The effectiveness of corporate social responsibility in corporate crises: from the perspective of assimilation – contrast effects and attribution theory

The positive impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on stakeholder reactions is widely discussed. However, minimal research has addressed how CSR plays diverse roles in insulating a company from negative impacts of corporate crises, depending on the type of crises. This study specifically took into consideration consumers’ awareness of a company’s CSR reputation and their interpretation of CSR motives. To help fill this gap, assimilation - contrast effects and attribution theory were applied to an experimental study exploring a 2 (crisis type: product harm vs. moral harm) x 2 (CSR reputation: high vs. low) x 2 (CSR motives: intrinsic vs. extrinsic) between-subjects design. Two interaction effects were observed between crisis type and CSR reputation and crisis type and consumer inferences of CSR motives on CSR skepticism, resilience to negative information, attitudes towards the corporation and purchase intention of the corporate products. The results indicated that consumers’ awareness of a company’s CSR reputation and their inferences of company motives from a CSR-based crisis played significant roles in determining the valence of reactions within different crisis type. In addition, resilience predicted the impact of crisis type and CSR on attitudes and purchase intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Advertising

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2018

Author dc:creator

• Nyarko, Akua Yeboaa

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ham, Chang Dae

• Crisis
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2017 Akua Nyarko

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/99105

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/99105