Corporate fraud,risk avoidance,and housing investment in China

This study investigates the impact of corporate fraud on household investment choices. We conjecture that by undermining trust in the financial and insurance market, corporate fraud behaviour would decrease households' investment in risky financial assets and increase investment in non-financial assets. Combining data on households' investment behaviour with information on fraudulent activities of listed companies in China, we find that households with more lifetime experience of corporate fraud invest less in stocks and are less likely to purchase private insurance. By contrast, fraud experience increases households' intention to invest in residential real estate. In addition, the impact of corporate fraud is stronger among individuals who pay more attention to economic information, among individuals who have more social interaction, and among individuals in better regulated regions. Furthermore, we find that different types of fraud have differentiated effects on household investment decisions. Our findings indicate that corporate misconduct could generate profound negative externalities on the whole financial system.     

Organic food corporate image and customer co-developing behavior: The mediating role of consumer trust and purchase intention

The impact of organic food corporate image on customers' surpassing purchasing behavior is absent in prior literature. Based on the S–O-R framework, the current study focuses on organic food member customers to explore the influence of corporate ability (CA) image and corporate social responsibility (CSR) image of organic food company on the consumption behavior and co-developing behavior of customers. The consumer samples came from 269 member customers of an organic food enterprise in southwest China. The results show that organic food company CA and CSR image positively affect consumer trust and co-developing behavior. CSR image enhances consumer trust and co-developing behavior than CA image does. Additionally, consumer trust and purchase intention play a multi-step mediating role in the relationship between corporate image (CA and CSR) and consumers' co-developing behavior. In conclusion, our findings provide new insights for understanding the relationship between the corporate image of organic food and the co-developing behavior of customers. The research results provide support for organic food companies that can effectively promote consumer trust, continuous purchase, and active engagement in the co-development of products and services by creating an image of ability and social responsibility.     

企业社会责任对员工角色外行为的影响机制

文章旨在揭示企业社会责任对内部利益相关者的行为的影响效果及影响机制,为此,把员工角色外行为作为结果变量,把员工关于企业社会责任的共享知觉(企业社会责任)作为自变量,把员工对组织的信任(组织信任)作为中介变量,探讨企业社会责任对员工角色外行为的直接影响,以及组织信任在两者之间的中介效应。通过对80家企业的696名在职员工进行问卷调查,采用多层线性模型技术对样本数据进行统计分析,文章研究发现,员工关于企业自发责任(针对社会和非社会组织、消费者和员工的责任)的共享知觉对员工角色外行为有显著的影响,而且组织信任在两者关系中起部分中介作用,相反,员工关于企业基本责任(对政府的责任)的共享知觉对员工角色外行为的影响不显著,对组织信任的影响也不显著。基于研究结论,文章提出了相应的管理建议和未来的研究方向。     

Retailer corporate social responsibility and consumer citizenship behavior: The mediating roles of perceived consumer effectiveness and consumer trust

Retailers often face pressure from stakeholders to address social and environmental issues. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of retailer corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumers' perceptions and behavior. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of social identity theory and signaling theory, this study presents and validates a unique model which examines the mediating effects of perceived consumer effectiveness and consumer trust on the relationship between retailer CSR and consumer citizenship behavior. Using a sample of 407 consumers in China, results of structural equation modeling show that retailer CSR is positively associated with consumer citizenship behavior. Additionally, perceived consumer effectiveness and consumer trust positively mediate this association. Taken together, these findings provide support for retailers to develop CSR programs that remind and reinforce consumers’ perceptions about socially responsible behaviors.     

A netnographical approach to typologizing customer engagement and corporate misconduct

Customer engagement has important implications for the organization. The study developed a typology to understand customer engagement and its relationship with corporate misconduct. Customer engagement is categorized into co-developing, augmenting, influencing, and mobilizing behaviors, which are typologized into organizational and peer engagement, with co-developing and augmenting behaviors classified as organizational engagement, and the remaining two as peer engagement. In view of a focus on negative engagement in the case of corporate misconduct in previous research, this study deployed a netnographical approach to exploring positive and neutral engagement within the organization and with peers. The findings indicate that corporate misconduct not only elicits a negative response but may also elicit positive or indifferent engagement behaviors. This study contributes to customer engagement and corporate misconduct research by delving into underexplored aspects of consumer behavior.     

