The CSR paradox: when a social responsibility campaign can tarnish a brand

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the corporate social responsibility (CSR) paradox, when a social campaign hurts the sponsoring brand even while raising concern for the campaign issue. Design/methodology/approach A between-subjects experiment tested the effects of regulatory frames, issue involvement and collective efficacy on brand attitude, attitude toward the campaign messages, and concern for the issue. Findings A promotion-oriented frame (vs prevention-oriented frame) produced a more unfavorable brand attitude among consumers who had low levels of collective efficacy, even though the promotion-oriented frame generated strong concern for the issue itself. Attitudes toward the campaign messages remained favorable, suggesting that the negative effect of message frames was directly specifically at the brand. Originality/value Using real-world campaign materials demonstrated that a firm’s CSR campaign efforts can create important brand risks.

How environmental gain messages affect cause involvement, attitude and behavioural intentions: the moderating effects of CSR scepticism and biospheric values

“…While research has previously investigated the influence of CSR communications on attitude and behavioural intentions, the direction and strength of this relationship depend on numerous factors. These factors include, inter alia, the type of message (Kim et al, 2015), the level of donation size in fund-raising consumer relationship marketing campaigns (Hajjat, 2003) and consumer cause involvement (Dhanesh and Nekmat, 2019;Johnson-Young and Magee, 2019). Research on consumer cause involvement is sparse and even for the existing research (on the effects of consumer cause involvement on attitudinal and behavioural outcomes) the results are inconsistent.…”

“…Research on the role of CSR spans different perceptual and behavioural outcome variables. Perceptual variables include attitudes towards the campaign or advertisement (Johnson-Young and Magee, 2019) and attitudes towards the company or brand (Browning et al. , 2018; Dhanesh and Nekmat, 2019; Grau and Folse, 2007).…”

“…These factors include, inter alia , the type of message (Kim et al. , 2015), the level of donation size in fund-raising consumer relationship marketing campaigns (Hajjat, 2003) and consumer cause involvement (Dhanesh and Nekmat, 2019; Johnson-Young and Magee, 2019).…”

Can big business foster positive body image? Qualitative insights from industry leaders walking the talk

“…This perhaps relates to the CSR paradox whereby social actions by businesses serve to raise awareness of a social issue but do not benefit the brand in terms of reputation or profit. Indeed, this paradox was found in the context of a brand promoting positive body image whereby the campaign messages were well received by consumers and yielded positive attitudes towards the campaign issue, but the brand was not viewed more favourably as a result of the campaign (Johnson-Young & Magee, 2019). This study potentially reveals how consumers can respond to isolated campaigns.…”

“…This is often seen on brands' social media channels through positive body image quotes or on posts featuring less traditional models (e.g., curve models) or influencers accompanied by a positive body image caption. Finally, a few brands invest in research and community partnerships to develop and disseminate evidenced based body image curriculum to young people around the world (Johnson-Young & Magee, 2019).…”