brands placed in four different television shows. Drawing on a survey of 1195 viewers, we found that genre, programme attitude and the programme’s informational value had positive effects on brand placement reactions. These results support theories on ‘spillover effects’ and media gratifications. The effect of genre on viewers’ behaviour was partially mediated by the programme’s perceived informational value. This study shows the importance of context factors in brand placement effects.
Based on the notion that approach-avoidance underlies impression formation processes and that approach-avoidance is more directly based on appraisals of others' morality (M) than competence (C), we hypothesized that M-related information played a more important role at various phases of global impression formation than C-related information on target persons. In four studies (N = 342 university students), we predicted and found that (a) M traits showed a higher chronic accessibility than C traits; (b) when gathering information to formulate a global impression, perceivers were more interested in M traits than C traits; (c) global impressions of real persons were better predicted from M trait ascriptions than C trait ascriptions, and (d) positivity-negativity of impressions of fictitious persons was decided mainly by the M content of their behavior, whereas C information served as a weak modifier of impression intensity. The dominance of M traits over C traits was more pronounced for female perceivers than for male perceivers.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has long been widely acknowledged as something business should be more concerned with. However, few management models that encourage this to happen and by which managers can assess the impact of such activity on either stakeholders and/or the firm have been offered. This article describes why and how prosocial activities of the firm should be managed—and evaluated—in a conscious and explicit manner using another accepted, market-relevant paradigm. A management perspective that encourages the evaluation and control of prosocial activities by business using a hierarchy-of-effects technique to gauge impact on attitudes and behaviors of stakeholders is offered. Pilot study data derived from a controlled experiment support the view described and illustrate how goodwill can be evaluated using an affects approach to CSR.
This article examines the distinction between and the effects of two different types of elaboration on various indicators of ad effectiveness. One type of elaboration known as item-specific processing, emphasizes the distinctive features of each ad claim. A second type, called relational processing, highlights similarities (e.g., common themes) that link various ad claims. This study shows that recall of ad claims is enhanced when manipulations foster both types of elaboration simultaneously. However, recognition and clustered recall are enhanced only when manipulations invite item-specific and relational processing, respectively. Finally, data on product judgments, consumption intentions, and the correspondence between these types of responses suggest that item-specific processing may have more impact on these measures. Copyright 1991 by the University of Chicago.
The question of what makes a concept coherent (what makes its members form a comprehensible class) has received a variety of answers. In this article we review accounts based on similarity, feature correlations, and various theories of categorization. We find that each theory provides an inadequate account of conceptual coherence (or no account at all) because none provides enough constraints on possible concepts. We propose that concepts are coherent to the extent that they fit people's background knowledge or naive theories about the world. These theories help to relate the concepts in a domain and to structure the attributes that are internal to a concept. Evidence of the influence of theories on various conceptual tasks is presented, and the possible importance of theories in cognitive development is discussed.
The author examines company advertising campaigns with social dimensions and compares them to matched standard, or nonsocial, campaigns. The author investigates the managers’ objectives for the campaigns with social dimensions, examines the processes creating them, and develops a model for explaining success factors. Most campaigns have mixed objectives, both economic and social, which have many implications. Although these campaigns are not particularly effective in achieving traditional economic objectives, such as increasing sales, they are highly effective in achieving company-oriented objectives, such as motivating the work force or communicating the essence of the company's mission. Drawing on research and theory related to organizational identification, the author discusses causal mechanisms underlying social campaigns’ effectiveness with company-oriented objectives and presents directions for further research. Ethical considerations and managerial implications are discussed, as well.
Cause-related marketing represents the confluence of perspectives from several specialized areas of inquiry such as marketing for nonprofit organizations, the promotion mix, corporate philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, fund-raising management, and public relations. The authors outline the concept of cause-related marketing, its characteristics, and how organizations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, can benefit from effective use of this promising marketing tool.