Corporate recidivism in emerging economies

Prior research on corporate misconduct pays extensive attention to single misconduct behaviors. However, little research has addressed recidivism – the repeated behaviors of corporate misconduct. Based on institutional theory and using the context of emerging economies where recidivism plays a considerable role, we propose the path dependency of corporate recidivism and suggest that three influential factors exist: internal preconditioning, inter‐organizational imitation, and the prevailing external evaluation. Our event history analysis of 1,036 listed companies in China over the period 2001–2008 statistically confirms our hypotheses. We conclude the paper by outlining the implications for both theory and practice.     

How does social trust affect corporate financial performance? The mediating role of corporate social responsibility

Prior studies assert that social trust may positively influence the economic performance of countries and firms (within those countries). This paper proposes a more nuanced mechanism whereby corporate social responsibility (CSR) mediates the relationship between country-level social trust and firm-level financial performance. Anchored in neo-institutional theory, we theorize that social trust instills norms of trustworthiness and willingness to trust others guiding individual and corporate behaviors. In order to comply with such norms and gain legitimacy, firms in high-trust society are more likely to commit to CSR activities that serve the interests of stakeholders. CSR activities, in turn, can positively influence financial performance by enabling firms to access stakeholders' resources and capabilities and to decrease transactions costs in the stakeholder relationships. We tested our theory by analyzing 9818 firm-year observations across 34 countries, during the 2006 to 2015 period. Our analysis shows the expected CSR mediation in the relationship between social trust and firm-level financial performance. Our findings are robust across different models addressing the concerns of endogeneity, alternative measures, and potential moderators.     

Fostering an ethical organization from the bottom up and the outside in

Despite the best efforts of corporate compliance officers, boards of governance, auditors, and regulators, corporate misconduct continues to plague our markets. In this thought-provoking installation of Accounting Matters, we argue that efforts to fight fraud and other forms of corporate misconduct have failed, in part, due to the systematic approach employed toward a problem that is irregular, complex, and extends well beyond the boundary of the firm. By drawing upon research from the field of behavioral ethics to suggest a new approach that does more than just stress formal control systems, we illustrate how executives may strengthen organizational ethics through informal practices that work from the ‘bottom up’ and the ‘outside in.’ Our review includes practical recommendations regarding how to create shared responsibility for ethical leadership, how to empower employees to achieve both economic and ethical ends, how to enlist the aid of key stakeholders in identifying problems before they grow and spread, and how to redesign compliance practices to address the complex nature of corporate misconduct.     

Advertisement Disclaimer Speed and Corporate Social Responsibility: “Costs” to Consumer Comprehension and Effects on Brand Trust and Purchase Intention

It is not uncommon for advertisers to present required product disclaimers quickly at the end of advertisements. We show that fast disclaimers greatly reduce consumer comprehension of product risks and benefits, creating implications for social responsibility. In addition, across two studies, we found that disclaimer speed and brand familiarity interact to predict brand trust and purchase intention, and that brand trust mediated the interactive effect of brand familiarity and disclaimer speed on purchase intention. Our results indicate that fast disclaimers actually reduce brand trust and purchase intention for unfamiliar brands, suggesting that there are both economic and social responsibility reasons to use less rapid disclaimers for unfamiliar brands. Conversely, disclaimer speed had no negative effects on brand trust and purchase intention for highly familiar brands, presenting ethical tensions between economic interests (e.g., an efficient use of advertisement time) and social responsibility. We discuss the implications of our framework for advertising ethics, for corporate social performance, and for corporate social responsibility.     

Trust, reputation and corporate accountability to stakeholders

This paper explores the relationship between accountability, trust and corporate reputation building. Increasing numbers of corporations are mobilising themselves to put more and more information out into the public domain as a way of communicating with stakeholders. Corporate social accounting and stakeholder engagement is happening on an unprecedented scale. Rather than welcoming such initiatives, academics have been quick to pick faults with contemporary social auditing and reporting, claiming that in its current form it is not about demonstrating accountability at all, but rather about building corporate reputation. Academics argue that 'accountability should hurt', that if accountability is an enjoyable process, then the organisation isn't doing it right. For organisations that are currently engaging with stakeholders and ostensibly becoming more transparent about their corporate social performance, this kind of critique is likely to be bewildering. This paper argues that central to the notion of accountability and to contemporary social accounting practice is the concept of trust. Accountability is based upon a distrust of corporate management, whereas corporate reputation building is about strategically seeking to establish trust in stakeholder relationships in order to negate formal accountability requirements. Using a split trust continuum, the paper seeks to explain and synthesise what seem to be two very different paradigms of organisational transparency.     

