Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often used as a key criterion in gauging corporate reputation. This research examined the influence of consumers’ attributions on corporate outcomes in response to CSR. Researchers and managers have considered consumers’ beliefs about CSR initiatives to be simplistic, serving either economic ends or reflecting sincere social concerns. The results of two studies established that consumers’ attributions were more complex than traditionally viewed, mirroring many of the motives ascribed to companies by managers and researchers. Rather than viewing corporate efforts along a self- or other-centered continuum, consumers differentiated four types of motives: self-centered motives that are strategic and egoistic and other-centered motives that are values driven and stakeholder driven. Consumers responded most positively to CSR efforts they judged as values driven and strategic while responding negatively to efforts perceived as stakeholder driven or egoistic. Attributions were shown to affect purchase intent as well as mediate the structure of an offer.

Companies are facing increasing pressure to both maintain profitability and behave in socially responsible ways, yet researchers have provided little information on how corporate social responsibility impacts profitability. This paper reports the findings from in-depth interviews of consumers to determine their views concerning the social responsibilities of companies. A typology of consumers whose purchasing behavior ranges from unresponsive to highly responsive to corporate social responsibility was developed from the analysis.According to a recent Gallup poll (1997), the public has less confidence in big business than other institutions such as the military, the police, public schools, and newspapers. The only institutions ranking lower in consumer confidence were Congress and the criminal justice system. Concurrently, firms are under increasing pressure to give money to charities, protect the environment, and help solve social problems in their communities-in other words, to behave in socially responsible ways. Although academics and business leaders have engaged in a great deal of debate about the social responsibilities of business, there has been little research on what the general public expects. As a result, those who run corporations lack a clear understanding of what the public wants from them and how far they are expected to go toward helping their communities.

This experiment examined the influence of corporate social responsibility and price on consumer responses. Scenarios were created to manipulate corporate social responsibility and price across two domains (environment and philanthropy). Results from a national sample of adults indicate that corporate social responsibility in both domains had a positive impact on evaluation of the company and purchase intent. Furthermore, in the environmental domain corporate social responsibility affected purchase intent more strongly than price did.

Although cause-related marketing has become increasingly popular, academic researchers have only begun to examine how consumers respond to it. In this study, the authors explore in depth how consumers think and feel about cause-related marketing. They develop a framework of consumer responses that includes a typology of consumers. The authors also discuss implications for research, business and nonprofit marketing, and public policy.

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