Playing with fire: aggravating and buffering effects of ex ante CSR communication campaigns for companies facing allegations of social irresponsibility

Joëlle Vanhamme, Valérie Swaen, Guido Berens and Catherine Janssen
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Valérie Swaen: LEM - Lille - Economie et Management - Université de Lille, Sciences et Technologies - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IÉSEG School Of Management [Puteaux]
Catherine Janssen: LEM - Lille - Economie et Management - Université de Lille, Sciences et Technologies - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: This study seeks to determine when communicating about corporate social responsibility (CSR) is likely to buffer against subsequent allegations of irresponsible behavior (in a different domain) or instead aggravate the effect of such allegations. In contrast with prior investigations of pre- or post-allegation effects in isolation, this study focuses on the interaction between CSR communication and allegations to discern conditions in which a buffering or aggravating effect is most likely. The authors identify an important contingency factor: the independence of the source in which the CSR communication appears. Aggravating effects tend to emerge when the CSR communication comes from a third-party source, whereas a buffering effect occurs when the CSR communication appears in a company-controlled source. Persuasion knowledge mediates these aggravating and buffering effects.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility; Allegations; Experimental design; Source independence; Persuasion knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-04
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Published in Marketing Letters, 2014, 26 (4), pp.565--578. ⟨10.1007/s11002-014-9290-5⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01563056

DOI: 10.1007/s11002-014-9290-5

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