The Effects of CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) on Corporate Evaluation of the Public Sector

Abstract

This study examines whether CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities of the public sector affect on its corporate evaluation in their perspective of consumers. Both public and private sectors are being encouraged to conduct the CSR activities in the four dimensions of economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibility. While many previous studies have examined the relationship between CSR and corporate's business performance, these studies focus on the private companies, not the public sector. In this paper, we offer a consumer-side study about the effect of CSR on the corporate evaluation on the public sector. The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of fit of CSR activity, perceived engagement, and perceived authenticity on the consumer's corporate evaluation of the public sector. We conducted two quasi-experiments involving 223 respondents using the actual CSR cases of two Korean public sectors. As a result, consumer's perception of engagement and authenticity about the CSR of public sector affects the corporate evaluation in a positive way. The 3-way interaction effect among fit of CSR activity, perceived engagement, and perceived authenticity was significant in corporate evaluation. To achieve successful CSR of the public sector, the public organizations need to increase the communication with their consumers and to implement the strategic CSR activities which can improve the consumer's perception of authenticity about CSR.