Should businesses take a stand? Effects of perceived psychological distance on consumers’ expectation and evaluation of corporate social advocacy

Xu, Hao; Lee, Eugene; Rim, Hyejoon

doi:10.1080/13527266.2021.1969588

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Nonetheless, when taking a closer look at the effect sizes, it was found that a commitment to social responsibility creates more effective protection when the nature of the crisis is not the same as the area of the company’s commitment. These results may be influenced by expectancy violations (Antonetti et al , 2021; Xu et al , 2021). That is, even if a brand’s commitment to responsibility generates defensive insulation under various crises when the crisis type matches the brand’s area of precrisis efforts, the insulation will not work effectively because the situation violates consumers’ expectations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, this relative match between a brand's crisis type and the area of precrisis commitment drives the differential effects on accountability attribution and brand resilience. If consumers perceive that the brand's commitment is on social responsibility, then they will have a high expectancy for the social domain that the brand operates in (Antonetti et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2021). Despite their commitment, if the brand is involved in a values crisis, the situation contradicts precrisis perception of the brand, leading to cognitive dissonance among consumers (c.f., Festinger, 1957).…”

Section: Moderating Role Of Crisis Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Will consumers give us another chance to bounce back? Effects of precrisis commitments to social and product responsibility on brand resilience

Kang

Faria

Lee

et al. 2023

JPBM

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Purpose Merely being known as a highly ethical or strong performer cannot shield a company from every kind of crisis. From product failures to environmental and social issues, a brand’s ability to manage crises and rapidly regain consumer trust is essential. This study aims to explore whether consumer perceptions of a brands’ prior commitments to two different areas of corporate responsibility (social and product responsibility) alleviate the postcrisis attribution of accountability and further build brand resilience, examining differences between two types of crisis situations – values versus performance crises. Design/methodology/approach A scenario-based online survey on product versus ethical labor issues was conducted. The data were collected from a highly valid, nationwide sample set of more than a thousand US consumers. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used as the primary data analysis method. Findings A brand’s precrisis commitment to social responsibility was found to decrease attribution of accountability across both types of crises. It also strengthened brand resilience, but this effect was more prevalent in a performance than a values crisis. The effects of precrisis commitment to product responsibility on brand resilience were minimal or insignificant across crisis types. Originality/value Previous research underexplores which types of corporate responsibility commitments provide a firm with a better protection against crises. This study significantly advances the knowledge regarding the type of commitments that can substantially increase brand resilience, which supports the rationale of making stronger commitments to social responsibility than to product responsibility. Practical insights are provided into how investments in corporate social responsibility help alleviate consumers’ negative perceptions during the outbreak of a brand crisis and build more brand muscle that enables resilience against future crises.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Moderating Role Of Crisis Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Will consumers give us another chance to bounce back? Effects of precrisis commitments to social and product responsibility on brand resilience

Kang

Faria

Lee

et al. 2023

JPBM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Instead, corporations may be perceived to generally support either liberal-leaning causes or conservative-leaning causes. Xu et al (2021) contended that "when it comes to CSA, companies usually take a one-sided stance, while consumers tend to have bipartisan views on these controversial issues" (p. 4). That companies are now being viewed as either more "blue" or more "red" supports the idea that a corporation's overall CSA initiatives are likely perceived as either more liberal-leaning or more conservative-leaning.…”

Section: Linking Csa and Political Polarizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing the relationship between corporate social advocacy and political polarization

