Corporate Social Responsibility Failures: How do Consumers Respond to Corporate Violations of Implied Social Contracts?

Cristel Antonia Russell (), Dale W. Russell () and Heather Honea ()
Additional contact information
Cristel Antonia Russell: American University
Dale W. Russell: Uniformed Services University
Heather Honea: San Diego State University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2016, vol. 136, issue 4, No 7, 759-773

Abstract: Abstract This research documents consumers’ potential to monitor corporations’ License to Operate through their consumption responses to corporate social responsibility failures. The premise is that the type of social contracts or standards in place may determine how consumers, through their individual and collective behaviors, can play a direct role in influencing corporate behavior, when corporations fail to meet social responsibility standards. An experiment conducted with a large sample of consumers in the United States shows that consumers respond differently to a company’s failure in its social responsibilities depending on whether the violated standard is a government mandate or a voluntary commitment and depending on the consumers’ own environmental consciousness. The findings highlight the potential power of individual consumers and consumer collectives in narrowing the governance gaps relative to social and environmental issues and reducing the likelihood of CSR failures.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility; Ethical consumers; Individual boycotts; Social contract; Collective action (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2868-x

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