“Too Good to be True!”. The Effectiveness of CSR History in Countering Negative Publicity

How Sustainability Ratings Might Deter ‘Greenwashing’: A Closer Look at Ethical Corporate Communication

“…Schlegelmilch and Pollach (2005) generally discuss the perils and opportunities of communicating corporate ethics. Other works focus on the effect of previous CSR communication in the case of a crisis (Swaen and Vanhamme, 2004;Vanhamme and Grobben, 2009). Benoit-Moreau and Parguel (2010) also demonstrate a positive impact of CSR communication on perceived corporate brand equity, depending on the perceived congruency between the company and the cause supported: The more congruent the engagement, the more efficient is the communication.…”

“…CSR corporate communication pertains to communicated corporate identity and is supposed to play a crucial role in the formation of ethical corporate perceptions Fukukawa et al, 2007), and social legitimacy (Waeraas and Ihlen, 2009;Vanhamme and Grobben, 2009). However, the profusion of CSR claims, whether well-founded or not, creates difficulties for consumers who attempt to distinguish between truly virtuous firms and firms taking opportunistic advantage of sustainable development trends or, otherwise stated, between reputation and rhetoric Bernstein, 2009).…”

“…Yet the use of CSR communication is growing, in small-and medium-sized enterprises as in multinational corporations (Nielsen and Thomsen, 2009), in transition markets as in mature economies (Grbac and Loncaric, 2009;Alon et al 2010). The reason is that CSR communication provides a corporate marketing tool that can build a strong corporate image and reputation (Balmer, 1998(Balmer, , 2009Gray and Balmer, 1998;Hoeffler and Keller, 2002;Balmer and Greyser, 2007) and achieve social legitimacy (Waeraas and Ihlen, 2009;Vanhamme and Grobben, 2009). However, we know little about how a central group of stakeholders, namely, consumers, actually respond to it.…”

Won’t Get Fooled Again: The Effects of Internal and External CSR ECO-Labeling

“…A combination of external CSR communication and internal CSR communication could be strategic for shaping consumer responses, for aside from providing external CSR communication, it is suggested that organizations themselves need to communicate their CSR efforts in order to benefit (Parguel et al 2011), and build a reputation that might protect (or restore) its image in the face of negative publicity (Vanhamme and Grobben 2009). However, communicating too much about CSR efforts can cause consumers to question a company's motives which creates skepticism toward the advertised message as well as toward the company itself, known as the self-promoters paradox (Ashforth and Gibbs 1990).…”

Audience Enabling as Corporate Responsibility for Media Organizations

“…According to several studies (Blowfield & Googins, 2006;Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, 2009;De Man, 2005;Waddock, Bodwell & Graves, 2002) the direction of change has been constant for already some time: towards tackling ever more complex issues with corporate responsibility. Scholars have argued that responsibility has become a prerequisite for attracting investments (Matten & Moon, 2008, p. 16), a central tool to secure business in the long run (Fombrun, Gardberg & Barnett, 2000;Vanhamme & Grobben, 2009), and even an all-pervasive business imperative (Waddock, Bodwell & Graves, 2002). In accordance to this development, responsibility will soon become a condition sine qua non for conducting business no matter where the operations take place.…”