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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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  • Anne-Kathrin Ulke
  • Laura Marie Schons

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne-Kathrin Ulke & Laura Marie Schons, 2016. "CSR as a Selling of Indulgences: An Experimental Investigation of Customers’ Perceptions of CSR Activities Depending on Corporate Reputation," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 263-280, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:crepre:v:19:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1057_s41299-016-0005-0
    DOI: 10.1057/s41299-016-0005-0
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    Cited by:

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    2. Kuldeep Singh & Madhvendra Misra & Jitendra Yadav, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and financial inclusion: Evaluating the moderating effect of income," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(5), pages 1263-1274, July.
    3. Small, Felicity & Mehmet, Michael & Miles, Morgan P., 2019. "Applying a causal ambush marketing framework to social media: The ‘Pleasure is Diverse’ campaign and the Australian marriage amendment," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 149-157.

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