Doing well by doing good? Exploring how corporate social responsibility initiatives impact consumer behavior

Brands now widely implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to respond to the call for businesses to contribute to societal welfare. The extant marketing research has focused on the economic benefits of brands communicating their efforts in CSR initiatives to consumers. However, much less attention has been paid to when and how specific CSR initiatives might systematically shift consumer responses and, as a result, create new opportunities and challenges for the brands. This dissertation explores two CSR initiatives that have garnered attention recently – 1) diversity initiatives and 2) donation-based marketing promotions. Specifically, I theorize and test the idea that 1) conveying high firm diversity to consumers can lead to more favorable responses to innovative products but less favorable responses to conventional products; and 2) donation promotions, once declined by consumers, can result in more detrimental outcomes than discount promotions on subsequent consumer brand engagement. Together, this dissertation suggests novel perspectives to extend the current understanding of CSR initiatives and points out the benefits and risks to inform practitioners.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Business Administration

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Chin, Shih-Chun (Daniel)

Contributors dc:contributor

• White, Tiffany
• Loyd, Denise Lewin
• Lim, Sarah
• Rodas, Maria

• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Diversity
• Donation-based Promotion

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Shih-Chun (Daniel) Chin

Language dc:language

eng, en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124675

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/124675