Examining corporate social irresponsibility in manufacturing: An eye-tracking study of social media news

Xinwei Li, Ying Kei Tse and Xiangzhi Bu

International Journal of Production Economics, 2025, vol. 281, issue C

Abstract: This research aims to experimentally examine how consumers respond to environmental corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) news about manufacturing production on social media, focusing on the cognitive mechanisms underlying consumers’ behaviour decisions. Drawing on existing literature in CSI, consumer behaviour, and social media crisis communication, this study employs an eye-tracking methodology in conjunction with a 2 x 2 x 2 experimental vignette design with a nationally representative sample of 325 UK adults. Results reveal that the presence of evidence and a higher degree of harm in CSI events do not evoke stronger negative responses. Instead, the study highlights conformity behaviour on social media, showing that critical comments significantly drive negative responses. A significant three-way interaction between evidence, harmfulness, commentary on negative word-of-mouth (WoM) demonstrates that when a CSI event is evidence-based with low harm, critical comments accompanying CSI news provoke substantially greater negative WoM than supportive comments. The eye-tracking results indicate that collective opinions significantly moderated the relationship between visual attention and negative response levels. Specifically, higher visual attention leads to reduced negative responses when customers encounter critical rather than supportive comments. This study makes notable contributions by unwrapping the mechanisms shaping public perceptions of CSI news. It provides valuable insights for companies to mitigate the escalation of CSI news, minimise potential reputational harm, and enhance preparedness in managing CSI-related risks. Additionally, the integration of eye-tracking technology within a scenario-based experimental framework represents a novel methodological advancement, enriching the understanding of consumer behaviour in the context of social media crises.

Keywords: Corporate social irresponsibility; Manufacturing misconduct; Eye-tracking; Visual attention; Social media; Crisis communication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527325000246
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:proeco:v:281:y:2025:i:c:s0925527325000246

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2025.109539

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Production Economics is currently edited by Stefan Minner

More articles in International Journal of Production Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().