Parcha

2023

CCIJ

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Purpose Corporations are now taking stands on contemporary and controversial social issues that share no obvious connection to the corporations’ business practices. At the same time, political polarization continues to intensify, which begs the question: Are these corporate stands – referred to as corporate social advocacy (CSA) – and political polarization related to each other, and if so, how? The purpose of this study is to provide a conceptualization of the connections between CSA and political polarization through a series of propositions that can be tested in subsequent research studies. Corporations have influence in society, and the ways in which they communicate on controversial social issues could further intensify or help assuage political polarization. Conversely, political polarization may be causing CSA in the first place, which would put into question the legitimacy and desirability of CSA because of the environment from which CSA is cultivated.Design/methodology/approach This study is designed to be conceptual, and the approach is based on theory building.Findings The study conceptualizes the relationship between CSA and political polarization to be symbiotic because both are bidirectional causes of each other. Engagement in CSA is also argued to be positively associated with perceptions that corporations contain particular political ideologies, i.e. more “liberal-leaning” or “conservative-leaning.” This study also predicts that – dependent on particular conditions – CSA will also lead to an increase in both boycotts and skepticism.Practical implications This study will contribute to scholars’, practitioners’ and consumers’ understanding of the causes and effects of CSA. The way in which political polarization is potentially causing CSA puts into question the legitimacy of corporations engaging in CSA in the first place. If CSA is cultivated in the soil of political polarization, is CSA desirable for corporations? Conversely, the way in which CSA is potentially causing political polarization also puts the legitimacy of CSA into question. If CSA is causing political polarization, is CSA desirable for society?Social implications Corporations are an influential part of society, and thus will influence how society views controversial social issues. If the predictions in this study hold, corporations will play an important role in either intensifying or reducing political polarization, and political polarization will also play an important role in how corporations communicate about CSA issues.Originality/value Research focused on CSA is burgeoning, yet limited studies have examined how CSA and political polarization interact. Although there could be positive aspects of corporate involvement in CSA, this study examines some of the potential negative aspects of corporate involvement in CSA. Future research will also be able to test the propositions proposed in this study.

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“…The topic of corporate social advocacy has received increasing interest from social sciences researchers in recent years, as many large consumer companies in the United States are openly taking a stand on controversial social or political issues such as same-sex marriage, gun control, immigration, and legalization of marijuana [1][2][3][18][19][20][21]25,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. While CSA is conceptualized in slightly different ways, a widely cited definition of the term is the one provided by Dodd and Supa [2,34], who wrote CSA is a public relations function where firms and/or their CEOs intentionally or unintentionally "align themselves with a controversial social-political issue outside their normal sphere of CSR interest" [2].…”

Section: Corporate Social Advocacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, while some CSA studies have focused heavily on the effects of CSA on financial outcomes such as purchase intentions [3] and boycotts [18,19], others have considered CSA as a strategic tool for building quality relationships by measuring the outcomes of brand loyalty and brand trust [20,21]. Extending this line of research, this study attempts to illuminate the role of CSA in organizational relationship building in the Chinese market by highlighting organization-public relationships (OPRs) as a potential outcome of CSA communications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meeting Consumers’ Expectations: Exploring Corporate Social Advocacy Communication in China

Song

Lan

2022

Sustainability

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Unlike Western corporations, Chinese companies have yet to widely adopt corporate social advocacy (CSA) as a proactive strategy for corporate communication due to the different cultures and business environments. With only a handful of Chinese companies committing to CSA communication, the consequences of such practice on consumer relationship building and maintenance remain elusive. In light of expectancy violations theory (EVT), this study explores Chinese consumers’ expectations of domestic CSA on the issue of same-sex marriage and the effects of proactive corporate social advocacy communication. Through structure equation modeling of 418 survey responses, this study examines the relationship between the violation of Chinese consumers’ expectations of CSA and the quality of consumer relationships through the mediation of violation valence, violation expectedness, and relationship certainty.

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Should businesses take a stand? Effects of perceived psychological distance on consumers’ expectation and evaluation of corporate social advocacy

Cited by 20 publications

References 73 publications

Will consumers give us another chance to bounce back? Effects of precrisis commitments to social and product responsibility on brand resilience

Will consumers give us another chance to bounce back? Effects of precrisis commitments to social and product responsibility on brand resilience

Conceptualizing the relationship between corporate social advocacy and political polarization

Meeting Consumers’ Expectations: Exploring Corporate Social Advocacy Communication in China

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