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the corporate social performance of an organization and three variables: the size of the organization, the financial performance of the organization, and the environmental performance of the organization. By empirically testing data from 1987 to 1992, the results of the study show that a firm’s corporate social performance is indeed impacted by the size of the firm, the level of profitability of the firm, and the amount of pollution emissions released by the firm.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) expresses a fundamental morality in the way a company behaves toward society. It follows ethical behavior toward stakeholders and recognizes the spirit of the legal and regulatory environment. The idea of CSR gained momentum in the late 1950s and 1960s with the expansion of large conglomerate corporations and became a popular subject in the 1980s with R. Edward Freeman’s Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach and the many key works of Archie B. Carroll, Peter F. Drucker, and others. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008–2010, CSR has again become a focus for evaluating corporate behavior. First published in 1953, Howard R. Bowen’s Social Responsibilities of the Businessman was the first comprehensive discussion of business ethics and social responsibility. It created a foundation by which business executives and academics could consider the subjects as part of strategic planning and managerial decision–making. Though written in another era, it is regularly and increasingly cited because of its relevance to the current ethical issues of business operations in the United States. Many experts believe it to be the seminal book on corporate social responsibility. This new edition of the book includes an introduction by Jean–Pascal Gond, Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility at Cass Business School, City University of London, and a foreword by Peter Geoffrey Bowen, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, who is Howard R. Bowen’s eldest son. © 2013 by the Estate of Howard R. Bowen and 1953 by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America.
Although brand theorists suggest that what a person knows about a company (i. e., corporate associations) can influence perceptions of the company's products, little systematic research on these effects exists. The authors examine the effects of two general types of corporate associations on product responses: One focuses on the company's capabilities for producing products, that is, corporate ability (CA) associations, and the other focuses on the company's perceived social responsibility, that is, corporate social responsibility (CSR) associations. The results of three studies, including one that measures respondents' CA and CSR associations for well-known companies and one that uses consumers recruited in a shopping mall, demonstrate that (1) what consumers know about a company can influence their beliefs about and attitudes toward new products manufactured by that company, (2) CA and CSR associations may have different effects on consumer responses to products, and (3) products of companies with negative associations are not always destined to receive negative responses. The authors conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for marketing managers and further research.
Extending findings from advertising to sponsorship, this study evaluates explicit and implicit sponsorship memorisation effects. A survey of 584 spectators of a tennis tournament reveals that both types of memorisation effects (co)exist. Even when spectators do not recognise a brand as an event sponsor, they include it more often in their consideration set than do spectators who have not been exposed to the sponsor brand. Sponsorship also reduces the number of main competitor brands in the spectators' consideration sets. However, these effects emerge only at the level of perceptual implicit memory, not in conceptual implicit memory. The results are encouraging for sponsor companies and call for a change in evaluations of sponsorship memorisation effects.
Contrary to the beauty match-up hypothesis, several studies report positive effects of a presenter’s attractiveness for attractiveness-unrelated products. This research demonstrates how, via which paths, the presenter’s attractiveness affects persuasion for attractiveness-unrelated products. For a non-celebrity presenter the positive effect of attractiveness on persuasion is mediated by perceived presenter expertise, presenter trustworthiness, and liking of the advertisement. Previous studies could neither support the relevance of these paths unambiguously nor did they test whether or not perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and liking of the ad fully mediate the attractiveness effect. This study also considers receiver and presenter sex and receivers’ product involvement. The results indicate that attractiveness affects persuasion positively regardless of whether the presenter and receiver are of the same or the opposite sex and regardless of whether receivers are characterised by low or high product in...
Advertisers involved with social marketing are beginning to recognise the sea change that is coming due to the spread of interactive media usage throughout many subpopulations of interest. Unfortunately, models of how social marketing theory and practice should evolve have not been forthcoming, severely limiting the development of appropriate media usage strategies. This paper seeks to resolve this dilemma, in part, via discussion of how social marketing goals and objectives are challenged and advanced in this new environment. Advertisers must face inherent opportunities and challenges, as failure to do so will leave social agendas unfinished or unresolved, particularly as new and younger generations become principal targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Advertising is the property of Warc LTD and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Whether or not the focus of a brand-extension strategy should be on product-category related factors or the characteristics of the company providing the extension is discussed. Examining this issue experimentally in Hong Kong and in the US with samples of students and working professionals, it is found that for US consumers, perceived fit is much more important than company size; for Hong Kong consumers, company size does not matter for high fit extensions but does matter for low fit extensions. The value of collectivism may explain the relative higher importance of corporate identity for East Asian consumers.
Three experiments examined the manner in which consumers are influenced by information about firms’ ethical behaviors and product attribute information when forming attitudes toward the firm. Confirming principles drawn from evaluations of individuals, results showed that a superior product attribute enhances attitudes toward ethically behaving firms more than toward unethically behaving firms. Furthermore, consumers’ attitudes toward superior products differed depending on the type of ethical behavior enacted by the firm—whether refraining from unethical behavior or acting prosocially. However, when a product attribute was inferior, firms’ ethics had less impact.
