Doing Good Does Good? Sustainable Marketing of CSR and Consumer Evaluations

Abstract

This study focuses on the effect of the sustainable marketing of three types of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives – sponsorship, cause‐related marketing, and philanthropy – on consumer evaluations with the moderating effect of psychological distance (social distance and spatial distance). Four hundred and eighty subjects participated in a 3x2x2 between‐subjects factorial design experiment. The results of the analyses were significant and in the direction hypothesized. Philanthropy was found to have a stronger effect on consumer evaluations, followed by sponsorship and cause‐related marketing. However, the relationship between CSR initiatives and consumer evaluations was significantly stronger when consumers perceived the focal brand with low social distance as well as the cause with low spatial distance. The findings thus provide support for the importance of psychological distance in moderating CSR initiatives. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Doing good matters to consumers: the effectiveness of humane-oriented CSR appeals in cross-cultural standardized advertising campaigns

“…Existent research found that diverse CSR activities positively influenced purchase behaviour when the product was perceived to be of high quality (Bhattacharya and Sen 2004) and that more positive attitudes towards a brand employing a CSR programme led to a stronger intention to maintain a relationship with that company, or to continue purchasing that brand (Darsono 2009, for CSR programmes in general). Similarly, in a recent study, Lii, Wu, and Ding (2013) demonstrated a strong relationship between positive attitudes and purchase intentions towards a product based on exposure to humane-oriented CSR information. Therefore, we hypothesize:…”

“…One variable that likely affects consumers' responses to advertisements incorporating CSR appeals is the cultural dimension of humane orientation. If individuals in a given country see humane orientation as an important value, then the level of perceived humane orientation in an advertisement is expected to exert a stronger influence on the evaluation of that advertisement (see also Lii, Wu, and Ding 2013;Wang and Anderson 2011) as well as on the perception that the advertiser is a socially responsible corporation. The rationale here is that the greater the importance of humane orientation to the individual, the more central it becomes in the individual's evaluation of an advertisement.…”

“…Furthermore, the impact of CSR on consumers is dependent on individual consumers' perceived importance of CSR (Maignan 2001;Wang & Anderson 2011). Humaneoriented CSR activities affect consumers' attitudes towards the brand to a higher extent when consumers perceived that the company shares similar values with them (Lii, Wu, and Ding 2013). Similarly, environmental and philanthropic (humane-oriented) CSR has a stronger effect on evaluation of the company for respondents scoring high on the trait of Social Response Consumer Behaviour (SRCB) than for those scoring low on this trait (Mohr and Webb 2005).…”

The Role of Company-Cause Fit and Company Involvement in Consumer Responses to CSR Initiatives: A Meta-Analytic Review

“…Li, Wu, and Ding [1] argue that, nowadays, the ultimate goal of corporate social responsibility (CSR) "is sustainability that not only incorporates, but also meets economic, social, and environmental responsibilities at the same time that they are linked to corporate success" (p. 16). In practice, to fulfill commitments to CSR and to sustainability, a company can carry out a variety of activities (CSR initiates) [2].…”

Does Corporate Social Responsibility make any differences when it comes to “Un-substitutable” Product from Customer Point of View

“…Corporate Social Responsibility are believe to perceived a friendly and responsible image to the consumer, the role of marketing in CSR getting stronger; it had directed to two causes. First, it educates consumers on the firm good deed; second, it atttracts consumers using the marketing intention to draw consumers' good evaluation (Lii, Wu & Ding, 2013). If a consumer found out the good social responsibility of a firm by their own, they would most probably support the firm's action.…”