Is Publicity Always Better than Advertising? The Role of Brand Reputation in Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility

Previous studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication suggest that firms’ social initiatives should be communicated through third-party, non-corporate sources because they are perceived as unbiased and therefore reduce consumer skepticism. In this article, we extend existing research by showing that source effects in the communication of social sponsorships are contingent on the brand’s pre-existing reputation. We argue that the congruence between the credibility and trustworthiness of the message source and the brand helps predict consumer responses to a social sponsorship. The results show that a non-corporate source (publicity) generates more positive brand evaluations than a corporate source (advertising) when the sponsor has a positive reputation. However, the converse effect occurs when brand reputation is low: when the sponsor has a poor reputation, a corporate source generates more positive brand evaluations than a non-corporate source. Mediation analyses show that the interaction effect between CSR information source and brand reputation can be explained by sponsorship attitude, persuasion knowledge, and perceived fit between the brand and the cause.     

Is Positive Always Positive? The Effects of Precrisis Media Coverage on Rumor Refutation Effectiveness in Social Media

While providing an unparalleled platform to enable consumers to share information easily with others, social media also threatens organizational control of information and increases risk when organizations become the focus of harmful rumors. Denials, or statements refuting rumors, are able to reduce consumers’ belief in and intention to share rumors. However, the evidence of their effectiveness is not uniformly supportive. Although scholars have highlighted the importance of identifying the moderators for rumor refutation effectiveness, media, as one of the essential infomediaries to shape consumers’ perceptions about firms, was largely overlooked in literatures. This study, therefore, explores the extent to which effective rumor refutation is a function of precrisis media coverage. Drawing on the literature in expectancy violation and media influences on social perceptions, we assessed the influence of precrisis media coverage on rumor refutation effectiveness in a scenario-based experiment. The findings suggest that the tenor of media coverage moderates the relationship between the quality of refutation arguments and refutation effectiveness. When the media coverage is positive, high-quality refutation arguments will not result in significant lower levels of belief in, and intentions to share, the rumor than low-quality arguments. This study contributes a clearer understanding of rumor refutation effectiveness, as well as furnishing important insights regarding the value of media coverage and reputation.     

Do Web Users Care About Banner Ads Anymore? The Effects of Frequency and Clutter in Web Advertising

This study investigates the effects of frequency of exposure to banner ads and ad clutter in web pages upon online users’ psychological responses. In a 7 (frequency 1 through 7) × 2 (clutter vs. non-clutter) between-participants factorial experiment, participants (N = 250) were randomly assigned to one of fourteen news websites, each with 20 separate pages of news stories and animated banner ads downloaded from various websites. Results indicated that frequency of exposure is a powerful psychological cue affecting users’ memory, attitudes, and behavior. However, contrary to expectation, banner clutter does not lead to negative effects on recall, attitudes, and behavior. Negative impact of banner clutter was significant only on ad recognition.     

The Performance of Chinese Private Firms in Coping with a Global Financial Crisis: Who Is Best Positioned?

Using organizational flexibility as a research lens, we investigate how private firms, especially SMEs, in China cope with the 2008 financial crisis. Testing data from a large sample of private firms (N=3,459) by difference-indifferences analysis, we find that firms with industrial diversification, geographic expansion and political connections perform better during the crisis than those without. These results are less affected by self-selection problems (as the abrupt crisis provides a natural experiment) and hold up against endogeneity and several other challenges in robustness tests. The findings offer important implications for researchers, business owners, policy makers and future research.     

Smoke Gets in Their Eyes? Third-Person Effects of Electronic Cigarette Advertising

This study examined the relationship between smoker status and attitudes toward e-cigarette usage, third-person perceptions of e-cigarette advertising, and support for regulation of e-cigarette advertising within the context of a media-saturated environment. Survey results (n = 615) indicated that participants perceived e-cigarette advertisements as having a more powerful effect on others than on themselves and that nonsmokers perceived this more strongly than did smokers. Nonsmokers were found to have more negative attitudes toward e-cigarette use than smokers. Mediation analysis indicated support for a serial indirect effect of smoker status on support for regulation through attitudes toward e-cigarettes and third-person perceptions.     

