A good reason to buy: Justification drives the effect of advertising frames on impulsive socially responsible buying

Abstract

Today, consumers expect companies to be socially responsible. However, the literature is undecided about the effects of communicating one's corporate social responsibility activities to consumers. This raises the question of how sustainabilitydriven companies can best advertise their products to stimulate ethical consumption: using self-benefit frames, where the main beneficiary is the consumer, or using other-benefit frames, where the main beneficiary is a third party. Using three experiments, this study examines the effect of other-benefit (vs. self-benefit) advertising frames on consumers' impulse purchases from sustainability-driven companies. Increasing impulse purchases can help such companies to strengthen their competitive positions. Additionally, it is studied to what extent two types of justification (moral versus deservingness) explain the proposed effect of advertising frames. The results show that only other-benefit frames affect impulse buying behavior, both directly, as mediated by moral justification. This study's insights may help sustainability-driven companies to decide on their advertising strategies by providing evidence that other-benefit-framed advertisements are more effective in enhancing impulse purchases than self-benefit-framed advertisements.

The influence of corporate social responsibility on impulse buying

“…In the sense of institution theory, the primary aim of a firm is to engage in CSR ISO practices to create a positive image in society and gain stakeholder trust. These implications are consistent with another study (Moes et al. , 2022), which postulates that social, environmental, and ethical standards are fundamentally interwoven and cannot be separated.…”

“…In addition, firm management should use social and environmental responsibility initiatives for the well-being of society as stakeholders because public-serving CSR also positively impacts consumer behavior, so it is proposed that managers donate some of their profits to charitable organizations or needy individuals. Consumers purchase from socially and environmentally responsible firms (Moes et al, 2022), and green initiatives create consumer trust, which results in impulse buying. Moreover, our results inspire non-CSR ISO-certified firms to modify their business strategies by adopting socially and environmentally responsible CSR ISO practices to promote firm sales revenues by impulsively attracting new consumers and contributing to a green world.…”

“…In the wake of climate change and its unprecedented repercussions, a growing number of consumers expect organizations to be relatively responsible for the quality of products and MD 62,6 2002 social and environmental well-being practices (Moes et al, 2022). The literature shows these factors are engaged with ISO standards (Moratis, 2017).…”

Sustainable development in brand loyalty: Exploring the dynamics of corporate social responsibility, customer attitudes, and emotional contagion

“…Overall, by deepening our comprehension of the elements influencing brand disloyalty in Pakistan, this study adds to the body of literature. These findings can be used by businesses to create CSR plans that work and increase consumer brand loyalty (Moes et al, 2022).…”

Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices on Impulse Buying Intention: Exploring the Moderating Influence of Social Media Advertising

“…There has been an increase in public awareness of CSR and sustainability in recent years. The term CSR refers to a firm's efforts to foster sustainable development by benefiting its workers, their relatives, the local community, and society at large in terms of economic, social, and environmental aspects [1,2]. In addition, businesses implement CSR projects in response to stakeholder pressure, public interest, and other factors [3].…”