Through two representative surveysone in Beijing the other in Hong Kongthis research empirically examines the culturally relevant dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication in the context of China and investigates what Chinese consumers expect for CSR communication such as communication content, media channels, and sources. One dimension of CSR communication in China that this study identifies as unique is government involvement. Other dimensions include general CSR information, factual tone, transparency, and personal relevance. In this study, Chinese consumers are found to prefer non-corporate sources and uncontrolled media channels. The study also identifies differences between Beijing and Hong Kong consumers regarding their expectations of CSR communication. The study offers a basis for developing a culturally relevant theoretical framework of CSR communication, as it identifies the significant dimensions of such communication from a stakeholder-centric perspective in the context of China.

Through an online survey of Beijing consumer publics, this study examines a moderated mediation model of public demand for regulatory intervention ensuing from a corporate crisis that entirely unfolded on social media platforms. The study finds that highly involved publics tend to attribute crisis responsibility more to the in-crisis company, and such attribution leads to stronger demand for regulatory intervention. However, the effects of issue involvement on public demands decrease when publics think they have collective efficacy to control crisis outcomes and that government has controllability over crisis outcomes. The study further finds that, in determining the degree of public demand, how publics attribute crisis responsibility is not as important as how they perceive government controllability. By delineating the relationships among issue involvement, responsibility attribution, perceived government controllability, and collective efficacy, this study outlines a comprehensive psychological mechanism of public demand for regulatory intervention during corporate crisis.

Through an online national survey in China, the study empirically examines the serial mediation effects of active communication behaviour and post‐crisis corporate associations in the relationships between initial crisis perceptions of problem, constraint, and involvement recognitions and government associations. The study suggested that higher problem and involvement recognitions were positively associated with more active communication behaviour in crisis, and such active communication behaviour was in turn positively associated with more favourable post‐crisis corporate associations. The findings also revealed connections between post‐crisis corporate associations and government associations, suggesting publics’ psychological associations of the company in crisis were extended to government associations in China.

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