The Competitive Effects of Advertising in the US Automobile Industry, 1970‐94

Is advertising anticompetitive? One school of thought in industrial economics holds that advertising increases profits and reduces consumer welfare by creating spurious product differentiation and barriers to entry. Another school focuses on the informative character of advertising, claiming that advertising makes markets more competitive and reduces profits by supplying consumers with information about price and quality. We distinguish these views by examining the effect of advertising on competition in the US automobile industry. Our data include advertising, sales, profit, and market-share figures for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler over a 25-year period from 1970 to 1994.We ask if advertising increases or decreases profitability, controlling for market structure and other factors affecting demand.Wefind that these firms cannot increase their profits above normal levels by increasing their advertising expenditures. This evidence supports the view that advertising serves primarily to transmit information, not to create entry barriers.     

Is There a Gold Social Seal? The Financial Effects of Additions to and Deletions from Social Stock Indices

This study investigates the financial effects of additions to and deletions from the most well-known social stock index: the MSCI KLD 400. Our study makes use of the unique setting that index reconstitution provides and allows us to bypass possible issues of endogeneity that commonly plague empirical studies of the link between corporate social and financial performance. By examining not only short-term returns but also trading activity, earnings per share, and long-term performance of stocks that are involved in these events, we bring forward evidence of a ‘social index effect’ where unethical transgressions are penalized more heavily than responsibility is rewarded. We find that the addition of a stock to the index does not lead to material changes in its market price, whereas deletions are accompanied by negative cumulative abnormal returns. Trading volumes for deleted stocks are significantly increased on the event date, while the operational performances of the respective firms deteriorate after their deletion from the social index.     

The Curious Case of Corporate Tax Avoidance: Is it Socially Irresponsible?

In contrast to many aspects of the social responsibility of business, CSR scholarship has been largely silent on the issue of the payment of corporate tax. This is curious because such tax payments are often considered a fundamental and easily measured example of a company’s citizenship behavior. However, because the payment of corporate tax can often be legally avoided, this activity represents a boundary condition for CSR. If the law and CSR suggest that a company should pay its fair share of tax, yet many successful companies actively avoid this social obligation, should they be considered socially irresponsible. This paper explores the issue of tax avoidance and the implications it has for any credible definition and measure of CSR. It also highlights an aspect of corporate practice that is deliberately hidden from public view.     

Congruence Effects in Post-crisis CSR Communication: The Mediating Role of Attribution of Corporate Motives

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown on the corporate agenda and is at the heart of today’s corporate culture. While much research has examined CSR strategies and effects, the effects of post-crisis CSR communication have received relatively little academic attention. Therefore, this paper uses two experimental studies to examine several key contingency factors that influence consumers’ responses to post-crisis CSR initiatives. Results suggest that consumers demonstrate more favorable responses when a company launches a CSR initiative congruent with the crisis issue, or when the crisis is the result of an accident rather than a transgression. Further, the congruence between the crisis issue and the pre-crisis CSR initiative moderates the consistency effects between pre- and post-crisis initiatives. Such findings should be understood by considering the mediating role of corporate CSR motives’ consumer attributions, which was evidenced in this study. This study theoretically contributes to an improved understanding of the underlying mechanism of the post-crisis CSR information process and managerially contributes to the strategic development of effective post-crisis CSR initiatives given a particular situation.     

The Corporation as Citoyen? Towards a New Understanding of Corporate Citizenship

Based on the extended conceptualization of corporate citizenship, as provided by Matten and Crane (Acad Manag Rev 30(1):166–179, 2005), this paper examines the new role of corporations in society. Taking the ideas of Matten and Crane one step further, we argue that the status of corporations as citizens is not solely defined by their factual engagement in the provision of citizenship rights to others. By analysing political and sociological citizenship theories, we show that such engagement is more adequately explained by a change in the self-conception of corporate citizens from corporate bourgeois to corporate citoyens. While the corporate bourgeois acts primarily for private business purposes, the corporate citoyen engages in society, performing civil and political rights and duties. As an intermediate actor in society, shaped by the principle of subsidiary task-sharing, the corporate citoyen undertakes co-responsibility for social and civic affairs and actively collaborates with fellow citizens below, beside and beyond governmental regulation.     

