Consumer Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Contribution Type

Abstract

While companies contribute in different ways to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues they support, little is known about the effects of varying CSR contribution types on consumers' evaluations of the contributing company. This paper examines consumer reactions to two basic contribution typesmoney versus in-kindin the CSR domain of disaster relief to demonstrate, through five studies, that while consumers evaluate a company more favorably when it makes in-kind rather than monetary contributions of equivalent value to CSR issues that are perceived to be less controllable, the pattern reverses when the company's contributions are made to CSR issues that are perceived to be more controllable. This interaction between contribution type and perceived issue controllability is more likely to manifest when controllability is accessible in the minds of consumers. The underlying process is driven by the extent to which the disparate emotionality of each contribution type matches the intensity of felt emotion evoked by CSR issues of varying perceived controllability, producing processing fluency.

Is cash always king? Bundling product–cause fit and product type in cause‐related marketing

“…First, a high product–cause fit is expected to be a more accessible cue than a low product–cause fit because consumers require less cognitive elaboration to process the message when the fit is high (Becker‐Olsen et al, ; Rifon et al, ). Higher fit tends to evoke fluency, and the positive effect produced by the experience of fluency then produces a greater liking for the company (Hildebrand et al, ). If consumers need a diagnostic cue based on the corporate giving style, nonmonetary giving will be a stronger diagnostic cue for the following reasons.…”

“…Because lower positive effect is evoked from the low fit, consumers are more likely to attend to information lower in emotionality. Monetary giving is a straightforward form of assistance, which is perceived as transparent and having more objective value and is considered as low in emotionality (Hildebrand et al, ). Consumers will then process such the CRM information more fluently, and judge the CRM campaign as more favorable.…”

“…The inferred or implicitly attached strings that are an aspect of the gift connote the forging of social bonds and encourage reciprocation (Sherry, ). Nonmonetary giving is a tangible expression that enhances the emotional benefits consumers perceive from CRM (Hildebrand et al, ). The balance between the perceived utilitarian attributes of the product and the perceived emotional benefits from nonmonetary giving enhance the holistic experience of purchasing a product with a cause.…”

“…Nonmonetary giving is distinct from commercial efforts. In CRM, a sponsoring company is considered a gift giver because the donation to the cause can be considered a “gift.” Nonmonetary giving is likely to be characterized by greater emotionality than monetary giving (Hildebrand, DeMotta, Sen, & Valenzuela, ).…”

Floricultura y sus Medidas de Responsabilidad Social en el Departamento de Boyacá- Colombia

“…La responsabilidad social implica una inversión que a largo plazo garantiza el aumento de las utilidades de los accionistas, por lo cual la principal característica de la RSE de acuerdo a Mishra y Modi (2016) "La responsabilidad social corporativa no afecta directamente la riqueza de los accionistas, pero lo hace en presencia de capacidad de comercialización". Por lo tanto se asume que esta es una forma de mercadeo ya que le permite desarrollar programas sociales que le dan reconocimiento corporativo, lo que hace que una de las características de la responsabilidad social sea la forma de contribución, dado que en términos de Hildebrand et al (2017) "Las empresas tienen que decidir no sólo qué elementos y cuánto desean aportar, sino también en qué forma (por ejemplo, dinero en efectivo, los productos, la compañía de conocimientos, voluntariado de los empleados)", en tal sentido es pertinente resaltar que la responsabilidad social se lleva a cabo no solo con aportes económicos sino que es posible contribuir con lo que la empresa tiene o produce. Algunos otros autores como Carnahan et al (2017), exponen una segunda característica, expresando que "es importante tener en cuenta que la RSE puede reducir los cambios de ocupación debido a una combinación de selección y los efectos del tratamiento", sugiriendo que mediante el desarrollo de programas de RSE se motiva al personal a contribuir con las causas sociales reduciendo la posibilidad de que los trabajadores empleen su tiempo libre y sus esfuerzos en aspectos negativos, de rivalidad o mal ambiente laboral, por el contrario contribuye al crecimiento y sensibilización del talento humano.…”