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CSR as a Selling of Indulgences: An Experimental Investigation of Customers’ Perceptions of CSR Activities Depending on Corporate Reputation

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Abstract

Companies are increasingly investing in CSR whereby companies with a bad reputation are no exception. The study at hand empirically examines customers’ evaluations of corporate credibility as a reaction to companies’ CSR engagement contingent on the firms’ corporate reputation. Drawing from psychological theories on contrast and recency effects, a conceptual framework is derived which proposes that firms with a bad reputation will benefit more from engaging in CSR compared to those with a favorable reputation. The framework is put to test using a large (N = 1,717), cross-industry sample (including evaluations of 71 independent firms from varying industries), and a between-subjects experimental design (CSR info is given versus no CSR info is given). Results confirm that, indeed, whereas companies with a bad reputation significantly benefit from CSR in terms of an increase in corporate credibility, there is no positive effect of CSR for companies with a good reputation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dortmund, Germany

    Anne-Kathrin Ulke

  2. Mannheim, Germany

    Laura Marie Schons

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  1. Anne-Kathrin Ulke
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  2. Laura Marie Schons
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Correspondence to Anne-Kathrin Ulke or Laura Marie Schons.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables A and B.

Table A Construct Measures and Standardized Factor Loadings of Applied Scales
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Table B Reputation Ratings of Considered Companies
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Ulke, AK., Schons, L.M. CSR as a Selling of Indulgences: An Experimental Investigation of Customers’ Perceptions of CSR Activities Depending on Corporate Reputation. Corp Reputation Rev 19, 263–280 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-016-0005-0

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