In the face of marketp ace polls that attest to the increasing influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumers' purchase behavior, this article examines when, how, and for whom specific CSR initiatives work. The findings implicate both company-specific factors, such as the CSR issues a company chooses to focus on and the quality of its products, and individual-specific factors, such as consumers' personal support for the CSR issues and their general beliefs about CSR, as key moderators of consumers' responses to CSR. The results also highlight the mediating role of consumers' perceptions of congruence between their own characters and that of the company in their reactions to its CSR initiatives. More specifically, the authors find that CSR initiatives can, under certain conditions, decrease consumers' intentions to buy a company's products.
Posits that although behaving “ethically” should be important for its own sake, whether a firm behaves ethically or unethically may also have a significant influence on consumers’ purchase decisions. Examines the issue of unethical corporate behavior from the perspective of consumers. Addresses several questions. First, what are consumers’ expectations regarding the ethicality of corporate behavior? Second, is whether a firm acts ethically or unethically an important consumer concern, and if so, will information regarding a firm’s behavior influence their purchase decision? Demonstrates that consumers say they do care about a firm’s ethics and will adjust their purchase behaviors accordingly.
Companies have become increasingly active in developing relationships between their brands and popular causes in such areas as the environment (e.g. nature conservancy) and health issues (e.g. breast cancer awareness crusade). As such alliances become a more important strategic component of the brand’s marketing mix, managers seek direction as to how to generate the most impact with these tie-ins. This article uses associative learning principles as a framework for understanding how to facilitate building connections between brands and causes so as to increase the value of this highly visible marketing activity. Specific associative learning principles are detailed and applied, improving the use of cause-related marketing alliances.
Based on an extensive review of the literature and field surveys, the paper proposes a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship meaningful in two countries: the United States and France. A survey of 210 American and 120 French managers provides support for the proposed definition of corporate citizenship as a construct including the four correlated factors of economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary citizenship. The managerial implications of the research and directions for future research are discussed.
A growing body of research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in marketing has shown that (1) CSR plays a role in consumers' brand and product evaluations, over and above economic or ‘rational’ considerations such as product attributes; and (2) CSR has a spillover or ‘halo effect’ on otherwise unrelated consumer judgments, such as the evaluation of new products. Yet CSR's halo on consumer behavior may extend beyond product evaluations, into nonroutine types of judgments such as attributions. We examine the possibility that the CSR halo affects consumers' attributions in a product–harm crisis situation. In two studies that employ experimental manipulations of prior CSR on a sample of consumers, we examine whether attributions that are influenced by CSR mediate the impact of product–harm crises on consumers' brand evaluations. The results of Study 1 support the hypothesis. Study 2 introduces a boundary condition on the results of Study 1, showing that mediation effects are only found for consumers that are CSR-sensitive. The findings point to a role of CSR in consumer behavior that is more complex than previously conceptualized.
The use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to influence consumers and differentiate product offerings has become quite common. This research builds on the growing body of marketing literature through two investigations that manipulate consumers' perceptions of fit, motivation, and timing of corporate social initiatives embedded within promotions. We find that low-fit initiatives negatively impact consumer beliefs, attitudes, and intentions no matter what the firm's motivation, and that high-fit initiatives that are profit-motivated have the same impact. Furthermore, consumers consider the timing (proactive versus reactive) of the social initiative as an informational cue, and only the high-fit, proactive initiatives led to an improvement in consumer beliefs, attitudes, and intentions.
Prior research suggests that consumers evaluate firms more negatively if they attribute the firm’s business practices to firm-serving motivations rather than to motivations that serve the public good. The authors propose an alternative hypothesis: firm-serving attributions lower evaluation of the firm only when they are inconsistent with the firm’s expressed motive. As such, the negative effect of consumer skepticism regarding a firm’s motives can be inhibited by public acknowledgment of the strategic benefits to the firm. The power of this inhibition procedure was demonstrated in an experiment that manipulated the salience of firm-serving benefits and the firm’s publicly stated motive. Consumer evaluation of the sponsoring firm was lowest in conditions when firm-serving benefits were salient and the firm outwardly stated purely public-serving motives. This experiment also revealed that the potential negative effects of skepticism were the most pronounced when individuals engaged in causal attribution prior to company evaluation. Finally, this study measured the different effects on attribution and evaluation of two distinct forms of skepticism: situational skepticism—a momentary state of distrust of an actor’s motivations—and dispositional skepticism—an individual’s ongoing tendency to be suspicious of other people’s motives.
Consumer evaluation of brand extension
- D A Aaker
- K L Keller
Consumer consideration of sponsor brands they do not remember
- J L Hermann
- B Walliser
- M Kacha