Misleading Consumers with Green Advertising? An Affect–Reason–Involvement Account of Greenwashing Effects in Environmental Advertising

Drawing from the affect–reason–involvement model, we examine how misleading advertising about the environmental features of products, or greenwashing, affects how consumers perceive ads and brands. Using data from two experimental studies with quota-based samples in the United States (N = 486) and Germany (N = 300), we compare nondeceptive claims with two types of claims often used in greenwashing: vague claims and false claims. We also identify the presence of pleasant nature-evoking images and test for interaction effects with two types of environmental involvement: environmental concern and environmental knowledge. Results indicate that while vague claims do not enhance consumers' perceived greenwashing regardless of their environmental knowledge or concern, false claims do, which consequently harms consumers' attitudes toward those ads and brands. In the United States, consumers' environmental knowledge moderates that effect, whereas all consumers in Germany could identify false claims as attempts at greenwashing. Moreover, associating greenwashing claims with nature-evoking images activates an affective persuasive mechanism that appeals to consumers' affinity for nature, which not only positively influences their evaluations of ads and brands but also influences their attitudes toward ads and brands more strongly than perceived greenwashing. In closing, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Self-Efficacy and Stereotyping in Advertising: Should Consumers Want a Change?

Sex-role stereotyping in advertising has been a controversial issue in the past decade. While studies have shown a disproportionate use of males in authority roles, little research has been done to examine the effects on consumers' self-efficacies. Results from this research indicate that, contrary to expectations, females had higher confidence in their purchase decisions after viewing stereotypical television advertisements. Social implications for advertisers and marketers are discussed.     

Is Corporate Responsibility Converging? A Comparison of Corporate Responsibility Reporting in the USA, UK, Australia, and Germany

Corporate social reporting, while not mandatory in most countries, has been adopted by many large companies around the world and there are now a variety of competing global standards for non-financial reporting, such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the UN Global Compact. However, while some companies (e.g., Henkel, BHP, Johnson and Johnson) have a long standing tradition in reporting non-financial information, other companies provide only limited information, or in some cases, no information at all. Previous studies have suggested that there are, country and industry-specific, differences in the extent of CSR reports (e.g., Kolk et al.: 2001, Business Strategy and the Environment 10, 15–28; Kolk: 2005, Management International Review 45, 145–166; Maignan and Ralston: 2002, Journal of International Business Studies 33(3), 497–514). However, findings are inconclusive or contradictory and it is often difficult to compare previous studies owing to the idiosyncratic methods used in each study (Graafland et al.: 2004, Journal of Business Ethics 53, 137–152). Furthermore, previous studies have relied mainly on simple measures, such as word counts and page counts of reports, to compare the extent of reporting that may not capture significant differences in the content of the reports. In this article, we seek to overcome some of these deficiencies by using textual analysis software and a more robust statistical method to more objectively and reliably compare the CSR reports of firms in different industries and countries. We examine a sample of leading companies in four countries (US, UK, Australia, and Germany) and test whether or not membership of the Global Compact makes a difference to CSR reporting and is overcoming industry and country specific factors that limit standardization. We conclude that GlobalCompact membership is having an effect only in certain areas of CSR reporting, related to the environment and workers, and that businesses from different countries vary significantly in the extent to which they promote CSR and the CSR issues that they choose to emphasize in their reports. These country differences are argued to be related to the different institutional arrangements in each country.     

Is Corporate Responsibility Converging? A Comparison of Corporate Responsibility Reporting in the USA,UK, Australia,and Germany

Corporate social reporting, while not mandatory in most countries, has been adopted by many large companies around the world and there are now a variety of competing global standards for non-financial reporting, such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the UN Global Compact. However, while some companies (e.g., Henkel, BHP, Johnson and Johnson) have a long standing tradition in reporting non-financial information, other companies provide only limited information, or in some cases, no information at all. Previous studies have suggested that there are, country and industry-specific, differences in the extent of CSR reports (e.g., Kolk et al.: 2001, Business Strategy and the Environment 10, 15–28; Kolk: 2005, Management International Review 45, 145–166; Maignan and Ralston: 2002, Journal of International Business Studies 33(3), 497–514). However, findings are inconclusive or contradictory and it is often difficult to compare previous studies owing to the idiosyncratic methods used in each study (Graafland et al.: 2004, Journal of Business Ethics 53, 137–152). Furthermore, previous studies have relied mainly on simple measures, such as word counts and page counts of reports, to compare the extent of reporting that may not capture significant differences in the content of the reports. In this article, we seek to overcome some of these deficiencies by using textual analysis software and a more robust statistical method to more objectively and reliably compare the CSR reports of firms in different industries and countries. We examine a sample of leading companies in four countries (US, UK, Australia, and Germany) and test whether or not membership of the Global Compact makes a difference to CSR reporting and is overcoming industry and country specific factors that limit standardization. We conclude that GlobalCompact membership is having an effect only in certain areas of CSR reporting, related to the environment and workers, and that businesses from different countries vary significantly in the extent to which they promote CSR and the CSR issues that they choose to emphasize in their reports. These country differences are argued to be related to the different institutional arrangements in each country.     