公司形象对消费者信任和购买意向的影响机制

公司品牌形象是影响消费者信任的重要前因变量,但现有研究并未揭示出公司形象的不同维度对消费者信任影响的差异性以及公司形象通过信任进而影响购买意向的机制和过程。文章将消费者对品牌的信任划分为可信性和善意,探讨了公司形象的能力和社会责任两个重要维度通过信任对购买意向的影响机制。研究发现,公司能力和企业社会责任都能通过可信性和善意影响消费者对产品的购买意向;除间接影响外,公司能力可以直接影响消费者购买意向,但企业社会责任对购买意向没有直接影响;公司能力偏重于影响信任的可信性,企业社会责任偏重于影响信任的善意。     

产品伤害危机管理因素对消费者信任修复的影响研究

利用联合分析法,通过情景模拟调研,对产品伤害危机管理中的重要影响因素(如企业社会责任、企业响应策略、媒体效用以及时间)在不同危机严重程度(非常严重、中等程度、轻微程度)下对消费者信任修复造成的影响以及重要程度进行研究,结果表明,时间对于非常严重程度下的消费者信任修复最为重要,响应策略对于中等严重程度下的消费者信任修复最为重要,而企业社会责任对于轻微程度下的消费者信任修复最为重要。     

Corporate Codes of Ethics,National Culture,and Earnings Discretion: International Evidence

This study examines the role of codes of ethics in reducing the extent to which managers act opportunistically in reporting earnings. Corporate codes of ethics, by clarifying the boundaries of ethical corporate behaviors and making relevant social norms more salient, have the potential to deter managers from engaging in opportunistic financial reporting practices. In a sample of international companies, we find that the quality of corporate codes of ethics is associated with higher earnings quality, i.e., lower discretionary accruals. Our results are confirmed for a subsample of firms more likely to be engaging in opportunistic reporting behavior, i.e., firms that just meet or beat analysts’ forecasts. Further, codes of ethics play a greater role in reducing earnings management for firms in countries with weaker investor protection mechanisms. Our results suggest that corporate codes of ethics can be a viable alternative to country-level investor protection mechanisms in curbing aggressive reporting behaviors.     

Trust,authentic pride,and moral reasoning: a unified framework of relational governance and emotional self‐regulation

This conceptual article introduces behavioral perspectives into the governance arena and undertakes a psychological assessment of managerial decision making in organizations by elaborating on the treatment of trust and (authentic and hubristic) pride in the extant literature. While trust is conceived by governance scholars as a device for monitoring relationships with others, we argue that authentic pride, contrary to hubris, could operate as an attribute of emotional self‐regulation allowing corporate leaders to govern the social behavior of their own self. Contrasting the features of trust and authentic pride, we advance several propositions to capture their relevance and simultaneous importance as viable governance mechanisms in light of a manager's level of cognitive moral reasoning. Our study builds a unified theoretical framework of governance which integrates human agency, psychological states, and moral judgment to foster a deeper understanding of complex self‐regulatory processes that are activated by decision makers in the execution of their roles.     

Corruption and social trust: The role of corporate social responsibility

The importance and benefits of social trust have widely been recognized in the literature. However, there has been increasing concern about corruption in relation to a decline in social trust, and the role of business in this relationship remains largely unknown. This study aims to examine the linkages among corruption, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and social trust. Using a large sample of 6892 corporations from 33 countries over the period 2010–2014, the results demonstrate that corruption generates a highly eroding effect on social trust, whereas CSR has important implications for promoting trust among people in society. The results further suggest the potential role of CSR in mitigating the eroding effect of corruption on social trust. These results are robust across various methods of estimation, falsification tests, and in a different time period (2017–2020). This study makes several contributions to the literature both theoretically and empirically, and offers meaningful implications for businesses and policymakers.     

