Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought several challenges to businesses and societies. In response, many corporations have supported local communities and authorities in the management of the pandemic. Although these initiatives, which can be considered forms of corporate social responsibility (CSR), were highly coupled with explicit CSR communication campaigns, little is known about whether these campaigns were effective. Previous research indicates that culture can shape people’s perceptions of CSR initiatives and communications, suggesting that businesses pay attention to careful consideration of cultural norms for effective CSR communication. However, the COVID-19 pandemic as a new CSR setting may challenge earlier findings. This study empirically investigates whether three cultural factors (individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance) affect public perceptions measured as recall of and favorability towards corporate COVID-19 response initiatives across six countries. Findings from a representative survey of adults across these countries show that respondents in individualistic and collectivistic countries recall these CSR communication campaigns about these corporate COVID-19 response initiatives quite differently, and these are related to differences in power distance and uncertainty avoidance. However, no difference was found in overall corporate favorability, indicating that cultural factors did not affect levels of favorability towards such initiatives. This, we argue, can be explained by the global dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is the context of these CSR initiatives. This study contributes to CSR communication literature with empirical findings from a global pandemic setting. It offers businesses and managers empirical grounds to understand the communicative impact of COVID-19 response initiatives, which can inform future CSR actions.
Tag: corporate social responsibility
). Interdependent self-construal and number of Twitter followers: Consumer responses to alcohol industry Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaign on Twitter
Abstract: Twitter has become an important means of communicating alcohol industry CSR campaigns. However, little is known about individual differences in consumer responses to CSR campaigns in the context of Twitter. An online experiment was conducted to explore the effects of interdependent self-construal on purchase and electronic word of mouth intentions through attitudes toward CSR campaigns on Twitter. Results found that the indirect effects were stronger when the number of Twitter followers was higher. Also, the indirect effects were presented for females, but not for males. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings were also discussed in more detail.
When CSR Meets Mobile SNA Users in Mainland China: An Examination of Gratifications Sought, CSR Motives, and Relational Outcomes in Natural Disasters
Abstract: With the heavy use of mobile social networking applications (SNA), corporations have widely applied corporate social responsibility activities enhanced by mobile technologies (i.e., mCSR) to target stakeholders. This study examined the relationships among gratifications sought and use on mobile SNA, CSR motives, and the organization-public relationships (OPRs) in the context of the 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake in China. Results from an online survey (n = 589) demonstrated that gratifications such as recognition needs and accessibility significantly predicted the level of mobile SNA use in times of a natural disaster. In addition, a corporation’s mCSR for disaster relief drove positive OPR outcomes among individuals, who used mobile SNA for information seeking and sharing as well as attributed the mCSR to the corporation’s value and stakeholder expectations it faced. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.