Communicating corporate social responsibility: How fit, specificity, and cognitive fluency drive consumer skepticism and response

Abstract

This research examined consumer responses to a company's communication of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Two prestudies verified the impact of company-cause fit and message specificity on consumer skepticism toward CSR initiatives. These studies also showed that the resulting skepticism mediated the consumer responses. The main study explored how company-cause fit and message specificity jointly influenced consumer skepticism and how this could be mediated by cognitive fluency. The results demonstrate that company-cause fit and message specificity interacted and influenced consumer skepticism. In addition, cognitive fluency was found to be the key factor that explained this joint impact. These results explain how skepticism influences consumer responses to CSR. Theoretical and practical suggestions for effective CSR communication are provided.

The Effects of Message Specificity on Outcomes of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Communication: Testing Perceived Social Distance as a Mediator

“…As supported by the previous literature [9,20,22,70], the current study showed the positive effect of specific messages compared to abstract messages. While scholars have primarily focused on the role of CSR message specificity in consumer perceptions of company trustworthiness [68,71], our study expands the understanding of message specificity by investigating its effects on CCI, WOM intention, and CSR participation intention, which have not previously been extensively studied.…”

“…Increased stakeholder awareness can be achieved through corporate efforts to share detailed information about CSR activities, such as specific commitments, social impact, and motives for CSR engagement [8]. Previous research has demonstrated the effects of message specificity on various outcomes, such as message evaluations [9,[18][19][20], consumer perceptions of companies [17,21], and behavioral intentions [11,22].…”

“…Although message specificity has no single definition, it typically involves the extent to which an object or piece of information is described in terms of "specific-ness" or the degree of uniqueness of a particular subject or piece of information [9]. In the context of CSR, Pérez et al [20] defined message specificity as the introduction of concrete facts that demonstrate how much the company contributes to CSR, as well as the extent to which "CSR activities make a real and meaningful difference to society and corporate stakeholders" (p. 34).…”

“…Furthermore, Pérez et al [20] found that providing customers with concrete information about the results of the CSR activities increased their perceptions of the attractiveness and legitimacy of the CSR message. Message specificity mattered even when there was a good fit between a company and its CSR initiatives, according to Lim and Lee [9]. They showed that specific messages improved cognitive fluency and reduced suspicion about a company's CSR more than less specific ones.…”

“…The crucial condition for maximizing these benefits is consumers' awareness of and engagement with CSR activities. CSR communication scholars have endeavored to develop effective communication strategies to increase awareness of [8], reduce skepticism about [9], and generate favorable attitudes toward companies [10], as well as increase consumer engagement with CSR activities [11]. A fundamental challenge to CSR communication, however, is consumers' lack of attention to CSR messages, unless a CSR activity has led to controversy [12,13], and this is likely to be even more true of CSR activities occurring overseas.…”