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Benefits of Employee Trust: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective

Research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has tended to focus on external stakeholders and outcomes, revealing little about internal effects that might also help explain CSR-firm performance linkages and the impact that corporate marketing strategies can have on internal stakeholders such as employees. The two studies (N = 1,116 and N = 2,422) presented in this article draw on theory from both corporate marketing and organizational behavior (OB) disciplines to test the general proposition that employee trust partially mediates the relationship between CSR and employee attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Both studies provide evidence in support of these general relationships. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the context of CSR and corporate marketing research.     

Relational Bonds and Customer's Trust and Commitment - A Study on the Moderating Effects of Web Site Usage

Several relationship marketing theories have suggested that businesses could build long-term customer relationships. The purpose of this study is to develop relational bonding strategies for a financial service business and examine the relationship between the various relational bonds and customer trust and commitment under the moderating effects of corporate website usage. The findings of this study are threefold. First, the relational bonds that foster customer trust and commitment can be categorised empirically into three types: economic, social and structural bonds. Second, all of these bonds are significantly positively correlated with the customers' trust and commitment. Finally, customer use of a corporate website significantly moderates the relationship between the relational bonds and customer relational performance.     

Religion,the Nature of Ultimate Owner,and Corporate Philanthropic Giving: Evidence from China

Using a sample of Chinese listed firms for the period of 2004–2010, this study examines the impact of religion on corporate philanthropic giving. Based on hand-collected data of religion and corporate philanthropic giving, we provide strong and robust evidence that religion is significantly positively associated with Chinese listed firms’ philanthropic giving. This finding is consistent with the view that religiosity has remarkable effects on individual thinking and behavior, and can serve as social norms to influence corporate philanthropy. Moreover, religion and corporate philanthropic giving have a significantly weaker (less pronounced) positive association for state-owned enterprises than for non-state-owned enterprises. The results are robust to a variety of sensitivity tests. Our results highlight religious influence on corporate philanthropic giving in contemporary China, an old traditional country with a typical communist economy.     

Business Ethics and the Development of Intellectual Capital

This paper documents that business ethics has positive impacts upon the development of intellectual capital. Knowledge has become the most important asset of modern businesses, and this study argues that business ethics is associated with the development of intangible knowledge resources—intellectual capital. Businesses with ethical values at the core reinforce ethical conducts and successfully build trust with their various stakeholders, leading to the formation of an ethical and trustworthy corporate culture and a positive corporate environment. Thus, in this reasoning, an ethical approach to business can encourage open communication, problems solving, knowledge sharing and creativity among employees to increase organisational capital; enhance interactions and relationships with suppliers, customers and other stakeholders to increase social capital; attract and retain good talent to increase human capital. Questionnaire survey is adopted as the research method with businesses in the electronic and information technology industries in Taiwan as sample. The results suggest that business ethics is associated with increased intellectual capital. Thus, this study demonstrates that the development of intellectual capital is in line with strengthened ethics. It contributes to the literature through combining research on business ethics with intellectual capital theories and extends the extant intellectual capital literature.     

Impact of cause-related marketing on consumer advocacy and cause participation: A causal model based on self-reports and eye-tracking measures

Cause-related marketing improves corporate image and consumer attitudes toward brands. An important research gap is how the visual attention paid to cause-related cues in social media affect consumer attitudes and behaviors. In the present study, we analyze the moderating role of the visual attention paid to Instagram-based, cause-related posts on the impact of consumer perceptions (i.e., corporate image), beliefs (trust), and attitudes (i.e., corporate social responsibility [CSR] support) on behavioral intentions (i.e., cause participation, consumer advocacy, and intention to share posts) for fast-food restaurants. Data for the study were collected in a between-subjects experiment with 123 participants. Visual attention was measured using eye-tracking technology, and consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions through an online survey. The results show that the greater the attention paid to images (amount and duration of fixations) and the more revisits made lead to more positive attitudes and behaviors toward the cause and the company. On the other hand, the more time spent looking at the company's responses to negative user-generated content weakens the relationship between trust and consumer advocacy toward the company. These results can help practitioners design appropriate cause-related marketing strategies in social media.