Is cooking dead? The state of Home Economics Food and Nutrition education in a Canadian province

High population rates of obesity and nutrition‐related chronic diseases warrant an examination of the role of food and nutrition education in health promotion. Using a mixed‐methods approach, this study explored student enrolment trends in, and perceptions of, Home Economics Food and Nutrition education in a Canadian province. Enrolment in Home Economics Food and Nutrition courses for grades 7–12 was examined from 2000 to 2010 using administrative data. Perceptions of Home Economics Food and Nutrition education by home economics teachers and superintendents were investigated through in‐depth interviews using a grounded theory approach. Results revealed that, although enrolment, including boys, increased slightly over the study period, the majority of children do not take Home Economics Food and Nutrition classes. Further, enrolment decreased significantly from grades 7 (45.77%) to 12 (7.61%). Home Economics Food and Nutrition education faces significant challenges to its future viability. These include: many school administrators, non‐home economics teachers and some parents do not value Home Economics Food and Nutrition education; Home Economics Food and Nutrition education is seen as less valuable than math and science for future career planning; outdated curriculum and teaching infrastructure; reduced numbers of new home economics teachers; decreasing student food knowledge and skills; and changing social norms regarding food and eating (increased use of convenience foods across population groups, a youth ‘fast food culture’ and fewer family meals). Results also indicated that Home Economics Food and Nutrition education is seen as critically important for youth, given that one third of Canadian children are now overweight or obese, fast and highly processed foods make up an increasing proportion of Canadians' diets, and there are increasing dilemmas being faced with food production and food safety. These results signal a growing tension between societal trends towards technological solutions in education and everyday living, and the growing acknowledgement of the externalities associated with these trends including poor health and environmental impacts. Consequently, evidence‐based food and nutrition education that is relevant for today's food environment and busy lifestyles is warranted to improve the health of current and future generations. This should be based on a comprehensive food and nutrition framework including functional, interactive and critical ‘food literacy’. Policy measures are urgently required to ensure all youth have access to food literacy education.     

Ethical Responses to Public Allegations of Skin Tone Manipulation in Print Advertising: Consumer Indifference or Consumer Concern?

This study examines the effect of consumer prejudice on ethical responses to public allegations of skin tone manipulation in print advertising. A sample of 156 undergraduate business students read a fictitious news story in which an advertising watchdog group accused business executives of using digital manipulation to lighten the skin tone of a Black female model featured in a product print ad. Participants then answered questions on ethical perceptions, behavioral intentions, and prejudice toward Blacks. Results suggest that low-prejudice consumers have stronger ethical concerns toward the digital lightening of ethnic models in print ads than do high-prejudice consumers. The authors discuss the findings, limitations, and directions for future research.     

Does Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Customer Loyalty in the Taiwan Insurance Sector? The role of Corporate Image and Customer Satisfaction

This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility on customer loyalty, and examines the role of corporate image and customer satisfaction. The empirical results indicate a positive effect of economic and legal corporate social responsibility on customer loyalty, as well as a partial mediating effect of customer satisfaction between corporate social responsibility and customer loyalty. Moreover, this study identifies the moderating effect of corporate image between corporate social responsibility and customer loyalty. The results of this study are useful to the life insurance sector for enhancing their customer loyalty and service marketing strategy.     

What’s Worse in Times of Product-Harm Crisis? Negative Corporate Ability or Negative CSR Reputation?

This study examines the dimensional consequences of (a) having positive prior corporate associations and (b) negative prior corporate associations in times of product-harm crisis by applying two dimensions of corporate associations (corporate ability vs. corporate social responsibility). The findings indicate that the disadvantages of having negative prior corporate ability (CA) associations are bigger than having negative corporate social responsibility (CSR) associations in times of product-harm crisis, whereas the advantages of having positive prior CSR associations are bigger than having positive CA associations. This study also provides directions for how to manage reputational strengths and weaknesses prior to a crisis as part of reputation and crisis management.